Mitt Romney: middle income Americans are focus, not very poor  —  After winning the Florida primary, GOP presidential nominee hopeful Mitt Romney explains to CNN anchor Soledad O'Brien that he is focused on a particular portion of the American population in his campaign.

Gingrich 2012?  Going, Going, Gone  —  Last week, New York magazine's John Heilemann pointed out a deep truth about Newt Gingrich's peculiar presidential campaign: The very media elite that Gingrich delights in hammering has actually been in his corner all along.

Mitt Romney heads to Minnesota amid talk of Michele Bachmann endorsement  —  TAMPA, Fla. - Mitt Romney is carrying a full head of steam after winning the Florida primary, but the Republican presidential contender isn't headed first today for Nevada or Maine, the next two states to vote.

Komen Cuts Planned Parenthood Grants Months After Arrival Of New VP, Who Is Abortion Foe … Komen Planned Parenthood , Politics News  —  Breast cancer charity giant Susan G. Komen for the Cure on Tuesday did not renew a grant to Planned Parenthood to fund breast exams.

Administration briefs Senate leaders on Taliban transfer  —  Top Obama administration officials briefed eight senior Senate leaders Tuesday on a pending deal to transfer as many as five Taliban prisoners from the U.S. detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to Qatar.

EXCLUSIVE: Mitt Romney to Receive Secret Service Protection  —  TAMPA - Mitt Romney's presidential campaign has been informed that it will start receiving Secret Service protection on Thursday, two campaign sources and a senior Republican tell ABC News.  —  Secret Service protection …

‘Soul Train’ creator Don Cornelius dead in apparent suicide  —  “Soul Train” creator Don Cornelius was found dead at his Sherman Oaks on home Wednesday morning.  —  Law enforcement sources said police arrived at Cornelius' home around 4 a.m. He apparently died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound …

Anthony Weiner used campaign money to hire private investigators to chase down his lie about crotch-shot tweet, financial statements reveal  —  Weiner hired T&M while in full spin mode over controversy that eventually led to his resignation  —  Infamous photo that Anthony Weiner tweeted.

The GOP's ongoing turnout problem  —  There can be little doubt that Mitt Romney dominated in Florida's Republican presidential primary, but there were a few tidbits in the exit polls that stood out, including this one:  —  This has to be discouraging for the former governor and his campaign.

Palin: Romney's $17 million in ads bought ‘some false narrative’ in Florida  —  Former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said that Mitt Romney's aggressive campaign spending allowed him to buy a “false narrative” that propelled him to victory in Florida's pivotal primary.

To My Old Master  —  In August of 1865, a Colonel P.H. Anderson of Big Spring, Tennessee, wrote to his former slave, Jourdan Anderson, and requested that he come back to work on his farm.  Jourdan — who, since being emancipated, had moved to Ohio, found paid work, and was now supporting his family …

Obama Approval Above 50% in 10 States and D.C. in 2011  —  District of Columbia, Hawaii most approving; Utah, Idaho, least  —  PRINCETON, NJ — In 10 states plus the District of Columbia, a majority of residents approved of the job Barack Obama was doing as president last year, according to aggregated data from 2011.

Four men admit London Stock Exchange bomb plot  —  The men planned to terrorise people and to damage the economy and property  —  Four men inspired by al-Qaeda have admitted planning to detonate a bomb at the London Stock Exchange.  —  Mohammed Chowdhury, Shah Rahman …

Christie: I wasn't ‘clear enough’ on civil rights remark  —  New Jersey's Chris Christie, the Mitt Romney super-surrogate who caused a stir last week when he drew a parallel between the gay-marriage push and the civil rights movement, offered up a rare apology last night on a radio program for the comments:

GOP leader criticizes Obama for opposing repeal of healthcare act  —  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday criticized President Obama for opposing the GOP effort to repeal a key portion of the 2010 healthcare law.  —  McConnell noted in his criticism on the Senate floor …

House GOP seeks to bar the use of welfare funds at strip clubs  —  House Republicans don't want Uncle Sam paying for any more lap dances.  —  A bill that GOP leaders are bringing to the House floor Wednesday would require states to prevent welfare recipients from accessing or spending …

How Fox News has stayed on top  —  Roger Ailes and about 20 of his producers and executives — including experts in lighting, graphics and engineering — gather now and then in a conference room on the second floor of Fox News headquarters in midtown Manhattan and watch the channel for eight hours straight.

Green group targets Virginia Senate candidate George Allen  —  The League of Conservation Voters took aim at Virginia Senate candidate George Allen (R) Tuesday, naming him to the environmental group's “Dirty Dozen” list.  —  LCV, in a video posted on the group's website …

Romney votes cost 3 times Gingrich votes  —  Mitt Romney won the Florida primary in a landslide, with more than 46 percent of the vote.  But a closer look at the financials shows that in terms of ad spending, each vote cost him and his Super PAC more than three times as much as the competition.

OVERNIGHT ENERGY: House Republicans forge ahead on drilling  —  State of play: House Republicans will showcase their push to link expanded oil-and-gas drilling to transportation and infrastructure legislation Wednesday.  —  The House Natural Resources Committee will mark up bills …