Monday Open Thread [3.17.14]

Marc Ambinder: “One undeniable truth: Iraq weakened the U.S. more than anything done since. Maybe Obama overlearned its lessons; maybe we all have. But nothing empowered Vladimir Putin more than America’s squandering of moral standing in the early part of this century.”

Today, Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Council (DEFAC) will release the first revenue forecast of 2014. In December, DEFAC added $42 million to incoming revenues, but that still left a hole of about $125 million for Gov. Jack Markell to fill in his budget.

NATIONAL–PRESIDENT–REPUBLICAN PRIMARY–CNN/ORC International: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) 16, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) 15, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) 11, Mike Huckabee 10, Jeb Bush (R) 9 and Gov. Chris Christie (R) 8, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) 8.

The Week looks at what a Rand v. Hillary race would look like.

GEORGIA–GOVENROR–Insider Advantage: Jason Carter (D) 41, Gov. Nathan Deal (R) 38

MICHIGAN–GOVERNOR–Denno Research: Gov. Rick Snyder (R) 42, Mark Schauer (D) 39.

ILLINOIS–GOVERNOR–DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY–Strive Strategies: Gov. Pat Quinn (D) 64 Tio Hardiman (D) 36.

Political Fix: “In a news release, the polling firm calls that a ‘solid lead’ and presents it as good news for Quinn. It isn’t. Hardiman has no political base, no money, and has received no serious media coverage. It’s unlikely that one-third of Democratic Illinois voters even know who he is, let alone are supporting him.”

WISCONSIN–GOVERNOR–Rasmussen Reports: Mary Burke (D) 45, Gov. Scott Walker (R) 45.

PENNSYLVANIA–GOVERNOR–DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY–Robert Morris University: Tom Wolf (D) 51, Allyson Schwartz (D) 17, Bob McCord (D) 13, and Kathleen McGinty (D) 9

Meanwhile, just 21% of likely voters suggest they plan to vote for Gov. Tom Corbett (R) while 40% suggested they would vote for the Democratic candidate. Another 12% would vote for another candidate and 27% are undecided.

MICHIGAN–U.S. SENATE–Denno Research: Rep Gary Peters (D-MI) 40, Terri Lynn Land (R) 37

NEW JERSEY–U.S. SENATE–Monmouth University/Asbury Park Press Poll: Sen. Cory Booker (D) 58, Murray Sabrin (R) 25.

NEW YORK–GOVERNOR–NBC/Wall Street Journal/Marist College: Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) 68, Rob Astorino (R) 25.

NEW HAMPSHIRE–U.S. SENATE–Boston Herald/Suffolk University: Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D) 52, Former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown (R) 39.

TEXAS–GOVERNOR–Rasmussen Reports: Greg Abbott (R) 53, Wendy Davis (D) 41