• 53% approval rating, which is up slightly (+/- 3%)

On race relations:

• 58% of Americans thought Obama would change race relations before his inauguration
• 41% of Americans say he’s actually improved race relations in his first full year in office source

• Where was the freefall? Strangely enough, it was largest among other blacks. While white voters dipped to about 40 percent from 55 percent, blacks were at 75 percent a year ago, free-falling to 51 percent – a 24-point decline.

• All the increasing restrictions on lobbyists are a disincentive to be a lobbyist, and those who think they can deregister are eagerly doing so. It is creating some apparent contradictions.
• Veteran political lawyer Jan Baran • Regarding the apparent push for lobbyists to be lobbyists in everything but name. Essentially, legal restrictions on what lobbyists can do is creating something of a black market for lobbying. By leaving “lobbyist” as a hard-and-fast definition, many policy advocates choose to simply not register and avoid the oversight. Why are there always loopholes when it comes to the business of political influence? It creates vacuums like this one. source

• SCOTUS will tackle the heavily-debated cop killer case on Tuesday. On December 9, 1981, police officer Daniel Faulkner was murdered. And for nearly 30 years since, Mumia Abu-Jamal has been on death row fighting the conviction. The Supreme Court will release a sentencing-related decision on Abu-Jamal, who was well-known as a radio journalist before the 1982 conviction. The decision will not have any effect on Abu-Jamal’s conviction – but it could lead to a new jury trial on his death sentence. source

• 15 years on the U.S. terror watch list after he won a Nobel source

• Teddy always told me when you’re in a fight, there’s nobody like organized labor. You’re about the future. You’re about moving this country forward. You always have been. We can’t go backwards now.
• Vicki Kennedy • Stumping for state Attorney General Martha Coakley Saturday morning at the Dorchester headquarters of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Coakley’s in great danger of losing the race for Ted Kennedy’s old seat to Republican upstart Scott Brown. If Brown wins on Tuesday, the Democrats lose their essential 60th vote. This is a big deal for the left. source

• They’re treating it as a foreign policy issue, not a business issue. Next week, in response to Google’s claims of a cyber-attack by China, the U.S. plans to submit a formal protest, according to the State Department. Among other things to note about the story: Google briefed the U.S. before posting its lengthy note (to no objections), and China has had a number of little annoyances like this from the U.S. of late. We just enjoy ticking the Chinese off with our talk of “free speech,” apparently. source

• As Marines board, anticipation building here for final, critical push to Haiti.
• (Newport News, Va.) Daily Press reporter Hugh Lessig • Who’s reporting about the Haiti relief effort directly from the source. He’s tweeting about what’s happening directly from the USS Bataan, a naval amphibious assault carrier that’s headed directly to Haiti. Lessig, who works for a paper with a major Navy readership, is posting a lot of details, to which he says, “Don’t mean to be overly-trivial with these tweets, but fact is, morale is high on Bataan and must be rubbing off. Mission = Satisfaction.” source

• 18 months of buffer room granted for Haitians by Obama source