“I welcome President Clinton back to Kentucky. Every time he’s come its been really good for me.”

— Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), quoted by Roll Call.

The Week: “It’s no secret that Republicans are pinning their midterm election hopes on ObamaCare.”

“So it should be no surprise that the GOP has tried to cast virtually all news about the health care law as proof that ObamaCare will kill jobs and send insurance costs soaring. The only problem with that strategy is that the underlying arguments are often disingenuous.”

Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC), “who has been under fire from conservatives over the federal health care law, refused on Monday to answer questions about what she knew about the laws limits,” the Raleigh News and Observer reports.

“Like President Obama, Hagan said the Affordable Care Act would allow North Carolinians to keep their existing insurance plans if they liked them. The pledge proved false – and earned Obama PolitiFact’s Lie of the Year honors. But the details about what Hagan knew about the law’s limits and when she learned it remains unclear. Asked about it again Monday at a press conference in Raleigh, after she made her re-election bid official at the State Board of Elections, Hagan avoided the question.”

Pete Kaliner: “I have no idea how Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan’s news conference could’ve been worse except had she lit a baby bunny on fire while stomping on the American flag.”

A new Public Policy Polling survey in Iowa finds Bruce Braley (D) leading all of his possible Republican opponents by an average of seven points.

Key finding: “At least part of Braley’s leads at this point is a product of name recognition: 56% of voters know enough about him to have formed an opinion, where none of the Republican hopefuls have more than 25% familiarity.”

Bill Clinton “plans to address some 1,200 people at a sold-out fundraiser in Kentucky today on behalf of Senate hopeful Alison Lundergan-Grimes, bringing his political clout to one of the most closely watched and contentious Senate contests of this election cycle,” ABC News reports.

Associated Press: “Clinton is the last Democratic presidential candidate to carry a swath of Southern states crucial to the 2014 midterms, including his native Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky and Louisiana. The former president remains in heavy demand as a fundraiser and adviser as his wife plans an upcoming book tour and considers how she may help Democrats this year.”

A new Honolulu Civil Beat Poll shows Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D) deadlocked in their Democratic U.S. Senate primary at 40% to 40%, with another 20% not sure who they’ll vote for.

Said pollster Matt Fitch: “They are in a holding pattern. I think for many people this may be one of the more high-profile Senate primaries, and it is unusual because there is not a massive ideological division between the two candidates. They are two popular choices.”

“After a series of defeats on Capitol Hill, the Republican Party’s tea-party wing has shifted its attention to congressional primaries, setting up a major test of how much the movement’s clout has been weakened,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Primary elections, which start March 4, will help determine the balance of power between the Republican Party’s business-friendly, establishment wing and the tea-party activists who first roared onto the scene five years ago by opposing President Barack Obama’s proposed health-care overhaul.”

A new Honolulu Civil Beat Poll suggests that David Ige (D) has a shot at unseating Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie (D) with both men tied at 37% each among likely Democratic primary voters. Another 26% are still undecided.

Said pollster Matt Fitch: “What you are seeing is rather a public way of expressing discontent with the governor rather than a serious strength on Ige’s part. There are a couple of reasons. One, Ige’s support actually outstrips those people who say they have a favorable impression of him. People don’t really know him.”

A new Gallup poll finds that 47% of Americans have a favorable opinion of Mitt Romney.