The threat comes just a day after Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) dropped holds on more than 70 pending nominees -- holds he placed after a dispute with the WH over earmarks for his home state.

Obama said he told Congressional leaders, with whom he met at the WH today, that he would make recess appointments if the Senate does not act on his nominations.

"We can't afford to allow politics to stand in the way of a well-functioning government," Obama said. He pointed to GSA administrator Martha Johnson, whose nomination was held up for 9 months by Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) in a dispute over a federal building in Kansas City. Johnson's nomination was confirmed last week in a 96-0 vote.

Last week, CongressDaily reported that Shelby had placed holds on every one of Obama's pending nominations as he tried to force the WH to cave on several earmarks. Yesterday, Shelby released the holds without getting his concessions.

Obama said he asked leaders for a "stop to these holds" which can go on for several months. "Surely we can set aside partisanship and do what's traditionally been done to confirm these nominations," Obama said.

When the Senate delays nominations, "that's not advise and consent," said Obama. "That's delay and obstruct."

Obama's appearance came just hours before the Senate is set to vote on cloture for Craig Becker, a deputy counsel at the SEIU and Obama's nominee to serve on the National Labor Relations Board. GOP senators and business groups oppose Becker's nomination on the grounds that he is too friendly to labor.

On Tuesday, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE), an Obama ally, said he would join a GOP-led filibuster against Becker's nomination.

"Senator McCain has served this country admirably but it's time to replace his moderate or even liberal positions on taxes, the border, social causes and big bank bailouts with a consistent conservative like J.D.," Arpaio writes in the letter. ""I just wish Senator McCain had run as hard against Barack Obama as he is against a conservative like J.D. That could have prevented the harmful, liberal agenda we are all now suffering through."

"Indeed, Senator McCain is already attacking J.D. by name in advertisements because [McCain] knows [Hayworth] is the type of exciting, principled conservative that excites people like you and me," Arpaio adds. "And he knows that after years of running over Republican principles his entire career no election year conversion to our way of thinking will save his campaign from voters that want conservatives to be a part of the solution rather than part of the problem."

Arpaio sent the letter to his own fundraising network, hoping to rake in big bucks for Hayworth's bid against McCain. Known as an anti-illegal immigration stalwart and an unorthodox sheriff who has made his prisoners live in a tent encampment and wear pink uniforms, Arpaio has a national following that could help Hayworth make up ground.

Arpaio and McCain have had their run-ins over the years, and McCain's push for a comprehensive immigration reform system is not something Arpaio and his backers want to see.

"[W]e must stop Senator McCain's policies to open up our borders," Arpaio writes, citing a Heritage Foundation report that highlighted the cost of McCain's plans. In a statement of his own, Hayworth echoed the immigration hits: "Sheriff Arpaio and I agree that John McCain's open borders approach for America is wrong," Hayworth said.

Hayworth is set to announce his challenge on Feb. 15.

Broadening the program is a recognition by GOPers that the national playing field is going to be significant. The NRCC is recognizing challengers to entrenched incumbents like Reps. Tim Bishop (D-NY), David Wu (D-OR), Ike Skelton (D-MO) and Russ Carnahan (D-MO).

Meanwhile, freshmen Dems like Reps. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ), Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Debbie Halvorson (D-IL) all have challengers in the NRCC's Young Guns program.

GOPers still face competitive primaries in a number of districts, and inclusion on the list of Young Guns does not denote an endorsement. 2 candidates running against Skelton are on the list of "contenders," while Bishop faces the winner of a primary between a contender and one on-the-radar candidate.

Still, not all primaries are bad things. The NRCC promoted 2 IL candidates -- state Sen. Randy Hultgren (R) and ex-McLean Co. Commis. Adam Kinzinger (R) -- after they won competitive primaries last week.

For a complete list of candidates promoted to upper tiers, continue through the jump.

The poll, conducted by Baselice & Associates (R), surveyed 1,007 regis. GOP voters between Feb. 3-4 for a margin of error of +/- 3.1%. Byrne was tested alongside ex-AL Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore (R), real estate developer Tim James (R), ex-AL Economic Development dir. Bill Johnson (R), state Rep. Robert Bentley (R) and state Treas. Kay Ivey (R).

Primary Election Matchup
Byrne         20%
Moore         17
James          8
Bentley        4
Ivey           3
Johnson        2

Moore leads among those who describe themselves as "very conservative," with 24% to Byrne's 18%, while Byrne takes 25% of somewhat conservative voters and 19% of moderate GOPers, easily outpacing the rest of the field. Byrne leads in every media market except Huntsville-Decatur, where Moore takes almost a quarter of the vote, and in counties on the state's eastern border with GA, where Moore earns 1 in 5 voters.

But Brent Buchanan, a senior partner at Public Strategy Associates, and pollster Mike Baselice don't expect Moore to be able to sustain his performance.

"Roy Moore has a name I.D. lead, but he doesn't have the money to keep the momentum going," Buchanan said. "He has those core supporters who wouldn't vote if he wasn't on the ballot in a Republican primary." Baselice characterized Moore's support as "residual" from his previous bid for office.

Meanwhile, Buchanan said, Ivey is taking heat for her role in the state's pre-paid college tuition program, which lost money during recent turbid economic climate.

Buchanan's firm, a GOP consulting and lobbying operation, paid for the poll. They are not working for a candidate in the GOV primary.

After the jump, check out an early look at the state's WH '12 competition.

Dicks and Murtha joined the defense panel the same day in '79, and since Dems took control of the House Dicks served as Murtha's vice-chair. Dicks is the likely choice, based on his seniority, but he's taking the necessary steps to lock down the vote, he said today.

"The committee will meet. They will vote. I'm obviously hoping that I'll be elected. I don't take anything for granted. I'll be on the phone calling my colleagues today asking for their support," Dicks said this morning on KOMO-FM, a Seattle radio station. "I'm the senior guy. I've done this. I've had a lot of experience."

Dicks called Murtha, who died after complications from surgery yesterday, "a true friend." "He was a tireless advocate for the troops. He wanted to make sure the troops had the equipment, the ammunition, the humvees, the MRAPs, whatever they needed," Dicks said.

Dicks said he has support from Appropriations chair David Obey (D-WI), and that he will try and meet with Speaker Nancy Pelosi today. After the committee votes on a new chair, the Democratic Steering Committee will pass its own judgment. The House Dem Caucus has the final say.

If he does get the panel, as expected, Dicks will be in a position to deliver for his home state. Boeing, which employs 72K workers in WA, does billions a year in business with the Pentagon.

"I'll be in a very powerful position to deal with the Pentagon, the White House," Dicks said. The committee chair "puts me in a much more powerful position in the House of Representatives with my colleagues."

Update: An alert reader points out that Boeing employs 72K workers in WA, not hundreds of thousands, as we wrote earlier.

The WMUR Granite State Poll, conducted by UNH, tested 444 LVs between Jan. 27 and Feb. 3 for a margin of error of +/- 4.7%. Rep. Paul Hodes (D) was tested against ex-AG Kelly Ayotte (R), atty/'96 GOV nom. Ovide Lamontagne (R), businessman Jim Bender (R) and businessman Bill Binnie (R).

General Election Matchups (Previous poll conducted Oct. '09)
Ayotte       41 (+1)           Hodes        38 (+1)
Hodes        33 (no change)    Lamontagne   29 (+1)

Hodes        36                Hodes        34
Bender       27                Binnie       30

Of the candidates, Ayotte has the highest favorable rating, at 38%-12%, while Hodes sports much higher unfavorable ratings, at 32%-27%. Hodes has a good 40%-24% fav rating in his own CD (UNH tends to have higher levels of undecided voters than other NH polls), but he has a net-negative 25%-31% rating in Rep. Carol Shea-Porter's (D) 1st CD.

More than 4 in 5 voters have no opinion of either Bender or Binnie. We keep expecting to see Binnie's numbers to rise, given that he's been on the air for several weeks. Instead, his fav/unfav stands at just 10%-4%.

Indie voters favor Hodes against all 4 GOP candidates. He sports a 31%-29% lead over Ayotte among indies, though she is doing much better among her base of GOPers (73%-3%) than Hodes is among his Dem base (62%-16%).

Meanwhile, voter angst that grips the nation has not spared NH. Sen. Judd Gregg (R) has seen his favorable rating drop 10 points in the last year, down to 54%, while Sen. Jeanne Shaheen's (D) rating is down 8 points, to 48%, over the same period.

The poll also tested several House matchups, though with margins of error of +/- 6.2% each, the results aren't the best possible snapshot of those races. All 4 GOPers running against Shea-Porter lead the incumbent, while ex-Rep. Charlie Bass (R) runs best against both potential Dem foes in Hodes's Nashua- and Concord-based districts.

White spent the majority of the debate presenting and attempting to defend his record as mayor of Houston, rather than engaging with Shami at every turn. "I knew how to bring people together to get things done," said White, of his time as mayor.

He also mixed in an offensive against Gov. Rick Perry (R), in which he sought to cast Perry as a partisan politician, and one whose leadership style is analogous to the gridlock in DC.

Both candidates stressed education as a top priority. Shami said he supported limits on abortion rights, while White voiced support for current laws.

Shami's performance came with some colorful answers. He promised 100K new jobs in his first 2 years, and if he falls short, he will give the state $10M. Shami also said he supports a moratorium on the death penalty, while White disagreed.

But White is clearly more focused on Perry, who faces a primary of his own against Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R). The general election is going to be less about personality and more about the future of TX, White predicted.

"We need a governor who will work for the future of all people of our sate and not just for his own political future," said White. "Look at this debate, compare it to the Republican debate… and ask yourself this basic question: Which candidate can you trust is not exaggerating?"

Meanwhile the Perry camp used the debate as an opportunity to go after Hutchison's conservative credentials, casting her as pro-choice alongside the 2 Dems.

While the race on the Dem side is much less competitive than it is over on the GOP side, Shami has shown that he is determined to stay in the race as long as he can, even if it means dipping in to his personal finances. A long shot candidate running a largely self-financed campaign, Shami's plan of attack has been to cast White and the other candidates in the race as career politicians, while portraying himself as a different choice, whose experience as CEO prepares him for the job.

More of Obama's interview with CBS' Couric aired 2/8 p.m. on "Evening News."

Obama, on uncertainty about "who he is or what he stands for": "This is the Washington analysis that came up over the last couple of months since my poll numbers went down. Nobody was saying that when my poll numbers were high, right? So I just take these kinds of things with a grain of salt."

Obama, on if he pays attention to those comments: "I really don't. My job is to do the best possible job for the American people. I wrote two books. I've done, as you said, a gazillion interviews, and I spent two years running for president. And I think people have a very good sense of what I care about."

Obama: "The pundits, what they're trying to figure out, is why did his poll numbers drop? And Michelle pointed out if you're the average working mom out there, your husband's just lost his job; you're seeing your hours cut back; your home value is lost $100,000 in value; you're trying to figure out how to save for your kids' college education; your 401(k) has just lost half its value."

After the jump, more Obama, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) on how the late Rep. Jack Murtha's (D-PA) relates to health care reform and SC First Lady Jenny Sanford's book tour continues.

Here's Tuesday's Starting Lineup, taking a look at the people making headlines today and their impact on the nation's political landscape:

REP. JOHN MURTHA: The longtime Johnstown Congressman passed away yesterday at the age of 77 after complications from gallbladder surgery. Few members not in House leadership were better-known, or more contentious, and for 36 years his presence was felt on Capitol Hill.

We'll bring you a round-up of obituaries later today, but for early reading, check out the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat, the Washington Post and a long obit from Politico's David Rogers.

Murtha's passing puts another Dem-held seat in play, and it will lead to a promotion for Reps. Norm Dicks (D-WA) and Jim Moran (D-VA) on the House Appropriations Committee. Dicks will take over Murtha's Defense Subcommittee, where the 2 long worked together, while Moran will likely move up a spot and take over Dicks' Interior and Environment Subcommittee. We'll have more on these moves and on the race for Murtha's seat later today.

HOUSE MIN. LEADER JOHN BOEHNER: Pres. Obama is set to meet with bipartisan leaders at the WH today to discuss jobs legislation, but top GOPers are angry about another WH get-together, set for Feb. 25. Boehner and House Min. Whip Eric Cantor are upset that Pres. Obama will begin the health care summit by discussing Dem bills, rather than scraping everything and starting over.

"If the starting point for this meeting is the job-killing bills the American people have already soundly rejected, Republicans would rightly be reluctant to participate," Boehner and Cantor wrote in a letter to WH CoS Rahm Emanuel. WH press sec. Robert Gibbs returned fire, promising Obama wouldn't "walk away from reform."

The Johnstown-based Democrat had been in intensive care at Virginia Hospital Center after complications stemming from recent gallbladder surgery.

On 2/6, Murtha became the longest-serving Rep. in PA history. He was elected in 1974.

Benton told the Seattle Times he's been inspired by Brown, who stunned Dems last month by winning Sen. Ted Kennedy's seat. He's been in office since '96 and, for a brief and tumultuous tenure, headed up the state GOP.

He gives GOPers a real candidate to get behind; so far, 6 others are running, though none are considered seriius contenders. But Murray remains an overwhelming front-runner as she seeks a 4th term. Murray had more than $5.1M in the bank at the end of the year.

GOPers are holding out hope for another candidate they are in the process of wooing. And Benton's entry into the race means he will not run for an open seat held by Rep. Brian Baird (D); he ran for the seat, unsuccessfully, in '98.

The poll, conducted Feb. 1-3, showed just 44% of registered voters approving of Obama's job as president. 47% disapprove. But among indie voters, Obama's approval rating sits at a terrible 29%, while his disapproval rating is at 57%.

Obama's 44% job approval rating is the lowest he has scored in any non-internet poll since moving into the WH, according to a review of data compiled by Pollster.com.

And while GOPers strive to avoid attacking Obama personally, for fear of offending voters who see him in a favorable light personally, even that aura of invincibility is wearing off. Independent voters view Obama negatively, too, by a 39% favorable to 52% unfavorable margin. All registered voters still see Obama favorably by a 50%-44% margin, but that's down 5 points in just 2 months.

Voters are disappointed in what they got with Obama's first year. The poll shows 47% believe Obama has failed to meet their expectations -- including a quarter of Dems, 65% of GOPers and 53% of indie voters -- while just 42% say he has met their expectations. 38% say Obama's policies are moving the country in the wrong direction, while 37% say they're making the country better.

Meanwhile, members of Congress should brace for a difficult election year. 42% of registered voters said they would back their current member of Congress, while 44% said they would support someone else -- a drop of 9 points in support of the incumbent in just 2 months.

The Marist College poll surveyed 910 registered voters for a margin of error of +/- 3.2%.

Fox News analyst Angela McGlowan will announce her bid against Rep. Travis Childers (D-MS) today in Oxford. She will face state Sen. Alan Nunnelee (R) and ex-Eupora Mayor Henry Ross (R) in the June 1 primary.

Before announcing her bid, McGlowan addressed the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville this weekend. She strongly hinted at her impending bid and won a quick endorsement from WorldNetDaily editor in chief Joseph Farah, who spoke after her.

McGlowan's candidacy will put the NRCC in an awkward spot. Nunnelee is a highly-touted recruit, and he's already been promoted to the "Contender" tier of the "Young Guns" program. Inclusion among the Young Guns does not denote an endorsement -- several members face each other in primaries -- but the NRCC has long been optimistic about Nunnelee.

"We welcome her to the race. Obviously, Sen. Nunnelee has been in there for a while and has turned out to be one of the best candidates for us this cycle," said NRCC spokesperson Andy Sere. "They'll have a primary, and Northern Mississippi voters will decide."

Privately, GOP sources question how serious McGlowan's candidacy will be. She has been a lobbyist for Steve Wynn's gambling empire -- something that won't be as acceptable to voters in the northern-based 1st district as it would be to voters in the state's gambling-friendly coast.

Plus, she's from the wrong part of the district. Childers represents an area stretching from the Memphis suburbs in the west to Tupelo in the east. McGlowan's base in Oxford is in a less populated area. And GOPers who favor Nunnelee already have opposition research featuring some of McGlowan's past interviews.

McGlowan will make her announcement tour with stops in Corinth, Tupelo, Columbus and Hernando during the week.

The DSCC has received $3.2M in transfers from its members, CQ-Roll Call's David Drucker reports, giving the party ample funds to defend its incumbents and open seats and to pursue some of the GOP-held open seats this fall.

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) leads the way, having given $315K so far. Senate Maj. Whip Dick Durbin has given $265K, and even Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) has chipped in $200K.

And more may be coming; Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), who announced last month he would not seek another term, gave $100K in Jan., but he had more than $4M left in the bank as of the end of the year. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), who also said he would not run again last month, still has $3.3M CoH.

Member buy-in is something Dems have pushed since '94, when the party's sinking fortunes led many to hoard their cash in order to save themselves. Now, as the party faces another difficult election cycle, they need all the cash they can get to defend vulnerable incumbents, and to stay on offense wherever they can.

The DCCC is also getting significant member buy-in, according to a Hotline On Call analysis. The party has strict minimums of what members should donate, with different levels for leadership, committee chairs, subcommittee chairs and members of the so-called "A" committees.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi leads the way, having donated $850K, with Maj. Leader Steny Hoyer kicking in $785K and Maj. Whip Jim Clyburn giving $585K. Dem Caucus chair John Larson (D-CT) and Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA), a rising star in the House, have already contributed $400K each from their own funds. And committee chairs George Miller (D-CA), Barney Frank (D-MA) and Henry Waxman (D-CA) have handed over $325K, $300K and $300K respectively. DCCC chair Chris Van Hollen, who has guided his party to strong financial position, gave $320K to his own cause.

GOPers have seen much less buy-in from members. Drucker reports the NRSC has received $931K from its members, while the NRCC has seen transfers of more than $100K from just 7 members, according to the latest FEC reports. House Min. Leader John Boehner is the only member to have given more than $200K; he has donated $555K so far, records show.

GOP donations waned over the last 2 cycles as the party faced troubling electoral circumstances. More members decided to keep their cash for themselves in order to defend their own seats, rather than contribute to the national effort.

But now, those donations are going to become crucial if the GOP is to maximize its electoral prospects. At the moment, the DCCC has $16.7M in the bank and $2M in debt, while the NRCC has just $2.67M on hand. Without significant member buy-in, especially from those members who may not face a serious challenge, the GOP could very easily leave a significant number of Dem-held seats on the table.