President Obama has yielded to House Speaker John Boehner, agreeing to move his big jobs speech before a joint session of Congress to Thursday. Initially, the president proposed doing it on Wednesday -- the same night as the msnbc Republican Presidential Debate at the Reagan Library. Boehner publicly rejected the president's proposal -- the first time a president has been publicly rejected on such a request. A flurry of statements were released by both sides before the White House gave in. As the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza notes, it was probably a smart move by the White House in the end. But why go for such a blatant political big foot in the first place?
From a policy standpoint, the stakes will be high for the president. That's because his approval numbers on his handling of the economy keep reaching new lows in the polls.
And the Virginia Senate race between Tim Kaine and George Allen tops Politico's new list of the most competitive Senate races. By the way, the University of Virginia's Larry Sabato says at this point, control of the Senate is the Republicans' to lose.
And finally, check out this little sugarplum: Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is firing back at Dick Cheney for what she's calling "an attack on my integrity."