The Los Angeles Times
notes that Wisconsin and the state’s “embattled governor” Scott Walker
(R) should serve as a warning for the Republican presidential candidates
of the “danger of lurching too far to the right in a presidential
battleground state.”

“The prominence of divisive social issues —
rather than a tight focus on jobs and the economy — in the race for the
Republican presidential nomination has delighted Democrats looking ahead
to November… On Saturday, Romney plans to join Santorum and Newt
Gingrich in Waukesha at a Faith and Freedom Coalition forum. The
gathering of Wisconsin conservatives will be fraught with temptation for
the presidential candidates to offer Republican primary voters still
more of what will likely cause trouble for the party’s nominee in the
fall.”

As Mitt Romney works to solidify his lead in the Republican presidential primary, the New York Times
reports that his supporters have been “pleading with Mitt Romney to
share personal details of his life. They stood at town-hall-style
meetings and chatted before rallies, clamoring for a story or an
anecdote that would help them connect with the real Mitt Romney.”

“But
even if Republican voters appear increasingly eager to fall for him, it
is not clear that Mr. Romney can satisfy their desire for warm,
revealing moments. His campaign advisers say that as the primary season
winds down, they expect Mr. Romney will have more opportunities to talk
about himself in a personal way. He has already started to appear again
in more settings that lend themselves to intimate exchanges with voters
and will soon do longer interviews.”

“Still, the aides
say Mr. Romney has a natural reticence — he regards talking about
himself as bragging, they say. And they are all too aware of his
susceptibility to awkward or off-key statements when it comes to
disclosing personal information.”

A new NBC News-Marist Poll in Wisconsin shows voters split over the recall of Gov. Scott Walker (R) with 46% showing support for him but 48% saying they’ll vote for the eventual Democratic candidate who’ll face him.

Walker’s approval rate is also divided at 48% to 48%.

A new NBC News-Marist Poll in Wisconsin shows Mitt Romney leading Rick Santorum in week’s GOP primary, 40% to 33%, followed by Ron Paul at 11% and Newt Gingrich at 8%.

“So far in all the GOP contests where there has been exit polling, Romney has won in every contest where evangelical voters have accounted for less than 50 percent of the electorate. And he has lost in every contest where that number has been higher than 50 percent. The evangelical percentage among likely Wisconsin GOP primary voters, according to the NBC/Marist poll: 41%.”

A new Rasmussen survey in Maryland finds Mitt Romney crushing the GOP presidential field with 45%, followed by Rick Santorum at 28%, Newt Gingrich at 12% and Ron Paul at 7%.

“In terms of me, I’ll be much more ready four years from now.”

— New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, on whether he’ll run for president in 2016.

Newt Gingrich sank to a new low in the latest Gallup poll: He has just 10% support among registered Republicans.

Gingrich reached a high of 37% in mid-December in a similar survey.

Jose Hernandez (D) “flew in space, but his astronaut identity is now under political fire” in his race to unseat Rep. Jeff Denham (R-CA), the Fresno Bee reports.

 A Sacramento law firm is asking a judge to block Hernandez from describing himself as an “astronaut/scientist/engineer” on the June ballot because he has left NASA.

Hernandez offered a brilliant video response.

[Read more…]

Steve Benen: “It’s tempting to think every major-party frontrunner emerges from a primary process with weakened favorability numbers — intra-party contests are often bruising — but that’s just not the case. Four years ago, Obama became better liked as voters got to know him, but this year, Romney isn’t just disliked, he’s also more disliked at this point in the process than any candidate in nearly three decades.”