Wednesday Must-Reads: Census Shake-ups

Next year will kick of the decennial census process, which will redraw congressional districts and alter the legislative landscape for years to come. It’s time to start thinking about it now. Rothenberg offers a preview of some of the key players and strategies. In certain states, next year’s campaign battles will be extra-heated as the parties vie for control of key governorships and legislative bodies; CQ offers a list of five states to watch. And for an example of just how important redistricting can be, consider Pennsylvania’s Rep. John Murtha (D), who faces ethics issues but, thanks to a friendly map, not many reelection worries. As reported yesterday, Michael Steele gave a moment-of-crisis speech before the RNC, promising more attacks on the president. The Post runs down both the content of the speech and the reaction of the crowd, which seemed to involve a lot of Blackberries. The latest special election was held yesterday in California’s 32nd District, where Judy Chu won the Democratic Primary and now should be able to cruise to an easy win in the July 14 general election. A prominent Republican fundraiser has picked out a favorite for the 2012 presidential election, and it’s Mitt Romney. Of course, the dust is still settling on ’08; the FEC announced yesterday its unanimous decision—pay attention here, fashion-conscious candidates—that Palin’s $150,000 wardrobe upgrade was not a problem. And then there’s next year. Here’s a slightly deeper analysis of the list of candidate’s on Republicans’ new incumbent-protection program. In the upper body, Illinois Sen. Roland Burris has another prominent challenger: Chris Kennedy, son of RFK, will anounce next week and has already hired media consulting firm AKPD.