The Politics Of March Madness
By MICHAEL FALCONE
NOTABLES
2016ERS JOIN NCAA POOL @
ESPN.COM ! SEE THEIR BRACKETS
LIVE BEFORE TIPOFF: They might or
might not be running for president, but
they definitely want to win our bracket
pool: The likes of Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz,
Martin O'Malley, and about a dozen
others have submitted NCAA brackets to
a joint ABC/ESPN pool, just for potential
2016 presidential candidates. Brackets
will go live at ESPN.com before tipoff
today. It works just like everyone else's ESPN bracket pool-except no one's sending $10 through
PayPal, the voters can track who's winning, and the stakes could be presidential. SEE OUR STORY
AT ABCNEWS.COM , AND LIVE PICKS AT ESPN.COM , BEFORE THE FIRST GAMES BEGIN.
THE EVOLUTION OF OBAMA'S BRACKET PICKS: President Obama's NCAA bracket is out - and he
has sided with most sports analysts in predicting Kentucky, the top-ranked team in the country, to
run the table for a perfect season and an NCAA title. As is his annual custom, the president spent a
portion of his afternoon on Tuesday with ESPN's Andy Katz, filling out a March Madness tournament
bracket at the White House. The NCAA tournament is an unpredictable thing, and even the
president is subject to its vagaries, ABC's CHRIS GOOD notes. Despite is widely recognized
knowledge of the game, Obama has enjoyed (or not enjoyed) varying success since his first
presidential bracket in 2009. http://abcn.ws/1BxYVi3
KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR ON KENTUCKY'S CHALLENGE TO 'LIVE UP TO THE HYPE': What do the
NCAA March Madness tournament and presidential politics have in common? In describing the field
of competitors heading into the tournament, basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar described the
field in political http://nypost.com/sports/ terms - picking Wisconsin and Kentucky as the
frontrunners while leaving room for dark horses to emerge. "I see Kentucky and Wisconsin really
being the two strong choices," the former NBA player told ABC's RICK KLEIN and ESPN's best
search engines Andy Katz in an interview on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. http://abcn.ws/1Ew2SIs
ANALYSIS
ABC's SHUSHANNAH WALSHE: It feels like a very long time since we were speculating whether
Mitt Romney would make a third run for the White House, but it's been only about six weeks since
that will he-won't he debate. Today, we heard from Romney and his wife Ann for the first time since
deciding not to take the plunge, with the former Massachusetts governor telling Yahoo's Katie
Couric, "It just didn't feel right...Somehow, it just didn't feel like this was the right time for us to step
forward." Romney added: "I would love to be president. I just concluded I was not the best person to
carry forward the Republican torch." And with what sounded like a bit of regret he said if he had run

he would have reached out to more minority groups, including Hispanic voters. "That's something I
wish I would've spent a lot more time doing" in 2012, he said. Don't expect Romney to endorse this
time around, though. He praised many of the 2016 hopefuls including Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, and
Rand Paul, but said he will stay out of the primary fight: http://yhoo.it/1H5soIc
THE BUZZ
with ABC's VERONICA STRACQUALURSI
AARON SCHOCK'S DAD SPEAKS OUT: 'HE WILL BE SUCCESSFUL IF HE'S NOT IN JAIL.' Rep.
Aaron Schock's congressional ethics troubles may be over once his resignation takes effect, but
questions surrounding the Illinois Republican's actions may eventually result in jail time, a
possibility even his family has begun to realize. Schock's father, Richard, told ABC station WLS in
Chicago that his son's freedom "all depends on what the Department of Justice wants to do." "Ten
years from now, whatever he's doing, he will be successful at. I promise you that," Richard Schock
said in an interview outside his home Wednesday. "Two years from now he will be successful if he's
not in jail." A law enforcement source said that while the FBI has not launched an investigation into
Schock's actions, the matter is something authorities are "monitoring." His father believes the four-
term lawmaker, 33, has been unfairly targeted. Schock has not turned up since word of his pending
resignation, ABC's JOHN PARKINSON reports. So where in the world is he? Associates close to the
Illinois Republican suggest he is unlikely to wait out the storm in Washington or from his district in
Illinois "He got a little careless," he said. "Some things maybe he thought didn't apply to him. I don't
know. I don't know what all went through his mind." http://abcn.ws/18IYH0J
REPUBLICANS PUT LORETTA LYNCH NOMINATION 'IN THE BACK OF THE BUS,' TOP SENATE
DEMOCRAT SAYS. Sen. Dick Durbin, the number two Democrat in the Senate, accused Senate
Republicans Wednesday of placing Loretta Lynch's nomination to be Attorney General "in the back
of the bus." "Loretta Lynch, the first African-American woman nominated to be attorney general, is
asked to sit in the back of the bus when it comes to the Senate calendar," Durbin, of Illinois, said on
the Senate floor yesterday morning, ABC's ARLETTE SAENZ reports. "That is unfair. It is unjust. It is
beneath the decorum and dignity of the United States Senate. This woman deserves fairness."
Durbin called Lynch's nomination a "civil rights milestone." President Obama nominated Lynch in
November to lead the Department of Justice, but her confirmation has stalled in the Senate.
Democrats have pointed out her confirmation process is the longest of any attorney general in
recent history. http://abcn.ws/1DAKlNr
IOWA LAWMAKER READS 'SEX AFTER SIXTY' DURING DEBATE. Things are getting a little steamy
in the Iowa statehouse. During a lengthy debate on public school teachers' collective bargaining
rights, Republican state Rep. Ross Paustian decided to slip in a little racy reading. The Des Moines
Register caught him apparently unabashed, perusing "Sex After Sixty" in the statehouse chamber.
Paustian, 59, told the Des Moines Register the book was passed to him by fellow Rep. Robert Bacon,
also a Republican. "We could all use a laugh around here," he said. Paustian isn't the only lawmaker
to zone out during the debate, ABC's ERIN DOOLEY notes. http://abcn.ws/1CwRVsK
OBAMA TALKS GOP BUDGET, GITMO. Speaking at the Cleveland City Club yesterday, President
Obama slammed House Republicans' budget proposal, saying that they have not changed their
policies to match the improving economy. "When we're in a slump, we need tax cuts," Obama said,
imitating Republicans. "When the economy's doing well, know what? Let's try some tax cuts." "It's a
budget that doesn't just fail middle class economics, it's the opposite of middle class economics!" he
continued. He also said their desires to kill Obamacare are motivated only by politics, not by its
merits, ABC's ALI WEINBERG notes. "It's working even better than I expected! But it doesn't matter.

Evidence be damned. It's still a disaster," he said sarcastically. He also said that if he could advise
his first term self to do one thing differently, "I would have closed Guantanamo on the first day."
WHO'S TWEETING?
@BenjaminBell: Mitt, when asked by Couric if he'll go shirtless for charity fight says "I expect so"
and "I presume so"
http://news.yahoo.com/mitt-romney-exclusive-interview-with-katie-couric-092359394.html ...
@jonward11
@evanasmith: The only R candidate for president in 2016 who follows @barackobama on @twitter is
@senrandpaul http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/graphics/2015-who-republican-candidates-follow/
...
@katie_glueck: This is a very well-done profile of Heidi Cruz if you haven't seen yet, via
@mckaycoppins @meganapper
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mckaycoppins/the-trials-and-triumphs-of-heidi-cruz#.pk1ggmN1k ...
@PostRoz: After Clinton announces, @ReadyForHillary plans to post online the names of its
hundreds of $5K+ donors http://wpo.st/LGO90
@RickSantorum: If you live near Cincinnati, join me tonight at 6:30 PM ET at the Montgomery Inn.
http://www.nehcrc.com/