The Washington Post gets an early copy of Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s (R) new book which doesn’t hit stores until Feb. 12.

In The Last Line of Defense: The New Fight for American Liberty, Cuccinelli “uses language akin to Mitt Romney’s famous ’47 percent’ comment. The Republican presidential candidate had suggested that a share of the electorate was so dependent on government hand-outs that it would never vote for him.”

“Romney’s words, captured on a hidden camera, helped sink his campaign. Time will tell how the similar language plays for Cuccinelli, who unlike Romney has never been accused of trying to pass himself off as a moderate. In his case, he wants voters to hear it.”

Niki Broun, the wife of Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) told a Georgia crowd last night that her husband had her permission to run for U.S. Senate and that “he was openly announcing his candidacy” right there, The Hill reports.

Viral Read has more details of the event.

A new Public Policy Polling survey in Massachusetts finds Scott Brown (R) edging Ed Markey (D) in a possible special election match up to fill the seat of Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), 48% to 45%. 

Caveat: “69% of the voters currently undecided voted for
Elizabeth Warren in November, while only 17% of them voted for Brown. If
those folks ended up voting for the same party that they did in
November, Markey would lead Brown by a point. Brown may be starting out
at 48%, but it’s a very hard path to 50 for him given who the undecideds
are.”

“Republican proposals in swing states to change how electoral votes are allocated have set off alarms that the party is trying to rig future presidential elections. But the plans are going nowhere fast,” Politico reports.

“In the majority of states where such measures are being considered – Virginia, Florida, Ohio and Michigan, all states that voted for President Obama in 2012 but have Republican-controlled legislatures – proposals to split Electoral College votes proportionally have either been defeated or are strongly opposed by officials in those states.”

Rick Hasen: “Think about it: The last thing Republican legislators want is national
Democratic campaigns scrounging for every vote in conservative-leaning
districts. Fewer Republicans will win legislative and Congressional
seats because Republican districts will become more competitive by
design. Why would Republican legislators vote for a plan that will make
it harder for them to keep their jobs?”

The Week: The long past and perilous future of gaming the Electoral College.

Chris Cillizza notes the race for president in 2016 won’t start until Hillary Clinton “makes clear what she’s doing.”

“Clinton knows that she is currently freezing the field with the-door-remains-slightly-open statements like ‘I have no intention’ to run for president. Having no intention to run is not even close to the same thing as ruling out the race. Words matter in politics and no one understands just how much better than Clinton.”

“She also knows that her ability to keep the race frozen in place has a shelf life and if she waits too long to decide she will lose a fair amount of the political goodwill she has built up in the party.”