Wrecked it, Ralph

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Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam reportedly asks for time to clear his name after Cabinet meeting

Northam changes story on racist yearbook photo, denies he is in blackface or in KKK robe; reaction and analysis from 'The Five.'

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On the roster: Wrecked it, Ralph - Poll: Dems to go for electability in 2020 - Trump campaign looks to rig state primaries - High stakes for Trump’s big speech - You do you Marlene    

WRECKED IT, RALPH
NYT: “Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia, abandoned by allies in the Democratic Party and besieged by demands that he resign, met with his cabinet on Monday as state legislators returned to a Capitol thrown into chaos by the governor’s insistence on staying in office despite revelations that a photograph showing people in blackface and Ku Klux Klan robes was displayed on his medical school yearbook page. … Swarmed by reporters, Kirk Cox, the Republican speaker of the House of Delegates who has called on the governor to quit, said that he did not want to pursue impeachment against Mr. Northam and that it was uncertain if the matter met the threshold for impeaching him. … And the turmoil enveloping the state only grew when, at 2:55 Monday morning, aides to Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, who would succeed Mr. Northam were he to resign, issued an extraordinary statement denying an online report that the lieutenant governor had once committed sexual assault.”

Designated successor fights sex assault claim - WaPo: “The statement came after the online publication, Big League Politics, ran a story under the headline: ‘UPDATE: Stanford Fellow Hints At Possible Justin Fairfax Sex Assault.’ The story was based on a private Facebook post from the woman, which the publication said it had obtained from a friend of hers who had permission to share it. In their response, Fairfax’s staff members, pointed out that the woman first approached The Washington Post with the allegation shortly before he was inaugurated and The Post ‘carefully investigated the claim for several months.’ … The woman and Fairfax first met in Boston at the 2004 Democratic national convention. … Fairfax and the woman told different versions of what happened in the hotel room with no one else present. The Washington Post could not find anyone who could corroborate either version. The Post did not find ‘significant red flags and inconsistencies within the allegations,’ as the Fairfax statement incorrectly said.”

Fairfax says the timing wasn’t a coincidence - Politico: “Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax said Monday that it’s no coincidence an uncorroborated sexual assault accusation from more than a decade ago has emerged right as he potentially could be elevated to the state’s governorship. … In a news conference Monday in Richmond, Fairfax said he wasn’t sure why the accusations had resurfaced, but he said the timing was suspect. ‘Does anybody think it's any coincidence that on the eve of potentially my being elevated that that's when this uncorroborated smear comes out?’ he asked. ‘Does anybody believe that's a coincidence? I don't think anybody believes that's a coincidence, again, particularly with something — this is not the first time this was brought up.’ … In another statement released Monday afternoon, Fairfax said that The Post, ‘acknowledging that it had no corroboration, just smeared an elected official.’”

THE RULEBOOK: CHAIN GANG 
“[The people of America] have seen, too, that one legislative interference is but the first link of a long chain of repetitions, every subsequent interference being naturally produced by the effects of the preceding.” – James Madison, Federalist No. 44  

TIME OUT: 57 YEARS OF HELPING KIDS   
St. Jude: “Winter in Memphis, Tenn., can be cold and damp — not ideal weather for an outdoor celebration to open the doors of a new children’s hospital. But on the morning of February 4, 1962, the sun was shining brightly. This was the day Danny Thomas would fulfill a promise made to St. Jude Thaddeus, the patron saint of hopeless causes. As a struggling young entertainer, Danny had prayed in desperation to St. Jude, saying ‘Show me my way in life, and I will build you a shrine.’ That shrine became St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the first hospital built for the sole purpose of conducting basic and clinical research and developing treatments for childhood cancer, sickle cell disease and other life-threatening diseases, and on this day, more than 9,000 people had gathered for the grand opening. … Before unveiling the [St. Jude] statue, Danny acknowledged those from across the country whose generous acts — big and small — made this day possible.”

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SCOREBOARD
Trump job performance 
Average approval: 41 percent
Average disapproval: 55.2 percent
Net Score: -14.2 points
Change from one week ago: up 0.8 points
[Average includes: Quinnipiac University: 38% approve - 57% disapprove; Monmouth University: 43% approve - 53% disapprove; NBC News/WSJ: 43% approve - 54% disapprove; ABC News/WaPo: 38% approve - 58% disapprove; Fox News: 43% approve - 54% disapprove.]

POLL: DEMS TO GO FOR ELECTABILITY IN 2020
Monmouth University: “In the run-up to 2020, fewer than 4-in-10 voters back a second term for President Donald Trump. The Monmouth University Poll finds a sizable number of GOP voters who would like to see Trump face a primary challenge, but few would actually vote against him. On the Democratic side, voters say that they want a nominee who can defeat Trump, even if it means selecting someone they don’t quite agree with on the issues. Just under 4-in-10 registered voters (38%) say that Trump should be re-elected in 2020. A majority of 57% say it is time for someone new in the Oval Office.  These results are nearly identical to a Monmouth poll taken in November (37% re-elect and 58% someone new). About 8-in-10 Republicans (79%) back a second term for the president while nearly all Democrats (94%) say it is time for someone new. Most independent voters (55%) want a change while 39% support the incumbent.”

Biden getting closer and closer to saying yes - Atlantic: “Joe Biden reliably blows through every public and private deadline for making a decision about running for president. But he’s giving everyone he’s seen in recent weeks the feeling that he’s very close to saying yes. The urgency of Biden’s planning has stepped up since the beginning of the year and serves as a window into the complexity of this moment in American politics, with Donald Trump halfway through his chaotic first term and a diverse and progressive field of Democrats already lined up to run against him in 2020. Top positions for a campaign have been sketched out. Donor outreach has accelerated, with Biden himself telling staff at some events to write down the names of people who say they’re eager to help. A list of potential ‘day-one endorsers’ among elected officials has been prepared. Basic staff outreach is happening. Biden has even joked to people that he’s upped his daily workout to get in shape.”

TRUMP CAMPAIGN LOOKS TO RIG STATE PRIMARIES  
AP: “Worried about a potential Republican primary challenge, President Donald Trump’s campaign has launched a state-by-state effort to prevent an intraparty fight that could spill over into the general-election campaign. The nascent initiative has been an intense focus in recent weeks and includes taking steps to change state party rules, crowd out potential rivals and quell any early signs of opposition that could embarrass the president. It is an acknowledgment that Trump, who effectively hijacked the Republican Party in 2016, hasn’t completely cemented his grip on the GOP and, in any event, is not likely to coast to the 2020 GOP nomination without some form of opposition. While any primary challenge would almost certainly be unsuccessful, Trump aides are looking to prevent a repeat of the convention discord that highlighted the electoral weaknesses of Presidents George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter in their failed re-election campaigns.”

HIGH STAKES FOR TRUMP’S BIG SPEECH 
USA Today: “President Donald Trump hinted last week that one theme of his State of the Union address on Tuesday will be unity. The current state of his presidency: turbulence and uncertainty. Trump will deliver his call for harmony in a new era of divided government and at a time when he has been weakened politically by a just-ended government shutdown – the longest in U.S. history – and by other factors that have driven his approval ratings to near the lowest of his presidency. House Democrats are back in power and spoiling for a fight. Senate Republicans are restless and suddenly willing to stand up to their commander-in-chief. Special counsel Robert Mueller is still investigating possible Russian coordination with his presidential campaign and still issuing indictments. Going against such powerful headwinds, it will be hard for Trump to accomplish much of anything in the coming year, no matter what agenda he lays out in his State of the Union address, political analysts say.”

House Dems push health care and ethics in 2019 agenda - NPR: “Democrats officially took control of the House of Representatives one month ago with a promise of moving quickly on a fresh agenda centered on protecting health care and making Washington work better. Until last week, those plans were on pause. … Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I. … leads a team of Democrats tasked with setting policy and messaging priorities, said he believes Trump deliberately timed the shutdown to take the wind out of Democrats' sails. But Cicilline and other top Democrats say that's changing now. Committee members have been announced, staff is coming on board and Democrats have begun to introduce a backlog of bills, like a revival of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act legislation aimed at closing the gender pay gap. That legislation, paired with HR 1, a bill to reform campaign and ethics rules, were the backbone of Democrats' messaging in the single week of open government before the State of the Union. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., says members will have even more chances to make their mark in the weeks to come.”

And troll Trump with SOTU guests - Fox News: “Congressional Democrats are using their guest lists for the State of the Union address on Tuesday to score political points against President Trump on immigration, the government shutdown and more. … In the latest example, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said on Monday she'll bring an activist who made headlines protesting against now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court. Archila famously cornered then-Sen. Jeff Flake in a Senate elevator … Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D- N.J., invited Victorina Morales, a Guatemalan woman living in the U.S. illegally who reportedly was fired from the Trump National Golf Club. … Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., who is running for president in 2020, invited Trisha Pesiri-Dybvik, an air traffic controller who lost her home in the 2017 Thomas fire in Southern California and was one of the 800,000 federal workers who missed paychecks during the shutdown.”

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Trump plans to keep troops in Iraq - NYT

Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt nominated for the job permanently - Fox News 

AUDIBLE: THAT’S NOT MUCH 
“He’s done as good as you can with the sack of groceries he’s been given. He got some ramen noodles and tomato paste.” – Montana Rep. Rob Cook (R) talking about Gov. Steve Bullock (D) after his state of the state address. Politico is reporting Bullock could be a potential 2020 candidate. 

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YOU DO YOU MARLENE  
WLS-TV: “An 82-year-old woman in Muskegon, Michigan, is taking the internet by storm after photos of her using her snowblower went viral. When snow fell in her neighborhood, Marlene Downing didn't call for help. Instead, she put on her winter coat and headed out to her garage. ‘I like being outside, and I like the snow,’ Downing said. ‘I just don't need any help. I got this big machine, it works great.’ Downing told ABC News she's a ‘tough old broad’ who doesn't need help from her grandchildren. … She said being outside reminds her of where she grew up: Harvey, North Dakota. And Downing said the sound of the snowblower reminds her of something else. ‘I think the engine sounds like my Harley maybe.’ That's right, this fierce granny also owns a Hog. And her Greyhound Pippa has a front row seat in the sidecar.”

AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES…
“The idea that everything is a skill to be learned, like a golf swing, applies far beyond the field of family and sexual intimacy. We now have training for the proper love of strangers.” – Charles Krauthammer (1950-2018) writing in the Washington Post on April 2, 1993.

Chris Stirewalt is the politics editor for Fox News. Brianna McClelland contributed to this report. Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here.