New Quinnipiac polls find New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D) trailing a GOP challenger and Democrats leading the Ohio Senate race.

**2009 New Jersey Governor
The incumbent Corzine could be in trouble this year, the latest survey finds, with him trailing former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie (R). Corzine leads the other potential Republican challengers.

Christie must get through the GOP primary first, though he appears to be the clear favorite so far; Quinnipiac also tested former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan, Assemblyman Rick Merkt and Franklin Township Mayor Brian Levine.

GOP Primary
Christie 44
Lonegan 17
Levine 5
Merkt 2
Und 32

General Election
Christie (R) 44
Corzine (D) 38
Und 16

**2010 Ohio Senate
Former Rep. Rob Portman (R) leads Auditor Mary Taylor (R) in the Republican primary race, though both trail the leading Democrats -- Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher or Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner -- in potential general election matchups by double-digit margins. Also tested was Rep. Tim Ryan (D).

GOP Primary
Portman 33
Taylor 11
Und 56

Dem Primary
Fisher 18
Brunner 16
Ryan 14
Und 53

A new PPP poll on the June Democratic primary for Virginia governor finds that more than half of respondents are undecided on their choice (Jan. 30-Feb. 1, 998 Dem LV, MoE +/- 3.19%).

Former DNC Chair Terry McAuliffe, former state Del. Brian Moran and state Sen. Creigh Deeds were tested. McAuliffe has the highest unfavorable rating, while Deeds is the most unknown.

Moran 18
McAuliffe 18
Deeds 11
Und 53

The White House just released the following letter from Nancy Killefer:

February 3, 2009

Dear Mr. President,

I recognize that your agenda and the duties facing your Chief Performance Officer are urgent. I have also come to realize in the current environment that my personal tax issue of D.C. Unemployment tax could be used to create exactly the kind of distraction and delay those duties must avoid. Because of this I must reluctantly ask you to withdraw my name from consideration.

I am deeply honored to have been selected by you and you have my deep appreciation for your confidence in me. You have my heartfelt support and best wishes for success in all your endeavors.

Respectfully yours,
Nancy Killefer

Tunku Varadarajan lays into the News of the World, the tabloid that broke the story that Michael Phelps smoked pot.

I'm not a killjoy, and I don't believe that newspapers must only edify us, and not entertain (or even, occasionally, titillate). But in a story such as this, we need to ask whether anything of value--to the readers, to society at large--was imparted by the News of the World's story, and, especially, by the salivating manner of its telling. We learned that a 23-year-old got high on a college campus. OK, so he was no ordinary 23-year-old. But does that justify a tawdry tabloid "gotcha," in which nothing is uplifted, nothing improved and in which private human experience is wielded as a public weapon--as a knife to scar a young man's life?

Meanwhile, Radley Balko pens a serious fire-and-brimstone libertarian take on the letter that Michael Phelps should have written:

Dear America,

I take it back. I don't apologize.

Because you know what? It's none of your goddamned business. I work my ass off 10 months a year. It's that hard work that gave you all those gooey feelings of patriotism last summer. If during my brief window of down time I want to relax, enjoy myself, and partake of a substance that's a hell of a lot less bad for me than alcohol, tobacco, or, frankly, most of the prescription drugs most of you are taking, well, you can spare me the lecture. [snip]

Tell you what. I'll make you a deal. I'll apologize for smoking pot when every politician who ever did drugs and then voted to uphold or strengthen the drug laws marches his ass off to the nearest federal prison to serve out the sentence he wants to impose on everyone else for committing the same crimes he committed. I'll apologize when the sons, daughters, and nephews of powerful politicians who get caught possessing or dealing drugs in the frat house or prep school get the same treatment as the no-name, probably black kid caught on the corner or the front stoop doing the same thing.

“But Caroline is a good, sound, sane woman. And the governor appoints this—I don't want to say blonde—but she is sort of a blonde! Who is this fluff ball?”- Lauren Hutton expressing, you know, exasperation with Governor Paterson's pick of Kirsten Gillibrand.

Continuing his passion for all things Lincoln, President Obama will be back in Springfield, Illinois on the 12th of February to help celebrate the 200th birthday of America's Sixteenth President.

Annie Leibovitz captures the key members of the new administration in the new issue of Vanity Fair.

Will there be any surprises at today's Senate Finance Committee hearing where Tom Daschle will field questions about his failure to pay taxes? I don't know.  Daschle sent a letter to Chariman Max Baucus and ranking member Charles Grassley yesterday apologizing for his "unintentional mistakes," and it appears enough of the establishment has rallied around him to save his nomination.

Nevertheless, the Wall Street Journal puts the boot in, as it should:

As a legal tax matter, this isn't even a close call. Mr. Daschle says he used the car service about 80% for personal use, and 20% for business. But his spokeswoman says it only dawned on the Senator last June that this might be taxable income. Mr. Daschle's excuse? According to a Journal report Friday, "he told committee staff he had grown used to having a car and driver as majority leader and did not think to report the perk on his taxes, according to staff members." How's that for a Leona Helmsley moment: Doesn't everyone have a car and chauffeur, dear?

As if the public needed another reason to support their belief that Washington is a clubby swamp of influence peddling, here comes the former Majority Leader of the United States Senate who's been making a bloody fortune ($5 million in 4 years) and living "a lavish lifestyle by dint of his name, connections and knowledge of the town's inner workings" but not paying taxes on his personal limo.

This was the "culture" that President Obama was supposed to change. Instead, he's staffing his administration with Washington insiders like Daschle.  We know the ending to this story. It's been told many times before, most recently by John McCain during the campaign when he lamented the transformation of the Republican party after taking power in 1994 by saying, "we came to change Washington, but instead Washington changed us."

What a game. I almost always root for the underdog, and last night was no exception. So I was somewhat sorry to see Arizona's dream season end the way it did, especially after such a gritty comeback against the league's best defense.

That said, it's impossible not to give props to the Steeler offense for that final touchdown drive, and in particular to Ben Roethlisberger for throwing a perfect rocket of a pass and to Santonio Holmes for making what has to be one of the greatest clutch catches in Super Bowl history.

I felt Arizona was the better team last night on both sides of the ball - even despite the penalties - but Pittsburgh made the big plays when it counted most. That's how you win games week in and week out in the NFL, and it's certainly how you win the biggest game of them all.

Them's my two cents. For some professional opinion and analysis on last night's game by all the best sportswriters in the business, head over to RealClearSports.