Daily Political Wire

George Wenschhof

Obama To Deliver Gun Control Speech in Denver Today - President Obama is scheduled to deliver a speech on gun control at 3 p.m. ET Wednesday in Denver, Colo. Ahead of the speech, Obama is scheduled to meet with law enforcement and community officials at the Denver Police Academy, according to the White House.

The President will teh fly to San Francisco, California where he will attend two fundraisers.

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60% Want Stricter Gun Laws - Strong majorities of Americans say they favor stricter gun laws, including an assault-weapons ban and universal background checks for private gun sales, according to a new national Morning Joe/Marist poll.

Read the entire poll here
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64% Believe Congress Should Focus on Job Creation, Not Deficit Reduction - A poll released Wednesday showed a huge majority of Americans believe President Barack Obama and Congress should prioritize job creation, far more than the sliver of the country that believes Washington should prioritize deficit reduction.

The inaugural Morning Joe/Marist poll found 64 percent of Americans saying the Obama administration and leaders on Capitol Hill should make job creation their top priority. Just 33 percent said deficit reduction should be the top priority.

Despite the intense focus on deficit reduction among top Republican leaders, the poll found rank-and-file GOP voters divided between the two options. A slight majority of Republicans — 51 percent — said they want the focus to be on deficit reduction, while 46 percent favor prioritizing job creation. The overall majority that gave precedence to job creation included 76 percent of Democrats.  TPM.com has more here.

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Obama Administration Urges Banks To Make Loans To People With Weak Credit - The Obama administration is engaged in a broad push to make more home loans available to people with weaker credit, an effort that officials say will help power the economic recovery but that skeptics say could open the door to the risky lending that caused the housing crash in the first place.

Housing officials are urging the Justice Department to provide assurances to banks, which have become increasingly cautious, that they will not face legal or financial recriminations if they make loans to riskier borrowers who meet government standards but later default.  The Washington Post has more here.

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Sanford Wins S. Carolina GOP Primary Runoff - Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) has won his House primary runoff, setting up a high-profile special election against businesswoman Elizabeth Colbert Busch (D), the sister of comedian Stephen Colbert.

The win is the latest step in Sanford's rehabilitation after an extramarital affair derailed his political career in 2009 — but his biggest test lies ahead in the Republican-leaning district.

Colbert Busch's campaign was quick to slam Sanford following his primary win.

"The families of this district need a representative who they can trust," Colbert Busch campaign spokesman James Smith said. "Mark Sanford simply has the wrong values for our community — whether that’s his terms as Governor or the last time he was in Congress, where he opposed commonsense measures like the Violence Against Women Act, which provides shelters and resources for domestic violence survivors. On issue after issue, Mark Sanford doesn't reflect the values of South Carolina."  TheHill.com has more here.

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Obama Endorses Kelly in Illinois Special Election to Fill Vacant Jesse Jackson Jr. Seat - “To continue moving America forward, I need partners in the House of Representatives like Robin Kelly,” Obama said in a press release from the Kelly campaign. “I have known Robin for many years and I am confident she is the perfect choice to represent the Illinois 2nd Congressional District.”

Kelly is all but assured to win her special-election bid to replace former Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr., D-Ill., on April 9.  RollCall.com has more here.

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Kerry To Return to Israel on Saturday - Secretary of State John Kerry will return to Israel Saturday to continue efforts to lay the groundwork for a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

Kerry appears to be focused on quietly seeking a series of confidence-building pledges and actions from each side with the hopes of returning to formal peace talks in a few months.  Politico.com has more here.

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