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Today’s Times

-        The earthquake and tsunami that left parts of Japan destroyed and the immediate future of its nuclear reactors in question have made lawmakers in Washington rethink the bipartisan enthusiasm for nuclear energy in the United States. The consensus is being questioned anew as the world watches the crisis unfolding over Japan’s nuclear reactors, the Times’s John Broder reports.

-        Philip J. Crowley ended his stint as the State Department spokesman on Sunday, four days after publicly calling the Pentagon “ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid” in its treatment of Pfc. Bradley E. Manning, the soldier imprisoned on charges of leaking classified government documents to WikiLeaks. His comment was the last in a series of incautious remarks that upset the White House, the Times’s Mark Landler and Michael Shear report.

-        While many aspiring Republican presidential candidates are dodging the spotlight, Tim Pawlenty is seeking it. The former Minnesota governor rarely seems to turn down an invitation – Tea Party rallies, church forums, beer and pizza parties with College Republicans – in his aggressive courtship of a nomination to challenge President Obama in 2012, the Times’s Jeff Zeleny reports.

Around the Web

-        President Obama published an op-ed in the Arizona Daily Star on the need for sensible reform to gun control laws. The thousand-word piece suggested enforcing laws already on the books, pushing for better state-to-state coordination and a concerted effort to “make the system faster and nimbler” to provide accurate data for background checks.

- Is Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes upset with Sarah Palin? New York Magazine reports that the media executive is not too happy that the former vice presidential candidate seems to be discarding his advice.

Happenings in Washington

-        President Obama continues his education blitz today as he delivers a speech to students in Arlington, Virginia.  After school, he will meet with Denmark’s Prime Minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen.

-        The Energy and Commerce Committee considers a resolution disapproving the Federal Communications Commission’s regulation of the Internet.

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Representative Dean Heller, Republican of Nevada, said on Tuesday that he will run for the Senate seat being vacated by Senator John Ensign next year.

Mr. Ensign, a Republican, announced he would not run for reelection after being dogged by a sex scandal involving an affair he had with a staffer. Mr. Heller, a former secretary of state, made his intentions clear in an e-mail message to supporters.

“Barack Obama and his beltway allies are proposing record spending that will add to America’s job-killing debt from a stratospheric $14 trillion to a staggering $20 trillion,” he wrote. “We cannot allow this to happen.”

It’s not clear whether Mr. Heller will have a clear shot at the nomination. Sharron Angle, who lost a high-profile bid to oust the Democratic majority leader, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, is rumored to be interested in trying again.

But Mr. Heller has been a likely contender for statewide office in Nevada a number of times and probably would be favored in a primary contest against Ms. Angle.

In his e-mail, first reported by Jon Ralston, a political reporter for the Las Vegas Sun, Mr. Heller bragged about his opposition to the TARP program to rescue the banking system, calling it an example of “debt-fueled bailouts” that hurt the economy.

“Congress can no longer refuse to make tough fiscal decisions and stick our children and grandchildren with the
massive debt that has been allowed to accrue for far too long,” Mr. Heller said. “We must take control of government spending to instill long-term economic growth in our country.”

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March 15

Frank Buckles, who died last month at the age of 110, was the last American veteran of World War I.

March 15

Representative Dean Heller, Republican of Nevada, said on Tuesday that he will run for the Senate seat being vacated by Senator John Ensign next year.

March 15

A bill sponsored by Representative Carolyn McCarthy will try to close loopholes in the system for background checks before gun sales.

March 15

Political junkies, just like sports junkies, love the little items. Here are a few.

March 15

Rather than emphasize his differences with potential Oval Office rivals, the president is taking every opportunity he can to embrace members of the other party.

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President Obama plans a news conference Friday morning to discuss rising energy prices.

Stocks worldwide were sharply lower Thursday because of worries about the crude oil supply combined with downbeat economic reports from three continents.

Oil prices were down $1.68, to $102.70, well below their recent highs on Monday. But the markets remained volatile with reports that hat Saudi forces had opened fire on protesters and of escalating violence in Libya, particularly around the strategic refinery town of Ras Lanuf.

In Congress on Thursday, Republican and Democratic leaders sparred over whether the United States should increase its drilling for oil to bolster energy supplies.

The White House announcement said the president would speak to the press in the South Court Auditorium, but did not give an exact time.

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Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas and a potential 2012 presidential candidate, has been getting lots of press recently for his comments on radio shows. The latest? This week, as first reported by Politico, he went after Hollywood star Natalie Portman.

“People see a Natalie Portman or some other Hollywood starlet who boasts, ‘we’re not married but we’re having these children and they’re doing just fine,’” Huckabee told conservative radio host Michael Medved Monday. “I think it gives a distorted image. It’s unfortunate that we glorify and glamorize the idea of out-of- wedlock children.”

Mr. Huckabee won the Iowa caucus in 2008 on the strength of his appeal to social conservatives. And despite the fact that economic concerns appear to have dominated public opinion recently, and it remains unclear whether he will be a candidate for president this time around, the former governor seems to be positioning himself that way again.

Trending on Twitter? Whether Mr. Huckabee plans to say the same thing about Bristol Palin, the daughter of the former Alaska governor, who is a fellow Fox News contributor and a potential 2012 rival.

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March 04

Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas and a potential 2012 presidential candidate, went after the actress Natalie Portman for getting pregnant before she was married.

March 04

They held their tongues overnight, but Republican Congressional leaders on Friday ripped the initial Democratic offer in new budget negotiations.

March 04

He may not be the high-profile, high-volume, hard-charging White House chief of staff that Rahm Emanuel was, but suddenly, Bill Daley is everywhere.

March 04

Without Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government may have to fill in the mortgage gap, both sides say.

March 03

Congress has the right to appoint a lawyer to defend a law’s constitutionality if the executive branch declines to do so.

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