OFF TO THE RACES: How Hillary’s announcement played
The New York Times: "Hillary Clinton Starts to Detail Rationale for Run as Campaign Begins"
The Washington Post: "Clinton strikes populist tone in long-awaited campaign announcement"
The Wall Street Journal: "Clinton, Party Aim to Buck History."
Reuters: "Hillary Clinton: Fearsome foe or easy target?"
Des Moines Register, A-1: "Clinton pledges to champion everyday Americans."
New Hampshire Union Leader, A-1: "Clinton makes it official"
The Associated Press writes: "Her decision to run again would be slow, almost painstakingly deliberate, a reflection of Clinton's methodical and cautious nature. She put off much of the process until last fall, around the midterm elections. Only then did she delve deeply into consultations with dozens of policy and political experts, analysis of countless memos, and a reexamination of what went wrong in her failed 2008 campaign."
David Lightman of McClatchy: "She’s the far-ahead frontrunner for the Democratic nomination and may well coast to the party’s convention in 2016. But without the backing of younger voters, particularly women, as well as independents and liberals, she faces trouble in the general election. The former secretary of state’s 2 minute, 18 second announcement video Sunday went right after those constituencies. It prominently featured a young mother, a 20-something woman looking for work, an engaged same-sex couple and young children."
From one of us(!): Clinton is returning to Iowa, the state that represented the beginning of the end for her in 2008.
And here’s MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki on Hillary and the Obama factor.
RUBIO: NBC's Perry Bacon Jr. reports on why he's such a formidable GOP candidate.
The New York Times: "[T]he lessons from his formative races have hardened into an animating political philosophy for Mr. Rubio: Deference to more experienced candidates is overrated, public opinion can shift in an instant and merely surviving a race until Election Day can mean winning it."
POLITICO writes that Rubio couldn't say no. "For Marco, being told he can’t do something is a challenge."
National Journal: " A secret-money group linked to Marco Rubio's new super PAC has existed for more than a year, during which time it conducted extensive research on early-state primary voters."
The Washington Post notes that the once monolithic Cuban American vote is showing signs of a split.
And around the country...
"A cadre of wealthy liberal donors aims to pour tens of millions of dollars into rebuilding the left’s political might in the states, racing to catch up with a decades-old conservative effort that has reshaped statehouses across the country," writes the Washington Post.
OBAMA AGENDA: Battleground Yemen
"The U.S. is expanding its role in Saudi Arabia’s campaign in Yemen, vetting military targets and searching vessels for Yemen-bound Iranian arms amid growing concerns about the goals of the Saudi-led mission, according to U.S. and Arab officials," writes the Wall Street Journal.
From the AP: "Iraq's prime minister says his country needs greater support from the international coalition so it can "finish" the Islamic State group."
CONGRESS: Back at work
From the New York Times: "After months of delicate negotiations with the Iranian regime, President Obama this week will face a high-stakes confrontation with defiant lawmakers — including members of his own party — who are intent on influencing diplomacy over the future of Iran’s nuclear program. With supporters closing in on a veto-proof majority, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will formally draft legislation Tuesday that would give Congress some authority over lifting sanctions against Iran, a precondition for Iran’s partial dismantlement of its nuclear complex."
"House Democrats on the fence about the White House’s proposed nuclear deal with Iran will be asked next week to close ranks and get behind the president," writes Roll Call. "With the House and Senate getting back to work on April 13 after a two-week recess, most of the legislative action is set to be in the Senate, where the Foreign Relations Committee will begin marking up its bill giving Congress power to override President Barack Obama’s emerging deal to disarm Iran."
The chief of the Capitol Hill Police has submitted a letter of resignation, Roll Call reports.
And former South Carolina GOP congressman Bob Inglis has been named the 2015 recipient of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for his efforts to engage conservatives on the issue of climate change.
PROGRAMMING NOTES.
*** Monday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: Tamron Hall speaks with Democratic Strategist Robert Zimmerman, Republican strategist Steve Deace, and MSNBC’s Beth Fouhy about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Senator Marco Rubio’s announcing they will run for President.
*** Monday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Luke Russert will interview Fmr. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, Fmr. Sen. Tom Harkin, Fmr. White House Communications Director Anita Dunn, Sen. Angus King, Fmr. Romney Campaign Advisor Vin Weber, “The Residence” author Kate Andersen Brower, the AP’s Julie Pace, the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza, msnbc’s Joy Reid and NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell and Kristen Welker.