Just the NBC Political Take on today....

FIRST THOUGHTS.

FD: I was driving back from taking the granddaughter to school this morning, listening to talk radio. It seems that Obama's request for only a
total cut back of $100 million left a bitter taste in the mouth of some. I loved the comment (not yet checked) that amount represents only 18 seconds of federal government spending. We have really distorted any sense that numbers used to have for me...



*** Cheney Strikes Back, Again: The political back-and-forth over the Obama administration's release of those interrogation memos now seems like something out of a "24" episode.

Conservatives argue that the interrogations, including waterboarding, made the country safer. Some Democrats, on the other hand, want to prosecute the authors of those memos. And a former controversial vice president -- Dick Cheney -- who previously has contended that the current administration has made the country less safe, now says he has asked the CIA to declassify interrogation memos that apparently show successful results from the interrogation techniques. Indeed, in his interview last night on FOX, Cheney not only called for those memos to be declassified, he blasted Obama for "cozying up" to Hugo Chavez ("I think it's not helpful. I think it sort of sets the wrong standard"), and for what he said was Obama apologizing "profusely" overseas for America's past actions ("The world outside there . will be quick to take advantage of a situation if they think they're dealing with a weak president or one who is not going to stand up and aggressively defend America's interests"). Wow, did a former vice president just suggest that a sitting American president is weak? Is there a precedent to this in modern American history?

*** Firing Up Both Bases: Politically, as we've said before, Democrats are probably more than happy for Cheney to be back in the news as the defender of the Bush administration.

As one GOP strategist tells the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza, Cheney "is a face of the past. A face of conflict and too polarizing. So, not a good face of the party." In fact, a December 2008 NBC/WSJ poll showed Cheney with a fav/unfav rating of 21%-58%. But this entire Cheney vs. Obama debate on interrogation, fires up both bases -- and thus makes for perfect cable chatter. Yet what are people in the middle thinking? The answer to that question will tell you the short-term winner of this debate. One other question we have: Does Cheney actually have the ability to declassify CIA memos?

*** Obama's Project "Dave": Republicans yesterday had a field day with Obama's request for his cabinet secretaries to cut $100 million from their budgets.

As the Republicans pointed out, that request amounted to just .0025% of Obama's budget. "Budget analysts promptly burst out laughing," the New York Times writes. "A reporter declared at the White House briefing that the initiative would become fodder for late-night talk show hosts." (Couldn't have Obama had asked each department to cut $100 million, pushing the total request above $1 billion?) But as Republicans laugh at Obama's paltry request, the DNC fires back with a Web video showing GOP leaders supporting increased spending during Bush's presidency.

First Read with NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd, every weekday on MSNBC-TV at 9 a.m. ET.
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