Monday's Starting Lineup

Good Monday morning. Glass half full for U.S. hockey: In 2 games, we still scored more goals than the Canadians did.

Here's Monday's Starting Lineup, previewing the people who will matter in politics today:

AR LG BILL HALTER: The long-rumored is now reality: Halter announced this morning he will challenge Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) in the Dem primary, further complicating the 2-term incumbent's chances at re-election. She already faces miserable poll numbers and a top-tier GOP challenger (though even Rep. John Boozman has to get through a crowded field of fellow GOPers first).

Halter is a favorite of the lefty blogosphere, while Lincoln's negotiations on health care and other Dem priorities have made her more enemies among her own party than friends among GOPers. And Halter is more used to being a top dog than an understudy -- he dropped his GOV bid and ran for LG only after it became clear then-AG Mike Beebe had the Dem primary sown up.

Lincoln is one of the most vulnerable incumbents in the country this year, and poll numbers show she will have only the narrowest path to victory. The Gem State's filing deadline is a week away, and already Dems have shown the ability to ease fatally damaged incumbents out the door. Halter's entry could force Dems to rethink whether they ought to discuss Lincoln's future once again.

HONOLULU COUNCIL MEMBER CHARLES DJOU: Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) resigned from Congress yesterday to focus more time on his GOV bid. That means 3 major candidates now face a 2 1/2-month sprint to the May 22 special election in which the winner will fill the rest of Abercrombie's term. HI special election rules do not allow for a runoff, so the person claiming the narrowest of pluralities will head to DC for at least the remainder of the year.

That's great news for the GOP. Their candidate, Djou, is an energetic campaigner who has won Dem-leaning districts in the past. He will face off against 2 Dems -- ex-Rep. Ed Case (D) and state Senate pres. Colleen Hanabusa (D) -- who may find themselves more focused on each other than on Djou. And though the district went heavily for Pres. Obama, the seat tilts more to the GOP than one might think. Abercrombie's predecessor was GOPer Pat Saiki, and the district's heavy military presence, thanks to Pearl Harbor, gives Djou a good shot to win the seat.

If Djou does pull off the win, it could be a bigger symbolic win than even Sen. Scott Brown's (R) victory. The 1st District, based around Honolulu, is where Obama grew up, and it gave him 70% of the vote in '08. Hanabusa appears to be the early favorite, though Case -- who represented the state's other district in Congress -- is going to be a tough challenger. If Djou can sneak through, it will further demoralize an already-distraught Dem Party.

HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI: Meanwhile, Abercrombie's resignation gives Pelosi another minor headache as the House hunts for health care reform votes. Abercrombie was a solid Dem voter -- National Journal vote rankings put him at 127th in the list of most liberal members, about the middle of the Dem caucus -- and his absence means Pelosi's path to a majority is a little more complicated (Meanwhile, Abercrombie's resignation is placated by Rep. Nathan Deal's (R-GA) decision to step down today).

Pelosi promised on ABC's "This Week" that she will have the votes when a bill reaches the House floor, even as Maj. Leader Steny Hoyer said on CBS that Dems aren't quite there yet. Pelosi only started with 220 votes, and Pres. Obama's proposal makes pro-life Dems uncomfortable enough to threaten to walk away.

Pelosi has asked her members to take tough votes all year -- from the stimulus to cap and trade to health care -- and let her more vulnerable Dems vote against the majority when they need to. But for those who think health care reform is a bridge too far, she has one response: "We're not here just to self-perpetuate our service in Congress," she said on ABC. How many of her freshmen and sophomores, elected in already-GOP-leaning territory, will agree will determine the fate of any reform package.