Hotline Sort: Miller Time
Welcome back to Hotline Sort. Republicans will converge on Washington today for the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference, but one presidential contender will be absent. Also there's a shakeup in the Texas Senate race and Republicans think it's Miller's time (to go) in North Carolina.
10) Following a two-year federal investigation of money used to cover up his extramarital affair during the 2008 election, former presidential candidate John Edwards, D-N.C., is expected to face criminal charges today.
9) The New York Times highlights one of the stranger moments in the federal court case involving Rod Blagojevich. The former Democratic governor of Illinois said one of his many ideas for the Senate seat was to seat himself and then go to Afghanistan to hunt down Osama bin Laden.
8) New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie reimbursed the state more than $3,300 on Thursday for his use of a police helicopter to travel to his son's baseball games and to meet with political fundraisers, the New York Times reports. Christie made the payment a day after his office said he would not.
7) The National Republican Congressional Committee is on the attack against Rep. Brad Miller, D-N.C., over his vote to raise the debt limit without any accompanying spending cuts this week. The committee is up with an ad against the congressman, vulnerable thanks to the Republican-controlled redistricting process in his state.
"The national debt is now 14 trillion dollars. And Congressman Brad Miller just voted for two trillion more debt without any budget cuts," the ad says.
Miller was only one of 97 members of Congress - all Democrats -- to vote for the legislation. While a majority of Democrats backed Miller, most facing the prospect of competitive re-elections joined Republicans in opposition.
Miller usually has little trouble getting re-elected - he even helped draw this seat for himself when he was back in the state Senate. But with redistricting in the Tar Heel State controlled by the GOP, his once-comfortably Democratic district is likely to become much more Republican.
6) What does Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., have in common with Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain? Both support the FairTax, a flat tax proposal that would abolish the income tax and replace it with a national sales tax. Lugar released a web video Thursday declaring his support for the proposal.
Lugar, looking to whip up support from the right, is facing a primary challenge from state Treasurer Richard Mourdock.
5) Carolyn Goodman, the wife of term-limited Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, is the favorite to succeed her husband in the June 7 general election, according to a new poll released late Thursday. Goodman leads Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani, 48 percent to 30 percent, though the race is slightly closer among those who voted in the April primary, according to the poll, conducted by the UNLV Cannon Survey Center.
4) The GOP's leading presidential candidates and key lawmakers are set to speak on the next two days at the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference in Washington, but Republican Newt Gingrich won't be attending. The former House speaker, who has tried to court evangelicals, will miss the marquee event because he and his wife, Callista, are on a one-week vacation, his spokesman tells National Journal. It's a strange absence for a man whose campaign stumbled badly out of the gate and who needs to appease many social conservatives about his past infidelity.
3) Keep an eye on the coverage of the Wisconsin Democratic convention this weekend. Former Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., who revealed Thursday to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that he will decide on a Senate bid by the end of the summer, will be in attendance. He won't be speaking, but his presence is sure to generate buzz.
Meanwhile in Texas, the field is likely to shrink, as Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams, is likely to leave the Senate race to run for a new House seat. That's good news for Solicitor General Ted Cruz, who has generated the most support from conservative activists, and now has less competition on that front.
2) A majority of Americans approves of President Obama, according to a new Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor poll, but that survey "underscores the political risks he still faces," writes Ron Brownstein in the new issue of National Journal. Despite a bump in the president's overall approval rating, only 42 percent said they would vote to re-elect Obama, while 47 percent said they would "definitely" or "probably" vote for someone else.
In a separate story, Brownstein also explored the similarities and differences in the ways whites and minorities feel about the economy, the role of government, the degree of opportunity available to them and society's success at providing an equal chance to all.
1) Seven Republicans will meet this month for a New Hampshire debate on June 13 sponsored by CNN, WMUR and the New Hampshire Union-Leader: Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn.,former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain, Gingrich, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa.
-- Steven Shepard, Jessica Taylor and Alex Roarty contributed to this post
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