Politico: “Topping the list: In 2014, he could run instead for Massachusetts governor, a job that Republicans have had much more success winning and keeping, as Mitt Romney can attest.”

“Even if Brown were to win an expected late spring special election for the Senate — he would enter as a favorite — he’d have to pick up and do it all over again next year, in a higher-turnout contest that could also be tough to win. A loss in that race could end his political career.”

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) has decided not to run for re-election, NBC New York reports.

However, a Lautenberg spokesman tells the Philadelphia Inquirer the report is not true.

The news comes the same week that Newark Mayor Cory Booker has filed papers allowing him to raise money for a U.S. Senate run in New Jersey.

President Obama’s inaugural committee “is at least $10 million short of its $50 million fund-raising goal, officials have told top donors, with just over a week before Mr. Obama is sworn in for his second term,” the New York Times reports.

“The committee is particularly struggling to bring in corporate money after Mr. Obama’s announcement last month that he would accept contributions from businesses, a change from his position in 2009… Even more striking, those involved in the planning said, was the absence of the vast majority of top fund-raisers for Mr. Obama’s campaign, which raised over a billion dollars.”