MORNING READ

FROM THE BLOGS:

Will social issues sink Santorum?
He’s surging in the polls, but Rick Santorum’s stances on social issues could hurt his campaign, writes Bethany Mandel at Commentary.

Is a brokered convention possible?
Sean Trende at Real Clear Politics breaks down the likelihood that Republicans will fail to settle on a candidate before the convention.

The GOP’s Bob Dole problem
Steve Kornacki at Salon likens the 2012 race to the last time a GOP candidate took on a Democratic incumbent after a protracted primary season.

The strange politics behind a budget-less America
Gail Russell Chaddock at the Christian Science Monitor takes a look at the politics behind Congress’s failure to even vote on a budget, much less pass one.


OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Lawmakers close in on payroll tax cut deal
Russell Berman and Bernie Becker at The Hill report on what some in the GOP have called an “agreement in principle.”

Boehner delays highway bill vote
Keith Laing and Russell Berman at The Hill report on John Boehner’s sticky political issue.