By RICK KLEIN

We now return you to your regularly scheduled politicking.

President Obama?s vacation continues, but the political respite surrounding Sen. Ted Kennedy?s remembrances is over.

At the end of this long August, we?re back to where we were. Which is to say, in the middle of partisan fights Kennedy himself would have among the first to engage.

A former vice president is again suggesting that the current administration is making us less safe. Stalled health care talks are pretty much right where they were before the Senate lost its lion.

(As for rifts healing — Tom Ridge, on ?Good Morning America? Monday, regarding former Vice President Dick Cheney?s comments on a special prosecutor looking at CIA policies: ?I think he?s right — pure and simple.?)

Kennedy?s passing has provoked much commentary of eras coming to an end — of the Kennedy dynasty, of the proud, full-throated liberal voices, and of the outsized political dealmakers that have long made Washington run.

But there was a political era that President Obama vowed to end that?s going strong as ever. Warm remembrances don?t change partisan math.

Look who wants more presidential leadership . . . Former Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., offers a way forward: ?If I were a White House adviser, I would suggest that the day Congress reconvenes, President Obama's version of reform should be introduced by Democratic leaders in the House and Senate,? Dole writes in a Washington Post op-ed.

?Barack Obama is our president, not a commentator. . . . Obama's approval numbers would jump 10 points if Americans knew he was fully in charge,? Dole writes. ?Once the president has staked out his position, which will provide room for amendments, the debate will narrow, and bipartisan bargaining and other political maneuvering can begin.?

Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., actually agrees: ?I think the president's got to decide, to step up and really frame this again for us.?

E.J. Dionne Jr.: ?The road to compromise is not paved by offering premature concessions and vagueness. Having held back, the administration now needs to lay out clear and understandable goals, so it can bargain from a position of strength. Dare one say it? That was Ted Kennedy's way.?

The president is still down this week, but the vacation is really over: ?Obama settles back into the Oval Office well aware his approval ratings have fallen,? the AP?s Steven R. Hurst writes. ?He now must spend heavily from that shrinking fund of political capital ? with a highly uncertain outcome ? if his vision of a health care overhaul is to emerge from Congress.?

Stop us if you?ve heard this before: ?President Obama's supporters hope to recapture the energy of last year's triumphant election campaign in a bid to regain control of the health-care debate, planning more than 2,000 house parties, rallies and town hall meetings across the country over the next two weeks,? Dan Eggen writes in The Washington Post. ?Conservative activists have dominated the public debate in recent weeks with dire warnings and noisy disruptions at town hall meetings, while national polls show declining support for Obama's ambitious plan to widen health insurance coverage.?

Bring back . . . the Nixon era? ?The Nixon era was a time in which leading figures in both parties were capable of speaking rationally about policy, and in which policy decisions weren?t as warped by corporate cash as they are now,? Paul Krugman writes in his New York Times column. ?There was a lot of talk last year about how Barack Obama would be a ?transformational? president — but true transformation, it turns out, requires a lot more than electing one telegenic leader. Actually turning this country around is going to take years of siege warfare against deeply entrenched interests, defending a deeply dysfunctional political system.?

The Chicago Sun-Times? Lynn Sweet offers some lessons from Obama?s past, from a 2004 fight in the Illinois legislature: ?If the past is prologue, the episode involving Obama's successful bid to pass what became the ?Adequate Health Care Task Force? could be instructive. Obama won on a party-line vote,? she writes. ?Obama ultimately watered down the original bill because the insurance industry feared that the state was going to mandate coverage. Instead, Obama called for a task force to study coverage options, cost containment and portability of coverage, among other items.?

Interpreting a legacy: Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., tells ABC?s George Stephanopoulos that Sen. Kennedy would fight for a public option — but would not let a bill die over it.

?He would fight for it, and he would do everything in his power to get it, just like he did for the minimum wage or like he did for children's health care,? Kerry said on ?This Week.? ?But if he didn't see the ability to be able to get it done, he would not throw the baby out with the bathwater. He would not say no to anything because we have to reduce the cost.?

Another read on legacy: ?You?re not going to get this big, broad Democrat spending bill — you?re not going to get Republican support,? Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said Sunday.

The Washington Times? Matthew Mosk reminds us that it?s not just health care that has the left concerned: ?We're being ignored,? Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., said regarding ?don?t ask, don?t tell.?

Mosk: ?The president won't be able to ignore the simmering discontent within his own party much longer, the congressman said, not on this military policy or on a range of other issues on which the president appears to be charting a course that veers away from his political base.?

Town-hall of the day: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., joins Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in Kansas City for a health care discussion hosted by Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo. This is the second McConnell-McCain health reform event, and they?ll be in North Carolina and Florida this week as well.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney, swinging again: ?If they're now going to be subject to being investigated and prosecuted by the next administration, nobody's going to sign up for those kinds of missions. It's a very, very devastating, I think, effect that it has on morale inside the intelligence community,? Cheney said on ?Fox News Sunday.? ?I guess the other thing that offends the hell out of me is we had a track record now of eight years of defending the nation against any further mass casualty attacks from al Qaida.?

(Plus, this tidbit — on Iran: ?I was probably a bigger advocate of military action than any of my colleagues,? Cheney said.) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125164376287270241.html

That rift with former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge? Maybe not so much?

?I think he?s right — pure and simple,? Ridge said of Cheney?s comments, to ABC?s Diane Sawyer on ?Good Morning America? Monday. ?I think it?s wrong, it?s chilling, and it?s inappropriate.?

But: ?We are safer, we?re smarter, we?re better,? Ridge said.

USA Today?s Mimi Hall: ?Former Homeland Security secretary Tom Ridge, speaking for the first time about accusations made in his new book, says he did not mean to suggest that other top Bush administration officials were playing politics with the nation's security before the 2004 presidential election.?

?I'm not second-guessing my colleagues,? Ridge said in an interview about ?The Test of Our Times.?

?This was one of several times where the process worked,? Ridge said on ?GMA.?

(Ridge will be on ABCNews.com?s ?Top Line? Tuesday, noon ET.)

Swinging back: ?Dick Cheney has shown through the years, frankly, a disrespect for the constitution for sharing of information to Congress and a [dis]respect for the law and I?m not surprised that he?s upset about this,? Kerry said on ?This Week.?

Also swinging back: ?U.S. Senator John McCain, a torture survivor from his days as a captive during the Vietnam War, says his private comments about harsh interrogation methods were misrepresented by the Bush Administration in a recently released legal document intended to justify a six-day-long course of sleep deprivation for one CIA detainee in November of 2007,? Time?s Michael Scherer and Bobby Gosh report.

Not swinging back: ?The White House did not return a request for comment. The Justice Department, when asked for comment, referred to Mr. Holder's statement last week announcing the inquiries,? per the Washington Times? Sean Lengell.

Not just Cheney fueling this fire: ?Officials in the C.I.A. and the Justice Department remain sharply divided about Mr. Holder?s decision to appoint a federal prosecutor to determine if a full criminal investigation into the conduct of agency employees or contractors is needed. On Sunday, it became clear that such concerns were also emerging among some Democrats in Congress,? Rachel L. Swarns reports in The New York Times.

Succession battles ahead, for Ted Kennedy?s seat: ?All eyes now are on Joseph P. Kennedy II, the former US representative, with family members and political allies expecting him to make a decision very shortly on whether to enter the Democratic primary,? Frank Phillips reports in The Boston Globe.

?Joe Kennedy?s decision is likely to determine the plans of the dean of the Massachusetts congressional delegation, US Representative Edward J. Markey, who is telling associates he is seriously considering running, and US Representative Michael Capuano, a Somerville Democrat who is also thinking of joining the primary race,? Phillips writes.

Vicki lingers — in the public mind, at least: ?Vicki Reggie Kennedy has told family friends she does not want to succeed her late husband in the Senate, but that didn't stop two of Sen. Edward Kennedy's close associates from talking up the prospect Sunday,? per USA Today?s Kathy Kiely.

?She's expressed to me her own sort of reluctance to do that, but she could change her mind,? Dodd said on CNN.

Hatch: ?Vicki ought to be considered. . . . She?s a very brilliant lawyer. She?s a very solid individual. I have nothing but great respect for her.?

From the Sarah Palin files (but the hosts may want to quadruple-check): ?Former U.S. vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, once questioned about her lack of foreign policy experience, will make her first trip to Asia in September,? per the AP. ?The former Alaska governor will visit Hong Kong to address the CLSA Investors Forum, a well-known annual conference of global investment managers, the host announced Monday.?

For the T-Paw files: ?The Democrats ended their presidential hiatus in 1992 and 2008 with a similar formula: Nominate a candidate not associated with Washington?s wars, who doesn?t belong to the party?s ideological base though is acceptable to it, and who can attract independent voters,? Bloomberg?s Al Hunt writes. ?It is a formula Republicans would do well to replicate next time. If so, there is an aspirant who may fit the bill: Tim Pawlenty.?

Gov. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., on the firing line over the weekend: ?Gov. Mark Sanford had no defenders when South Carolina House Republicans discussed his fate Saturday at an annual retreat,? The State?s John O?Connor reports.

?Republican legislators fumed Saturday over Gov. Mark Sanford's affair and questionable travel, though they stopped short of trying to force his resignation or impeachment before they return to the Statehouse in January,? per the AP?s Jim Davenport. ?Still, the House GOP Caucus that dominates the lower chamber with 73 of the body's 124 members made two things clear — they want Sanford gone and they want to act soon. However, lawmakers are waiting to make any decisions until the state ethics commission finishes its investigation. And starting impeachment proceedings now could require a costly and special session.?

With 500 days left in his term, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dwight Drake is up with ?(500) Days of Sanford? — think ?(500) Days of Summer.? ?We can end this movie now,? says the voice-over. (Bonus points if you can identify the disgusted moviegoer at the end.)

Bailing out the federal treasury? ?Nearly a year after the federal rescue of the nation?s biggest banks, taxpayers have begun seeing profits from the hundreds of billions of dollars in aid that many critics thought might never be seen again,? Zachery Kouwe writes in The New York Times. ?The profits, collected from eight of the biggest banks that have fully repaid their obligations to the government, come to about $4 billion, or the equivalent of about 15 percent annually.?

Another read: ?Through more than 50 deals known as ?loss shares,? the FDIC has agreed to absorb losses on the detritus of the financial crisis — from loans on two log cabins in the woods of northwestern Illinois to hundreds of millions of dollars in busted condominium loans in Florida. The agency's total exposure is about six times the amount remaining in its fund that guarantees consumers' deposits, exposing taxpayers to a big, new risk,? The Wall Street Journal?s Damian Paletta reports.

Trevor Potter and Marc Elias, teaming up for modernized voter registration: ?The Committee to Modernize Voter Registration will be formally launched Monday. Its aim is to replace the country's cumbersome, paper-based system of voter registration with one that uses new technologies and government databases to build a more lasting roster. It wants to shift the burden so that states try to register all eligible voters, rather than waiting for individuals to come to them,? per The Washington Post editorial.

Talk about ending eras: ?Has the carnival of cable partisanship finally reached its limits, and can the traditional (and many would say true) news operations remain above the fray?? Ted Johnson writes in his Variety column.

The Kicker:

?I hope you go out of business.? — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to a Las Vegas Review Journal advertising executive, per columnist Sherman Frederick.

?A lot of people are hyperventilating about that passage.? — Tom Ridge, to ABC?s Diane Sawyer, on the passage in his new book where he writes of a press to raise the terror-threat level, ?I wondered, 'Is this about security or politics?' ?

For up-to-the-minute political updates check out The Note?s blog . . . all day every day:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/

The Note, 4/13/09: Of Pups & Pirates — Obama as action hero (this time), as two sides of presidency emerge

By RICK KLEIN

Not a bad weekend, all in all. President Obama rescued hostages from pirates while finding time to deliver a puppy to his daughters — and go to church for Easter. (What have you been doing with your congressional break?)

Now that we know Bo, and now that even Bo knows that these “pirates” are really terrorists who like the water, consider how much of the Obama presidency is being directed by puppies and pirates.

The puppy side of the presidency represents what the Obama White House can control — and, nearly three months in, the fascination with President Obama and his family remains as strong a force as ever.

John McCain was right: There is a celebrity aspect to this president that President Obama can smile at right through the moment where his press shop offers the puppy as an exclusive to The Washington Post, to save a scoop on the new vegetable garden for The New York Times.

(And fresh off his victory overseas, there’s the White House Easter Egg Roll at 10 am ET Monday, with the new First Dog set to make his debut Tuesday. Could you write a better postscript scene for the movie?)

The pirate side of the presidency represents what the president can’t control — the great number of crises, foreign and domestic, large and small, that jump onto his radar screen daily.

Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden were right, too: 3 am phone calls happen, and the world is testing this new young president — who looks like an action hero today, but maybe won’t tomorrow. (And by the end of the week, the testing will involve Cuba and Venezuela, too.)

Yes, the standoff with the Somali pirates was a blip on the national-security radar — the kind of thing that wouldn’t draw more than a few sentences in the papers if it happened to American contractors on land in, say, Iraq.

But then the White House had to get involved. And imagine if it didn’t work out . . .

“[Bill] Clinton’s efforts to land a small contingent of troops in Haiti were rebuffed, for the world to see, by a few hundred gun-toting Haitians. As the USS Harlan County retreated, so did the president’s reputation,” Michael D. Shear writes in The Washington Post.

“For President Obama, last week’s confrontation with Somali pirates posed similar political risks to a young commander in chief who had yet to prove himself to his generals or his public,” Shear writes. “But the result — a dramatic and successful rescue operation by U.S. Special Operations forces — left Obama with an early victory that could help build confidence in his ability to direct military actions abroad.”

“For Obama, the benefits were instantly clear: an American life saved and a major victory notched against an increasingly worrisome scourge of the seas off the Horn of Africa,” per the AP’s Jennifer Loven. “Obama’s handling of the crisis showed a president who was comfortable in relying on the U.S. military, much as his predecessor, George W. Bush, did. But it also showed a new commander in chief who was willing to use all the tools at his disposal, bringing in federal law enforcement officials to handle the judicial elements of the crisis.”

He wasn’t just talking about housing last week, after all: “In fact, aides said yesterday, Obama had been briefed 17 times since he returned from his trip abroad, including several times from the White House Situation Room. And without giving too many details, senior White House officials made it clear that Obama had provided the authority for the rescue.”

ABC’s Jake Tapper, Luis Martinez, and Kirit Radia: “From the moment Obama was first alerted about the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama, until the daring rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips on Sunday afternoon, White House officials say Obama was carefully monitoring the situation and twice gave the Pentagon the authority to use the special forces who eventually saved Phillips and killed three of the four pirates.”

It’s “going to make a great movie,” a senior U.S. official tells ABC’s George Stephanopoulos.

“It was a drama that could have been written in Hollywood,” USA Today writes of what headline writers call the “Easter Surprise.”

“The president’s deep involvement in the hostage situation is a recognition that seemingly small events can grow into massive crises in a matter of days, catastrophes that can do significant political damage to even the most popular of presidents,” Washingtonpost.com’s Chris Cillizza writes. “It’s a public relations disaster dodged — one of many Obama will have to avoid as he seeks to retain political momentum and keep his agenda on track.”

What it means: “While the outcome was a triumph for America, officials in many countries plagued by pirates said it was not likely to discourage them. Pirates are holding a dozen ships with more than 200 crew members, according to the Malaysia-based International Maritime Bureau,” Robert D. McFadden and Scott Shane write in The New York Times.

“Somali pirates are vowing to retaliate for the deaths of three fellow pirates at the hands of U.S. Navy snipers,” per ABC’s Kirit Radia and Michael S. James. “One of the pirates told the Associated Press that, ‘In the future, America will be the one mourning and crying.’ ”

“The U.S. military’s moves to crack down on high seas piracy have done little to deter the epidemic of ship ransoms that preceded Sunday’s Indian Ocean rescue, a top Navy official said Sunday,” the AP’s Lara Jakes writes. “Instead, pirates have merely headed elsewhere to avoid a growing armada of U.S. and international warships, said Vice Adm. Bill Gortney, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command.”

“Mr. Obama said the U.S. is ‘resolved to halt the rise of piracy.’ But [Vice Adm. William E. Gortney] also said that the rescue ending in the pirates’ deaths could ramp up hostilities in the growing wave of pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia, in which crews and pirates have seldom been harmed. ‘This could escalate violence in this part of the world, no question about it,’ he said,” per The Wall Street Journal’s Sarah Childress and Peter Spiegel.

But consider: “Until Sunday’s rescue, the Obama administration was facing two seemingly unattractive options for its first national-security crisis: either negotiate with hostage-takers or open fire on them,” Childress and Spiegel write.

What does he do for an encore? It’s a stimulus/transportation day (and week) for the administration.

The president and vice president visit the Transportation Department Monday. “President Barack Obama says two rare phrases describe how his administration is spending billions in stimulus money on roads: ‘ahead of schedule’ and ‘under budget,’ ” per the AP’s Philip Elliott. “Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood planned Monday to highlight the administration’s 2,000th project funded through the $48.1 billion allocated for transportation infrastructure in the stimulus package. Administration aides note the six-weeks-old law is already producing jobs nationwide, including the day’s highlighted project in hard-hit Kalamazoo County, Mich.”

From Biden’s prepared remarks: “The Recovery Act is being implemented with speed, transparency and accountability.”

Some concerns for the near term: “On Arizona highways, federal stimulus money isn’t expected to restore even one construction job in 10 lost in a brutal downturn that has hit the state’s construction workers harder than those in any other state,” Sean Holstege writes in the Arizona Republic.

“The key is new jobs vs. sustained jobs,” said David Martin, president of the Arizona chapter of the Associated General Contractors. “When you are talking about new construction, contracts like the I-10 widening, they employ more people than pavement-preservation jobs.”

Some concerns for down the road: “Two prominent governors, California’s Arnold Schwarzenegger and Pennsylvania’s Edward G. Rendell, sent a memo to President Obama saying he needed to assert more political leadership instead of leaving it to Congress to draft a plan for improving the nation’s aging highways, bridges and ports,” the Los Angeles Times’ Peter Nicholas writes.

“In particular, Rendell said he was concerned that Congress — left to its own devices — would load up a future infrastructure plan with ‘earmarks’ and other narrowly focused spending priorities that undermined its credibility and effectiveness,” Nicholas continues. “Rendell cautioned in an interview that if the bill was larded with earmarks, it could jeopardize the political consensus needed to modernize the nation’s network of roads.”

The man in the middle: “When President Obama needs to reach out to the political opposition, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood often gets the call to be the go-between,” Tribune Co.’s Mike Dorning writes. “Although the administration has not had much success recruiting Republican support for the president’s signature initiatives — not a single House Republican voted for the stimulus package — efforts at bipartisan outreach are still promoted heavily. And LaHood is a key player in the White House strategy.”

“He’s our ambassador beyond his portfolio,” said White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

Then there’s Rahm himself (kinder, gentler?): “Emanuel’s theatrical style, ballet training and ‘Rahmbo’ nickname, along with the well-worn story about a dead fish he sent to a rival, are duly noted on his Wikipedia page. But in his new job, Emanuel is overhauling his image, becoming more valet than hit man, and his formula for moving Obama’s agenda through Congress is beginning to resonate,” Shailagh Murray writes in The Washington Post. “Even Republicans concede that given Obama’s early victories, thornier tasks such as landmark health-care, energy and education bills may not be out of reach.”

Said Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y.: “There’s a consensus among Republicans who can be objective that the president did a good thing in picking Rahm.” (Makes it a little harder for the next Republican to attack Rahm, no?)

Checking in with Gov. Sarah Palin, R-Alaska, on the home front: “With just one week left before the Alaska Legislature adjourns for the year, the conflict between Gov. Sarah Palin and lawmakers over taking federal economic stimulus money is the dominant issue left,” Sean Cockerham writes in the Anchorage Daily News. “Palin herself will be leaving Alaska this week to attend the Vanderburgh County Right to Life dinner in Evansville, Ind. on Thursday, as well as an event for special-needs children. Fairbanks Republican Rep. Jay Ramras questioned her leaving town right at the end of the session, when critical decisions are being made.”

Said Ramras: “There are some concerns [in the Capitol] about the focus of our chief executive because she’s taken a speaking engagement in Indiana for a 36-hour period with only 72 hours left in the legislative session.”

For your 2012 files: “In a move almost certain to fuel fresh speculation about his national ambitions, Gov. Bobby Jindal said Friday that he has agreed to write a book for a conservative publishing house about his life and policy ideas,” Jan Moller reports in the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

Catching George Stephanopoulos’ eye this morning . . .

Watching Cuba developments: “President Barack Obama plans to tell Latin American leaders later this week that the U.S. is willing to discuss how to improve relations with Havana, but wants Cuba to take steps toward democracy before it is reintegrated into the Western hemisphere’s economic and political institutions,” report The Wall Street Journal’s Bob Davis and José De Córdoba. “Cuba is likely to be at the forefront of discussions at the Summit of the Americas, a gathering of 34 heads of government that has always excluded Cuba, starting April 17 in Trinidad. Cuba’s main ally, Venezuela, as well as other countries, have said they want to use the summit to press for closer relations between Washington and Havana.”

Democrats, relax: Paul Krugman aims his fire at Republicans, and Wednesday’s coming “tea parties.” (With a preamble: “Republicans have become embarrassing to watch. And it doesn’t feel right to make fun of crazy people. Better, perhaps, to focus on the real policy debates, which are all among Democrats.”)

Krugman: “These parties — antitaxation demonstrations that are supposed to evoke the memory of the Boston Tea Party and the American Revolution — have been the subject of considerable mockery, and rightly so. But everything that critics mock about these parties has long been standard practice within the Republican Party.”

Bloomberg’s Al Hunt takes on the former geniuses of finance: “Used-car salesmen, lawyers and journalists can relax; they’ve been replaced as America’s favorite villains by corporate executives, or at least investment bankers. Hailed only a short while ago as masters of the universe and princes of perpetual profits, they now are reviled,” Hunt writes.

“Much of the damage to the financial industry’s reputation is self-inflicted. Characterized by greed, risk-free rewards with abject failures being obscenely enriched, the culture of Wall Street is neither capitalistic nor admirable. To laid-off auto workers or struggling nurses it seems criminal.”

It’s a week for gun-violence anniversaries. Monday, in Arlington, Va.: “New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will join Omar Samaha and other family members of victims of the Virginia Tech massacre in a news conference Monday to launch a new television ad. The ad calls for the Commonwealth of Virginia to close a loophole which allows so-called ‘occasional sellers’ at gun shows to sell weapons without conducting a background check of the purchaser. The ad coincides with the second anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre, which claimed thirty two lives on April 16, 2007, and the tenth anniversary of the Columbine massacre in Colorado. The ad will air statewide next week.”

But wait — who are we fooling? Will anything break through this week that isn’t related to a 6-month-old Portuguese water dog with that soft fur and so-cute lei?

It’s now the top story on the White House’s official blog: “In case anybody is wondering, Bo is a boy.”

“Bo will probably be more liked by staff then the last first hound, Barney, the Bush White House dog, who famously took a bite out of a reporter,” ABC’s John Berman writes.

“When the Obama girls met Bo a few weeks ago, Malia had no allergic reaction,” per ABC’s Jake Tapper. “Because the dog is a pure-bred, and not from a pound, the Obama parents will also be making a donation to the DC Humane Society.”

Who blew the lid off the story? The pictures at firstdogcharlie.com look like the real thing.

Manuel Roig-Franzia, in The Washington Post: “The mystery of the Web site’s provenance has displaced the quest for the identity of the First Puppy as a Washington obsession. Late yesterday, the site’s operator responded to an email from The Post. ‘Who am I?’ the e-mail reads. ‘I am simply a friend of Charlie’s. I think we all kind of are.’ The Web site operator said he still has ‘more work to do here before I drop the curtain. This isn’t about fame, fortune or notoriety (maybe just a little notoriety.)’ ”

This might have been a bigger story . . . “The Obamas’ church visit to St. John’s, just two blocks from the White House, caused less of a stir. Parishioners had to pass through metal detectors before entering the sanctuary, but there was only one mention of Mr. Obama during the service, when the congregation prayed for the president, Congress and the Supreme Court. All four Obamas took communion,” Helene Cooper writes in The New York Times.

And there will be more: “A source with knowledge of the White House’s thinking believes that President Obama will visit several other congregations before making a final decision on where to attend Church. No church names were given but a White House source does tell me that being an imposition on Churches is a concern,” David Brody reports for the Christian Broadcasting Network.

The Kicker :

“I’m a fairly charitable person . . . but I have to tell you — I hate the Yankees.” — Rev. Luis Leon, at St. John’s Church, with the First Family in the pews for Easter.

“By the way, it would be over my dead body that a kid would live with my teenage daughter.” — Gov. Sarah Palin, asked about Levi Johnston’s claim that he moved into the governor’s house a few weeks before Bristol Palin gave birth to their child.

Don’t miss “Top Line,” ABCNews.com’s new daily political Webcast, hosted by Rick Klein and David Chalian, at noon ET. Monday’s guests: ABC’s Ann Compton, and political comedian Baratunde Thurston.

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For up-to-the-minute political updates check out The Note’s blog . . . all day every day:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/