Marc Ambinder: “The Republican Party has over-learned the lessons of the outrageously damaging 2012 presidential nomination calendar, and today, it passed a raft of new rules designed to, as Zeke Miller writes, tighten control over the process.”

“The end result is that the party has conspired to nominate the most electable conservative candidate and quickly. Challengers must prove themselves much earlier. Deep pockets and good field organizations will become more important relative to free media generated by tactical maneuvers and conservative radio hosts.”

“A series of changes aimed at tightening the GOP presidential primary calendar sailed through a vote at the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting, giving the party new tools to control its nomination process,” The Hill reports.

“The new 2016 rules will make it much harder for states to cut in line in the nomination process and will help Republicans avoid a repeat of a drawn out, bloody primary many believe damaged Mitt Romney’s chances in 2012 of defeating President Obama.”

CNN: “The changes dovetail with the party’s desire to move the convention from late summer to a June window, which would make the next Republican National Convention the earliest convention in either party since 1948. The RNC has announced its support for the June move but will formally vote on the change at a later date.”

The Fix sees 10 competitive rematches taking place for congressional seats this year.

“Several incumbents will be facing the person they unseated or a challenger who tried, but failed, in previous cycles to defeat them. In some instances, a displaced former lawmaker is vying again for their old seat, but in other situations the same challenger is showing up to challenge the incumbent.”

Adam Smith: “It may not be readily apparent if you follow the Florida media that constantly notes Charlie Crist’s campaign for governor or the Washington pundits who describe Charlie Crist vs. Rick Scott as THE race to watch in 2014. But here’s the reality: There is no real Crist campaign for governor.”

“Sure, he announced a couple days ago that Barack Obama campaign manager Jim Messina is on board, and Obama’s digital director, Teddy Goff, has signed on too. Obamaworld has opened up a bunch of Democratic fundraising doors from Hollywood and beyond.”

“But it’s been nearly three months since Crist officially announced his candidacy and at least 10 since everyone knew he was preparing to do just that. Where the rubber meets the road: there is for all purposes no Charlie Crist campaign except for a fundraising operation that so far appears fine but hardly daunting.”

The New York Times has a must-read look at the people surrounding Hillary Clinton, with a special focus on confidant Phillip Reines.

“The job of keeping out the claqueurs now falls partly on Reines, who is known in the Clinton world as slightly paranoid, often hilarious and somewhat quirky. He is 44 and lives in a Dupont Circle apartment with his cats Uday and Qusay, named after the thuggish sons of Saddam Hussein. He once accidentally stuck his fingers in my water glass over breakfast to clear a stain from his dress shirt. At lunch, he orders an Arnold Palmer and a Diet Coke, seemingly just because. He also instills a healthy dose of terror in the extended Clinton family that his boss is said to appreciate. Almost everyone I talked to dutifully emailed Reines to ask for permission before they spoke to me.”

Even 100 years ago, it would have been hard to imagine a man making a statement as ridiculous as what Mr. Huckabee said today.

— Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) January 23, 2014