Be in the know: Today's political bullet points

Every day we ask influential politicos to send us their top three bullet points that are driving the day's conversation inside and outside Washington.

RedState.Com Editor Erick-Woods Erickson:

– In the GOP debate last night, the Romney v. Perry exchange on social security was the most interesting. Perry could have answered better. In fact, he does not favor abolition of social security. Romney, however, defended a system that conservatives and the GOP in general has railed against for years as needing serious reform. Romney may have won the fight, but it may very well cost him the war.

– The President will give his jobs speech tonight. It was not the Republicans who originally picked up on the word "stimulus" in 2009. Everyone did. It was a short cut for stimulating the economy and not saying the full title. Only after most Americans viewed it as a failure did Barack Obama have that memorable press conference where he refused to use the word "stimulus." But it was not the GOP who came up with the term, they just successfully tied it to the word "failure." And it sounds like tonight's speech will be Stimulus Part II.

– Here's the gamble the President is taking. The Democrats and GOP will probably agree on a compromise plan. But that compromise will preserve the status quo. And the status quo created zero jobs last month. So both parties can say they passed a bipartisan jobs plan and that plan, initiated by the President, will not actually create jobs.

Senior Editor of MarioWire.com Mario Solis-Marich:

– Off Sides: Obama will go to Florida this weekend to tell Latino voters about his record and hear from them regarding their needs, hopefully at least one attendee will get past the campaign screening and be honest with him about the miserable enthusiasm gap.

– Center: Rick Perry’s disdain for social security has become his biggest vulnerability to the extent that even Mitt Romney has recognized it, Romney is hammering the Texas governor on his position on the venerable program and calling on GOP moderates to save his candidacy, but are there any GOP centrists still in the “big tent”?

– Foul: The mainstream media has fallen into the GOP spin trap of complaining that Obama’s jobs plan does not contain “something new” instead of evaluating the proposed effort based on what would actually work to create jobs, what’s next – a call for something borrowed and something blue?

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