Hotline Sort: Artur Davis, From Obama To Bush

By Josh Kraushaar  //  January 24, 2012 | 8:14 a.m.

Welcome back to Hotline Sort. In today's edition: Brown and Warren agree to a cease-fire of sorts, Romney releases his taxes, Gingrich gets a little help from his friends, and is the former Speaker a Clinton clone? All that, and more in today's political rundown:

8. Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., faces a potentially long recovery from a stroke he suffered Saturday, which could leave him partially paralyzed on his left side, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Doctors said Kirk's long-term prognosis is good, and that he was likely to make a full mental recovery, but he may not regain use of his left arm and could have some paralysis on the left side of his face. "Due to his young age, good health and the nature of the stroke, doctors are very confident in the Senator's recovery over the weeks ahead," a Kirk spokesman said.

Best wishes to Kirk for a full and speedy recovery.

7. Former Democratic Rep. Artur Davis, once on the short list to be President Obama's Attorney General, is continuing to turn on his party. In a National Review editorial today, he calls on Republicans to draft Jeb Bush into the race for president, while effusively praising the reform-oriented former Republican governor

6. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., and his Democratic opponent Elizabeth Warren reached an agreement seeking to prevent ads from outside groups in the closely-watched Senate race. The agreement, which was Brown's idea, would call on candidates to donate money to charity of each other's choosing when a super PAC airs an ad either for or against them.

But there's little guarantee that other outside groups will abide by the deal. Already the group American Crossroads, which has aided Brown, declined to back the ban, noting there were loopholes in the agreement that would allow unions and liberal groups to aid Warren.

5. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., raised $495,000 in the fourth fundraising quarter - a respectable total as he prepares for re-election. Manchin will be facing a rematch against Republican businessman John Raese.

4. Mitt Romney is releasing his tax returns from 2010 and 2011 today: Early analysis of the returns show that Romney reported $21.7 million in income in 2010, and paid $3 million in federal taxes. He also gave $2.98 million in charitable donations, including over $1.5 million to the Mormon church.

3. Newt Gingrich's super PAC Winning Our Future will be getting another infusion of cash to the tune of $5 million, this time from the wife of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. The donation could offset the significant advantage Romney holds in fundraising; it helped Gingrich get his anti-Romney message out in South Carolina. 2. National Review's Rich Lowry makes a compelling case that Gingrich, in his political style, is an awful lot like another famous Democratic politician - Bill Clinton. Money quote: "Newt is the Republican Clinton -- shameless, needy, hopelessly egotistical. The two former adversaries and tentative partners have largely the same set of faults and talents. They are self-indulgent, prone to disregard rules inconvenient to them, and consumed by ambition. They are glib, knowledgeable, and imaginative. They are baby boomers who hadn't fully grown up even when they occupied two of the most powerful offices in the land." 1. A newly-aggressive Romney prosecuted his case against Gingrich at last night's NBC/National Journal/Tampa Bay Times debate, pointing to the former Speaker's "influence-peddling" at Freddie Mac in his post-Congressional career. National Journal's Ron Fournier wrote after the back-and-forth between the two frontrunners that Gingrich "looked more like a firefly than a firebrand." Gingrich entered Florida with clear momentum after a South Carolina victory, but Romney is betting that drawing strong contrasts (his executive background versus Gingrich's Washington insiderdom) and dropping millions in attack ads can change things fast. That's what happened in the run-up to the Iowa caucuses. Stay tuned to Florida polling towards the end of the week to see if Romney can overtake Gingrich.

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