Ambinder writes:

Reading through the complaint filed by 13 state attorneys general, against the health reform legislation, reader @calchala was struck by something that wasn't there: the lack of any specific case citation to buttress the underlying claim that it is unconstitutional for the federal government to impose on individuals a mandate to buy health care and to punish those who don't by levying a fine.

I refer Ambinder to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a):

A pleading that states a claim for relief must contain:

(1) a short and plain statement of the grounds for the court's jurisdiction, unless the court already has jurisdiction and the claim needs no new jurisdictional support;

(2) a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief; and

(3) a demand for the relief sought, which may include relief in the alternative or different types of relief.

Note the lack of any requirement for case citations.  This goes a long way toward explaining why, in nine years of clerking and practicing law, I saw maybe two complaints that contained case citations.

The AG's lawsuit has all manner of problems.  The lack of case citations isn't one of them.

UPDATE:  And apparently Eugene Volokh beat me to the punch here by three hours, and unsurprisingly offers a more thorough explanation.  I honestly hadn't read his piece, but figure I should link to it anyway.

A few days ago, I posited that Earl Pomeroy was the #5 Democrat who most wished he could have his health care vote back.  I based this largely on a February Rasmussen poll that had Pomeroy trailing Republican Rick Berg 46% to 40%.

A new Rasmussen poll shows a further deterioration in Pomeroy's re-election chances.  Pomeroy's numbers have improved four points, probably the result of Democrats coming home after his vote.  But Berg's numbers have jumped up five points, giving him a a 51%-44% lead.  Crucially, Berg is now above 50% in this poll.  Congressman Pomeroy is in deep trouble.

Washington Sen. Patty Murray (D), thought to be facing a tougher re-election fight than she might have expected a year ago, receives more than 50% support against all four Republicans tested against her in a new Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll (March 22-24, 600 LV, MoE +/- 4%).

Republicans might need this seat if they want to win back control of the Senate. Tested against Murray were Rep. Dave Reichert, former gubernatorial nominee Dino Rossi, state Sen. Don Benton and businessman Paul Akers. Murray leads by double digits against all but Reichert.

Murray 52 - Rossi 41 - Und 7

Murray 51 - Reicert 43 - Und 6

Murray 54 - Benton 35 - Und 11

Murray 51 - Akers 28 - Und 17

A Rasmussen survey released two weeks ago found Rossi leading Murray by 3 points, with Murray polling just under 50%.

UPDATE (4:30 p.m.): Rep. Reichert's office just released a statement that the congressman had been admitted to a D.C. hospital where "doctors performed a procedure to address a chronic subdural hematoma that was likely the result of a minor head injury. The procedure was successful, and he is expected to make a full and complete recovery."

Reuters photo

President Obama made an unannounced stop in an Iowa City bookstore after his speech there today. Per the pool reporter on site with him, he jokingly picked up copies of Mitt Romney's "No Apology" and Karl Rove's "Courage and Consequence."

"What do you think guys?" he said to the reporters, before placing them back on the shelf.

The president did buy “Journey to the River Sea” by Eva Ibbotson, and “The Secret of Zoom” by Lynn Dornell for his two daughters. The books were recommended, he said.

“Of course the question is how they take to them but I think they're going to like them,” he said. “Nothing for Mrs. Obama?” another reporter asked. "Thanks for getting me in trouble,” he replied.

David Brock Frum leaves AEI.

As Public Policy Polling makes the rounds of states to test the 2012 Republican presidential primary, Mitt Romney continues to lead nearly all of them. He does so again in Ohio and Wisconsin, leading Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee.

"The numbers in these two midwestern states follow the big trend we've been seeing across the country, which is that conservatives are split pretty evenly in their support between the three candidates at this point but Romney leads overall because of a wide advantage among moderates," writes PPP's Tom Jensen.

OHIO
Romney 32 - Huckabee 28 - Palin 26

WISCONSIN
Romney 32 - Palin 27 - Huckabee 23

A national 2012 poll was released earlier today, which Romney led as well.

Speaking in Iowa, President Obama is set to directly address the Republican pledges to repeal his health care reform law if they take control of Congress. Here are the remarks, as prepared for delivery:

This is the reform that some folks in Washington are still hollering about. And now that it's passed, they're already promising to repeal it. They're actually going to run on a platform of repeal in November.

Well I say go for it. If these Congressmen in Washington want to come here to Iowa and tell small business owners that they plan to take away their tax credits and essentially raise their taxes, be my guest. If they want to look Lauren Gallagher in the eye and tell her they plan to take away her father's health insurance, that's their right. If they want to make Darlyne Neff pay more money for her check-ups and her mammograms, they can run on that platform. If they want to have that fight, I welcome that fight. Because I don't believe the American people are going to put the insurance industry back in the driver's seat. We've been there already and we're not going back. This country is ready to move forward.

Mitt Romney receives the most support in a new poll for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. Along with Romney, Clarus Research tested a field that includes Newt Gingrich, Jeb Bush, Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and South Dakota Sen. John Thune.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who is expected to run, was left out.

Romney 29
Huckabee 19
Palin 18
Gingrich 13
Bush 8
Thune 1
Daniels 1
Other 8
Und 10

An even higher perecentage (42%) said Romney would have the best chance against President Obama in November 2012. When matched up against the president, Romney finished closest while Obama peaked 50% only against Palin.

Obama 45 - Romney 41
Obama 52 - Palin 34
Obama 48 - Gingrich 36
Obama 47 - Huckabee 39
Obama 49 - Bush 37

The survey was conducted March 17-20 of 1,050 RV with a MoE of +/- 3%.

When Charlie Crist announced his run for the Senate, many observers thought the Republicans would have a tough time keeping the Governor's mansion.  The Democratic standard-bearer was State CFO Alex Sink, who many believed would be the favorite to take the seat over the charisma-challenged Attorney General Bill McCollum (who lost the 2000 Senate race to Bill Nelson).  Stu Rothenberg even started the race out as a "leans takeover."

That was obviously before the national decline in Democrats' fortunes.  The latest Rasmussen Reports poll shows McCollum holding on to the double-digit lead he opened over Sink in October.  He leads 47%-36%.  Obviously it is still early, but this is not particularly good news for the Democratic ticket.  Nor is President Obama likely to help the Democratic ticket out in the Sunshine State.  More Floridians strongly disapprove of the President (46%) than approve of him (43%).

Tom raises an interesting question: In light of his back-and-forth on health care reform, is Bart Stupak safe, or toast?

For now, I'm going with "safe."  Illinois polling firm "We Ask America" polled over 2,000 likely voters Monday night, inquiring as to their reaction to Bart Stupak's vote in favor of the health care bill.  62% of voters said that Stupak's vote made them more likely to vote for him in the fall, 31% said less likely, and 8% declared themselves undecided.  As you might expect, 76% of Democrats said that they were "more likely" to vote for him, while 73% of Republicans said "less likely."  Undecideds split 52%-40% in the "more likely" camp.

Stupak has built a brand as an independent, socially conservative Democrat.  It looks like he has threaded a needle that I thought would be impossible to thread:  He got independents to focus on the "independent, socially conservative" label, while Democrats focused on the fact that he's a "Democrat."