Shock and Aww…Shucks

As a scion of a political dynasty, Jeb Bush has some built-in advantages over his competitors. Family connections to donors and advisors have filled Bush's campaign coffers, bringing him media attention and immediate relevance. But in the post-Citizens United world that simply won't be enough. Under the bright lights of the presidential campaign, Jeb has proven to be lackluster on the trail, with a record to regret. There's no denying that his path to victory requires him to get the base on his side -- the same base that doesn't like his stances on Common Core or immigration, or for that matter his last name. And no amount of money is going to change that.

CC: Marco Rubio — 59% of Americans Support Same Sex Marriage

Marco Rubio's extreme conservative colors shined through again last night at an event for the Center for Arizona Policy. This fringe organization believes “homosexuals [can modify] their behavior and becom[e] heterosexual through Christian ministries and counseling," better known as conversion therapy -- a radical view that has been condemned by the American Psychological Association for its damaging psychological effects. Despite repeated recent attempts to muddy the waters on his positions towards gay marriage and LGBT rights, this isn't the first time Rubio has supported fanatic anti-LGBT groups like the Center for Arizona Policy. In 2013, Rubio keynoted for the Florida Family Policy Council, an organization infamous for its hate speech against the LGBT community. Rubio likes to obfuscate on LGBT rights and has not given his opinion on conversion therapy, but by supporting these organizations, his message to the voters is unequivocal.

Multimillionaire, Political Savant Ron Johnson is on a Warpath Against College Kids

Multimillionaire Senator Ron Johnson thinks we're helping too many young, aspiring Americans go to college. At a recent event in Wisconsin, Johnson said, "What's wrong? Well partly, student loans are available and kids are using them." Students are taking 5 and 6 years to graduate simply because loans are too easy to access and "college is a lot of fun," he went on to say.

MEMO: Mike Huckabee is the GOP in all its offensive glory

Mike Huckabee represents the extreme majority of the Republican Party in all its offensive glory. After winning the 2008 Iowa caucus and racking up the second most delegates that year, Huckabee is jumping into a crowded GOP primary where candidates are already trying to prove they’re the most conservative. Huckabee will immediately pull the primary even further to the whack job fringes of the Tea Party. He compared abortion to slavery. He said women “cannot control their libido or their reproductive system without the help of the government.” And while Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, and the rest of the field jumped to support Mike Pence’s religious discrimination law, Huckabee outflanked the pack and said: When business people you sit in church with every week are told they're going to pay a fine of $1,000 a day and possibly go to jail because their conscience won't let them make a wedding cake with two men on the top of the wedding cake.

ICYMI: NJ.com: 10 worst moments of Chris Christie's political career

Republicans have a bridge to sell to anyone who thinks Chris Christie still has a chance at the White House. The George Washington Bridge scandal is just the latest low point in Chris Christie's two decade career. Here is a look at his 10 worst moments. NJ.com: 10 worst moments of Chris Christie's political career

MEMO: The C[onservative] Team

The Republican presidential field keeps getting wider, but not any deeper. Mike Huckabee, Carly Fiorina and Ben Carson are set to announce their long-shot bids this week.

And although they're more likely to win FOX News contracts than the White House, each of these three candidates can and will have an impact on the contours of 2016 and the eventual GOP nominee. Look no further than Mitt "Self Deportation" Romney's lurch to the right in the previous presidential nominating contest -- one of  the weakest fields in quite some time.

Carson, Huckabee and Fiorina will have their moment in the sun and fire up base. When they do, the true contenders will have to react. Will Walker, Bush and Rubio lose the primary to win the general? If history is any indication, it is quite likely to be just the opposite.

When it comes to electability, these three may make the core of the C-Team, but they're also extremely and unabashedly conservative. Here's how we expect Huckabee, Carson and Fiorina to shift the wide field right.

MEMO: What you don’t know about the “Clinton Cash” author

The author of “Clinton Cash,” the latest conservative hatchet job against Hillary Clinton, is a right-wing Republican operative who was an advisor to Sarah Palin and a speechwriter for President George W. Bush. But what you might not know about Peter Schweizer is that he has deep ties to the Koch brothers and the right-wing billionaire bankrolling Sen. Ted Cruz’s nascent campaign. He’s a current contributor to conservative blog Breitbart and is the president of the Government Accountability Institute (GAI). “Clinton Cash” has already been repeatedly debunked by reporters given early access to the accusations, which is no surprise given Schweizer’s history as a conservative researcher peddling misleading and false attacks that have discredited his work. American Bridge today released a video of FOX, ABC, NBC, and MSNBC anchors confronting Schweizer during his media blitz with the pesky fact that he doesn’t have any evidence for his theories.

Chris Christie needs to come clean on Bridgegate involvement

Brad Woodhouse, President, American Bridge 21st Century:

"Chris Christie's administration sought political retribution by forcing thousands of New Jerseyans to endure hours of traffic, leaving students stranded on buses for their first day of school, and making it harder for EMTs and law enforcement to do their jobs. Now that one of Christie’s longtime allies, David Wildstein, has pled guilty and his close aide and a political appointee are getting indicted, the cloud swirling over Chris Christie is only getting thicker. Wildstein’s lawyer is adamant that Christie ‘knew of the lane closures as they occurred’ and that ‘evidence exists.’ Christie’s record low approval rating is going to tank further by the time this is over."

"Impressive Record of Public Whining"

Peter Schweizer claims he wrote Clinton Cash as "bipartisan citizen action" in the preface, but he has a history of making personal and erroneous attacks on the Clintons. In 2008, Schweizer released Makers and Takers, where he targeted Hillary Clinton, saying she had an "impressive record of public whining." He also said that the political couple was not charitable enough and that they were “preoccupied with material things.” Don't be fooled by his fake call for "government accountability," Schweizer is only interested in furthering his extreme conservative agenda.

If someone ever emails "time for traffic problems," don't respond

Top Chris Christie crony and former Port Authority political appointee David Wildstein -- a figure smack dab in the middle of the Bridgegate scandal that has bludgeoned Christie's presidential aspirations with a traffic cone -- is set to plead guilty to criminal charges as soon as tomorrow. Wildstein is infamous for his "Got it" response to the "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee" email from Christie's deputy chief of staff, Bridget Ann Kelly. If only he used a carrier pigeon... The slow drip of news that the federal prosecutor is looking into David Samson's potential extortion of United Airlines for his "chairman's flight" means that Christie's headache is far from over. Wait to see if Christie's New Jersey approval rating can fall any lower than 38 percent (lowest yet) due to what National Journal described as "endless scandal and economic stagnation back home."