“In combative campaign form, President Barack Obama accused Republican leaders on Tuesday of becoming so radical and dangerously rigid that even the late Ronald Reagan, one of their most cherished heroes, could not win a GOP primary if he were running today,” the AP’s Feller writes. “Obama, in a stinging speech to an audience of news executives, had unsparing words for Republicans on Capitol Hill as well as the man he is most likely to face off against in November, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. The president depicted the election as a choice between a Democratic candidate who wants to use government to help people succeed and Republicans who would abandon a basic compact with society and let most people struggle at the expense of the rich.”

“Few would quarrel with President Barack Obama's point that the Republican Party has drifted to the right in recent years, disavowing ideas it once embraced -- even created. But making that case in a major campaign speech, Obama ignored realities in his own Democratic ranks,” the AP’s Woodward writes. “For one, it was opposition from coal-state Democrats that sank cap-and-trade legislation to control greenhouse gas emissions, not just from those arch-conservative Republicans. For another, if Republicans have moved to the right on health care, it's also true that Obama has moved to the left. He strenuously opposed a mandate forcing people to obtain health insurance until he won office and changed his mind.”

(Or one could argue, it was Obama moving to the right, since conservatives first proposed the idea of a mandate and that he’d once upon a time expressed support for a single-payer system.)

“President Obama said again Tuesday that it has been a long time since the Supreme Court struck down an economic law passed by Congress, but he mixed up the decisions and their timing,” the L.A. Times’ Savage writes.

Republicans (and conservative judges) took issue with President Obama’s challenge to the Supreme Court, saying he was “threatening” and “intimidating” the court. Of course, Republicans have long criticized “activist judges.” And Newt Gingrich, for one, called for the arrest of “radical” ones. Romney denounced Gingrich for that view, but Romney himself joked, “Isn't this wonderful to finally have a liberal talking about judicial activism?” And in 2004, he wrote: “Beware of activist judges,” in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, entitled, “One Man, One Woman; A citizen’s guide to protecting marriage.”

NBC Universal announced yesterday that its USA Network will air a new restoration of the film classic, “To Kill a Mockingbird” on Saturday April, 7 and President Obama will deliver the introduction, NBC’s Kristen Welker reports. The film is based on Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, which tells the story of Alabama lawyer Atticus Finch, who defends an African-American man accused of rape.

Check this out: In a Pew study that asked about the media coverage of the Trayvon Martin case in Florida, “Of the 1,000 adults surveyed by Pew, 56 percent of Republicans said they felt the coverage was too heavy, compared to 25 percent of Democrats who said the story had garnered too much attention,” the U.S. News writes.

Russian spy Ann Chapman was busted, because she got too close to an Obama cabinet official, an FBI official tells the BBC.

“President Obama has opened the first significant lead of the 2012 campaign in the nation's dozen top battleground states, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, boosted by a huge shift of women to his side,” USA Today writes. “In the fifth Swing States survey taken since last fall, Obama leads Republican front-runner Mitt Romney 51%-42% among registered voters just a month after the president had trailed him by two percentage points. The biggest change came among women under 50. In mid-February, just under half of those voters supported Obama. Now more than six in 10 do while Romney's support among them has dropped by 14 points, to 30%. The president leads him 2-1 in this group.”

GOP 12 notes that New Mexico, Michigan, and Wisconsin don’t look like swing states at all and thereby skew the poll. And states like Arizona, Indiana, and Missouri should be included, since they were closer in 2008, but lean GOP. Still, Romney and the GOP need to expand the playing field and places like Wisconsin are places they hope to play.

60 Minutes highlights the promises Obama made as a candidate on space and the impact cuts to the space program have had on Brevard County, Florida. Obama said on Aug. 2, 2008: “I'm gonna ensure that our space program doesn't suffer when the shuttle goes out of service by making sure that all those who work in the space industry in Florida do not lose their jobs when the shuttle is retired because we can't afford to lose their expertise.”

“A major donor to President Barack Obama has been accused of defrauding a businessman and impersonating a bank official, creating new headaches for Obama's re-election campaign as it deals with the questionable history of another top supporter,” AP reports. “The New York donor, Abake Assongba, and her husband contributed more than $50,000 to Obama's re-election effort this year, federal records show. But Assongba is also fending off a civil court case in Florida, where she's accused of thieving more than $650,000 to help build a multimillion-dollar home in the state -- a charge her husband denies.”

USA Today raises the curtain behind how the voting will take place at the Supreme Court on the health law. And the first votes will be today. “The fate of President Obama's landmark health care law likely will be decided Friday in an oak-paneled conference room adjoining the chambers of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts,” USA Today writes. “There, the nine justices will meet alone to discuss the case that transfixed Americans for three days of oral arguments this week. When all have had their say, they will vote in order of seniority. That initial decision may be altered as drafts of majority and dissenting opinions are written, circulated and rewritten, often many times. It might even be reversed during the lengthy writing process if one or more justices switch sides.”

More: “For most of the next three months, only the justices and 39 law clerks — four per justice and one each for the three living retired justices — will be privy to the ruling. And even in an age of Twitter and YouTube, it won't leak.”

All the speculation is on Anthony Kennedy, per the New York Times. “Justice Kennedy’s understanding of liberty is idiosyncratic, and there is every reason to think that both lawyers’ arguments in the concluding minutes of the argument on Wednesday afternoon resonated with him, said Helen J. Knowles, the author of ‘The Tie Goes to Freedom: Justice Anthony M. Kennedy on Liberty.’ (The title is telling. Another book on the justice, by Frank J. Colucci, is called ‘Justice Kennedy’s Jurisprudence: The Full and Necessary Meaning of Liberty.’) ‘I really don’t think Justice Kennedy has any idea at the moment how he’s going to vote in these cases,’ Professor Knowles said.”

“Democrats are fuming over Justice Antonin Scalia’s conduct during this week’s Supreme Court deliberations on President Obama’s healthcare law,” The Hill notes. “Scalia appeared hostile to the law while several of the high court’s liberal justices seemed to cheerlead for its defense. But it was Scalia’s attitude that rubbed some Democrats the wrong way. Scalia mocked the so-called ‘Cornhusker Kickback’ without seeming to know that provision was stripped out of the law two years ago. Scalia also joked the task of having to review the complex bill violated the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.”

“Senate Republicans, including Scott Brown of Massachusetts, today foiled President Obama’s plan to strip $24 billion in tax subsidies from the country’s largest oil companies, potentially fueling an election-year issue among voters disgruntled by escalating gas prices,” The Boston Globe notes.

“President Obama will touch down in Vermont and Maine on Friday afternoon for a series of fund-raisers for his reelection campaign,” the Boston Globe writes. “His New England visits will begin with a private luncheon with approximately 100 supporters at the Sheraton Burlington in Burlington, Vt., where the president will give a speech. Ticket prices for the luncheon started at $7,500 per person.

After lunch, Obama will speak at the University of Vermont, also in Burlington, to approximately 4,500 people. The event will include a musical performance by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. General admission tickets started at $100 per person, with student tickets available for $44.” 

The New York Times: President Obama pledged on Tuesday night to use government power to balance the scale between America’s rich and the rest of the public, trying to present an election-year choice between continued leadership toward an economy “built to last” and what he called irresponsible policies of the past that caused an economic collapse.”

The Washington Post: The economy continues to struggle and Americans are largely pessimistic, but dueling events Tuesday showed why in politics it's good to be the incumbent.

“Already down, Congress got kicked by President Barack Obama in the last State of the Union of his first term Tuesday night. Republicans, wracked with worry about a soft agenda and dim prospects for escaping the “do nothing” label, sat fuming. Democrats clearly loved it. The takeaway: Congress can’t — or won’t — do anything about its sorry state, even if the gridlock plays directly into the president’s political strategy,” Politico writes.

The New York Times’/CNBC’s John Harwood looks at how even as President Obama’s State of the Union embraced campaign-style populism, he can still claim the center on deficit reduction.

PolitiFact: Fact-checking the State of the Union.

“President Obama, after objecting to provisions of a military spending bill that would have forced him to try terrorism suspects in military courts and impose strict sanctions on Iran’s oil exports, signed the bill on Saturday,” the New York Times says. “He said that although he did not support all of it, changes made by Congress after negotiations with the White House had satisfied most of his concerns and had given him enough latitude to manage counterterrorism and foreign policy in keeping with administration principles.”

“President Obama’s top campaign officials are attacking Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney for an economic plan they say will benefit wealthy Americans, not the middle class,” the Boston Globe writes. “ ‘His plan gives tax breaks to millionaires, billionaires, and large corporations while doing nothing to help middle class families,’ said Obama for America Campaign Manager Jim Messina. Messina and Obama campaign press secretary Ben LaBolt held a conference call with New Hampshire reporters [yesterday], the day before Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, kicks off a bus tour of the state.”

From the AP-GFK poll: “For the first time, the poll found that a majority of adults, 52 percent, said Obama should be voted out of office while 43 percent said he deserves another term. The numbers mark a reversal since last May, when 53 percent said Obama should be re-elected while 43 percent said he didn't deserve four more years.”

But: “For the first time since spring, more said the economy got better in the past month than said it got worse. The president's approval rating on unemployment shifted upward -- from 40 percent in October to 45 percent in the latest poll.”

“President Barack Obama will speak at the 71st General Assembly of the Union for Reform Judaism in Washington on Friday afternoon,” AP writes.

“First it was a campaign-style speech in the heartland. Then it was a sitdown with ‘60 Minutes.’ Tomorrow, President Obama makes clear he’s in full reelection mode when he addresses his most ardent campaign fund-raisers in Washington,” the Boston Globe writes. “The Democrat is scheduled to speak to some of the Democratic Party’s top financiers during their winter meeting near Capitol Hill. The backers are also slated to hear from Obama for America National Finance Chairman Matthew Barzun, as well as Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.”

The New York Times says the Supreme Court yesterday announced “that it would decide whether Arizona was entitled to impose tough anti-immigration measures over the Obama administration’s objections. The case joined a crowded docket that already included challenges to Mr. Obama’s signature legislative achievement, the 2010 health care overhaul law, and a momentous case on how Texas will conduct its elections.”

The New York Times notes that resolving the European debt crisis could very well be the issue that determines whether or not President Obama gets re-elected. “The American economy has shown signs of life recently, with talk of a double-dip recession fading and job growth picking up. The change has raised the prospect that the economy may not be quite the political weight around Mr. Obama’s neck in 2012 that his advisers had feared — unless Europe goes downhill. Mr. Obama’s aides realize that there is no easy way to plan a re-election strategy for one potential body blow: an implosion of the European currency. Such an event, experts say, would undoubtedly send the American unemployment rate higher and possibly induce another recession. Other than lobbying from the sidelines, Mr. Obama and his administration have little control over the situation.”

“The Obama administration stunned women’s health advocates and abortion opponents alike Wednesday by rejecting a request to let anyone of any age buy the controversial morning-after pill Plan B directly off drugstore and supermarket shelves,” the Washington Post says. “For what the Food and Drug Administration thinks is the first time, the Department of Health and Human Services overruled the agency, vetoing the FDA’s decision to make the contraceptive available without any restrictions. Revealing a rare public split, FDA Administrator Margaret A. Hamburg said her conclusion that the drug could be used safely by women of all ages was nullified by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.”

The Times is the latest to mention how Obama’s re-election team is now taking Newt Gingrich seriously. “Several Democrats said they were also trying to view Mr. Gingrich through a fresh lens, and in particular, trying to understand the dynamics behind his appeal to this electorate. It was once a unanimous sentiment inside the White House that Mr. Romney would be the strongest Republican to run against, particularly because of his well-financed operation and his potential reach among independent voters and women.”

More: “While most advisers still maintain that Mr. Romney has significant advantages — organization, discipline and support of the Republican establishment — Democrats pointed to at least two areas that could make Mr. Gingrich a more difficult candidate to face. First, he could be more difficult to brand as hostile to the middle class, because Mr. Gingrich does not have a history of buying and selling companies as Mr. Romney does from his time at Bain Capital. Second, Mr. Gingrich has a better record of reaching out to Hispanic voters, the fastest-growing segment of the electorate.”

A day after Republicans took whacks at President Obama at the Republican Jewish Coalition, he will host a Hanukkah reception at the White House.

The New York Times on Obama’s speech in Kansas yesterday: “Laying out a populist argument for his re-election next year, President Obama ventured into the conservative heartland on Tuesday to deliver his most pointed appeal yet for a strong governmental role through tax and regulation to level the economic playing field.” More: “The new tack reflected a decision by the White House and the president’s campaign aides that — with the economic recovery still lagging and Republicans in Congress continuing to oppose the president’s jobs proposals — the best course for Mr. Obama is to try to present himself as the defender of working-class Americans and Republicans as defenders of a small elite.”

The Washington Post on Obama’s speech today in Kansas: “Obama will speak in Osawatomie, Kan., the same Midwestern town where, 101 years ago, Theodore Roosevelt gave a famous address trumpeting a new progressive agenda. By arguing that every American deserves ‘a fair shot and a fair shake,’ White House aides said, Obama will echo Roosevelt’s speech laying out his New Nationalism philosophy. Roosevelt was calling for a government that ensures that the welfare of ordinary residents trumps that of businesses and special interests. ]\It’s an argument that builds on Obama’s jobs tour, in which he has attempted to cast himself as a champion of the middle class and accused Republicans of working only to protect the interests of the wealthy.”

“President Barack Obama and his Republican opponents are clashing over U.S. policy toward Israel as each side jockeys for support from Jewish voters, who could be critical in the 2012 election,” the AP writes. “Aiming to cast Obama as unfairly harsh toward Israel and soft on the Palestinians, Republican presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich have called on the president to fire his ambassador to Belgium.”

More: “The fiery debate will probably continue Wednesday when the GOP presidential candidates attend a Washington forum hosted by the Republican Jewish Coalition. Obama campaign officials say they will be ready to respond. And the next day, Jewish leaders will be at the White House for briefings on Israel and a Hanukkah party, followed by an Obama speech next week to an expected audience of nearly 6,000 at a conference of the Union for Reform Judaism.”

“Even as Jon Corzine’s MF Global was collapsing, a firm that includes former President Bill Clinton in a senior post was raking in huge fees for public-relations and financial advice from the ill-fated brokerage, The [New York] Post has learned. Clinton’s office insists the former president did not profit from the relationship between MF Global and Teneo Holdings, where he is chairman of the advisory board. But Teneo, on whose advisory board former British Prime Minister Tony Blair also sits, was paid $125,000 a month for at least five months in one of MF’s biggest consulting arrangements, according to sources at the brokerage house.”

“One trip, two money pitches. President Barack Obama wants more money in the pockets of U.S. workers -- and in his campaign treasury,” the AP writes. “With both goals in mind, the president was to travel Wednesday to swing-state Pennsylvania to press his case for a bigger temporary payroll tax cut that will boost paychecks. He then will descend on donor-rich New York City to raise money for his already flush re-election bid.”

More: “In New York, Obama will attend three fundraisers: one at a private residence where tickets begin at $10,000; one at the Greenwich Village restaurant Gotham Bar and Grill at $35,800 per ticket; and a reception at the Sheraton Hotel, where tickets begin at $1,000. The money will be split between the Democratic National Committee and the Obama re-election campaign.”

“Republicans are maneuvering to short-circuit an effort by Democrats on the National Labor Relations Board to approve rules that would quicken the pace of union elections,” the AP says. “The GOP member of the labor board is threatening to resign his post, which would deny the board a quorum and quash the entire process. At the same time, the House is poised Wednesday to approve a GOP bill aimed at short-circuiting moves they consider anti-business.”

“The Obama administration offered tempered praise this week as millions of Egyptians cast ballots in an election likely to be the country's freest and fairest ever -- a vote the U.S. insisted go forward despite objections by pro-democracy street protesters,” AP writes.