Here are the stories we took note of today but didn't give the full blog treatment:

• Franklin Graham suggests Donald Trump might be his 2012 pick. (ABC News)

• Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval will name John Ensign's successor by May 3. (The Hill)

• Meanwhile, the Senate Ethics Committee will "complete its work" on its Ensign probe. (The Caucus)

• Congress's job approval number hits 17 percent. (Gallup)

• The Democratic Governors Association is raising cash off so-called birther bills. (Political Ticker)

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If Donald Trump really is using presidential talk to boost ratings for "The Apprentice," he might want to come up with a new strategy.

Last Sunday, the real estate mogul's reality show drew the lowest ratings of the season, Michael O'Brien writes for The Hill. More than 7.6 million viewers reportedly watched "The Apprentice" April 17, down from a high of 9.7 million viewers April 3. That drop comes at a time when Trump has begun topping national polls and drawing significant attention from the national news media.

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Is Mike Huckabee going to run for president?

At least one of his former advisers thinks so. GOP strategist Ed Rollins, who was Hucakbee's campaign manager for part of the 2008 campaign, tells the Daily Beast he thinks the former governor will run.

"He's receiving quite a bit of counsel and encouragement," Rollins said. "He knows he has roughly a June 1 deadline to decide. Personally, it's my sense that he'll go for it this time."

(Photo of Rollins and Huckabee in 2008: Jim Cole/AP)

It looks like we won't be able to call Ron Paul's family a Washington dynasty just yet.

A week after hinting he might run for Texas's open Senate seat, Robert Paul, the Texas congressman's son, now says he's unlikely to enter the race.

"I'm never going to say that I won't ever run for office," Robert Paul tells the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "But I think running for Senate probably is not going to happen this time."

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Perhaps Sarah Palin's advisers have a right to be upset about the former Alaska governor's media coverage these days. As FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver reports, press coverage of Palin has been on the decline in recent months. She's now getting only one-fifth the press coverage she did last fall.

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The feud between Glenn Beck and Mike Huckabee continues.

A day after Huckabee lambasted the Fox News host for criticizing him over his support of First Lady Michelle Obama's campaign to end childhood obesity, Beck doubled-down on his criticism of the former Arkansas governor, suggesting he's "co-opting" liberal talking points.

"If, sir, you are this thin-skinned about your politics, it might be best for you to stay on the sidelines" and not run," Beck said, per Politico's Kendra Marr.

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It's no secret that Nevada is home to some unusual politics.

After all, it's the only state in the country where a political debate over banning prostitution might actually become a pivotal issue in the upcoming 2012 presidential campaign.

But even this seems unusual for the state: On Thursday, two candidates a deadlocked city council primary race in North Las Vegas, a suburb of Sin City, settled the contest by drawing cards.

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A new poll finds that Mitt Romney remains the only Republican who can beat President Obama in New Hampshire ahead of next year's 2012 election.

A new Dartmouth College survey of registered voters in the state finds that Romney would beat Obama by 8 points, 47 percent to 39 percent, in a projected general election match-up.

It's the second poll this year that found Romney leading Obama by a sizable margin in the Granite State, where the president's popularity has dramatically fallen since the 2008 campaign. Just 36 percent of voters approve of the job Obama is doing in the White House--one of his lowest ratings in the country.

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As President Obama addressed the crowd at a breakfast fundraiser in San Francisco Thursday, he fielded some audience input that he wasn't bargaining for.

A woman in the crowd suddenly rose from her seat and said: "Mr. President, we wrote you a song," according to the White House pool report. The president attempted to quiet her, but the woman and her table of donors at the St. Regis Hotel breakfast broke into song and raised signs that read "Free Bradley Manning"--the Army intelligence specialist accused of releasing diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks. Yesterday, it was reported that Manning had been moved to a less restrictive prison following pressure from human rights groups.

The protesters said they had spent $5,000 donating to Obama. "We'll vote for you in 2012, yes that's true. Look at the Republicans--what else can we do?" they reportedly chanted.

"We paid our dues. Where's our change?" they sang.

You can watch a clip of the protesters below, via the San Francisco Chronicle:
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Republican John Ensign of Nevada announced Thursday night that he is resigning from the Senate, effective May 3, creating a series of political chain reactions in his home state.

"It is with tremendous sadness that I officially hand over the Senate seat that I have held for eleven years," Ensign said in a statement. "The turbulence of these last few years is greatly surpassed by the incredible privilege that I feel to have been entrusted to serve the people of Nevada.  I can honestly say that being a United States Senator has been the honor of my life."

Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval will be tasked with appointing Ensign's interim replacement. Observers agree that the most likely candidate is Republican Rep. Dean Heller, who was already running to succeed Ensign.

These developments drastically change the landscape for the 2012 Nevada Senate race, while also setting off a scramble for Heller's House seat.

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