**Virginia Governor
*The race was not even close, as Deeds won 50% to 26% for McAuliffe and 24% for Moran. The two once-frontrunners finished about even, with half as many votes as Deeds. The state senator won his rural home county, Bath, with 800 votes out of a total of 830. But he also won half the votes in populous and suburban Fairfax County.

*Politics Daily: "Virginia Democrats today stuck to a tried-and-true formula for winning. In their three-way gubernatorial primary, they said no to a national figure with close Clinton ties and a liberal with a brother in Congress. Instead, they overwhelmingly picked state Sen. Creigh Deeds -- a moderate whose manner is the opposite of flamboyant. If that sounds like Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine and his predecessor, Democrat Mark Warner, well, why mess with a good thing?"

*Washington Post: "Deeds beat Brian Moran and Terry McAuliffe in every region of the state, including vote-rich Northern Virginia, despite a pro-gun stance and relatively conservative positions that are out of line with many of the area's voters. His victory was so dominant that he captured 10 of the state's 11 congressional districts, including the one held by Moran's brother, U.S. Rep. James P. Moran Jr."

*Richmond Times-Dispatch: "Deeds and McDonnell clashed in the race for attorney general in 2005. McDonnell won by 360 votes in the closest general election in Virginia history."

*Roanoke Times: "No matter what happens after this, Creigh Deeds' victory will go down as a textbook example of what can happen in a three-way race when the two front-runners beat each other senseless, and the third guy becomes the consensus alternative."

**President Obama
*"For the second straight day," the Washington Times notes, "Obama sought to boost public confidence in his handling of the economy and bolster his argument that government intervention can work." He announced that the government turned a profit as some financial institutions returned TARP funds. House Republicans, though, signed a letter to Treasury Secretary Geithner urging him to use the money to pay down the national debt; the White House said it would go back into a general fund.

*But the Wall Street Journal adds: "his congressional allies--and his own actions--threatened to undermine his message of fiscal discipline. ... House appropriators on Tuesday unveiled spending numbers for the coming fiscal year that push up domestic outlays by 10.4%, after lawmakers used gimmicks to get around the pay-as-you-go rules Mr. Obama is embracing."

*More economic moves: "Eager to remove incentives that they say contributed to last year's financial crisis, President Barack Obama's economic team plans to unfurl broad executive pay principles, possibly as early as Wednesday, that put a premium on long-term performance over short-term gain," AP reports.

*Health Care: The Hill: House Democrats released some details of the health care overhaul, "with liberals leaving the meeting happy and centrist Democrats walking away skeptical. The outline put forth lacked many of the details that will decide the fate of the overhaul -- notably, how the proposal would be paid for. But it made good on the commitment Obama and Democratic leaders made to include a government-run 'public option.'"

**Republicans
*Gallup: "Asked to name the "main person who speaks for the Republican Party today," Republicans across the country are most likely to name three men: Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich, and Dick Cheney."

*Politico: "Republicans on Capitol Hill think they've finally found Barack Obama's Achilles' heel: rising public concern about government spending and the federal deficit. While Obama's overall job-approval ratings are up over the past month, a Gallup Poll out this week has a 51 percent majority of Americans disapproving of the president's efforts to control federal spending and a slim 48 percent to 46 percent disapproving of his handling of the federal deficit. Those are the only areas where Obama has negative approval ratings..."

*The Hill: "Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele on Tuesday called for Republicans to demonstrate their principles in standing up against President Obama's spending plans. In a memo sent to GOP leaders Tuesday, Steele cited polling that shows the American public is getting wary of increased federal spending aimed at stimulating the economy."

*Actor Jon Voight made quite the impression Monday night at the Senate-House GOP fundraising dinner. Kyle chronicles it here.

**Campaign Stuff
*Adam Nagourney looks at Pawlenty's move to step down rather than seek re-election. "On the upside, he has a platform to take action, and to draw attention, in a way that former governors who might run for president must envy. ... But there are problems as well. Mr. Pawlenty's fights with the legislature - and more broadly, being in charge of his state at a time when things are bleak - has pulled down his approval ratings; indeed, there's a fairly decent chance he would have lost had he run again."

*Gov. Rick Perry broke his collarbone while riding a bike yesterday.

*There's a challenger to freshman Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D-Fla.) - Winter Park City Commissioner Karen Diebel.

*One of the few prominent Kansas Democrats, State Treasurer Dennis McKinney, says he will seek re-election, and not the governor's office.

**Sports Alert: Orlando looked like they were going to give it away again last night, but late turnovers by the Lakers and a poor shooting night for Kobe Bryant allowed Disney World to defeat Disney Land for the first time in the series. The Lakers are now up 2-1, with Game 4 Thursday night.

--Kyle Trygstad and Mike Memoli