Friday Must-Reads: Weighing the Arguments

Republican governors are asserting that the tea parties bubbled up from folks on the ground, rather than from party leaders. The Democratic reply now: It doesn’t matter; the parties were a failure since turn-out was so much lower than for recent anti-war or pro-immigration protests.Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who told reporters at a tea party that his state had the right to secede, an idea that he’s backing away from slightly now. Nate Silver’s reply: Hey, Texas’s secession wouldn’t be so bad for Democrats.A few new story lines are emerging in the Virginia gubernatorial race. The Post reports on the ethical implication of some Brian Moran (D) donors who have business before his brother, U.S. Rep. James Moran, who sits on the House Appropriations defense subcommittee. Meanwhile, an issue ad hits Republican Bob McDonnell for his stated intentions not to close a gun law loophole. Interestingly, the group funding the ad is backed by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is looking to rejoin the Republican Party himself.Politico adds to the growing set of FEC-analysis top 10s. One of the most remarked upon stories there is Illinois Sen. Roland Burris’s paltry $845 quarter.It seems like every day we get an update on Obama’s approval ratings, but with the first-quarter over there’s finally some better context. He’s averaged 63 percent approval so far, the best since Jimmy Carter.The Post runs a profile of Bill Richardson today, who is living quietly and claiming to enjoy a non-Washington life. But perhaps he could learn something from Eliot Spitzer, who, a year after his prostitution scandal, is earning plaudits for his scandal-recovery skills.