First Read from NBC News….. Welcome to the perpetual campaign

Welcome to the perpetual campaign… When does the campaigning end and the governing begin?… Senate Democrats threaten to change filibuster rules… Kristol-Lowry oppose Gang of Eight immigration bill… On Rick Perry and 2016… Scott Walker heads to Indiana… And new Quinnipiac poll shows Cory Booker lapping the Democratic field in New Jersey’s Senate contest.

*** Welcome to the perpetual campaign: Here’s a thought exercise on this summer morning: Imagine that after the controversial and Medicare prescription-drug legislation was passed into law in 2003, Democrats did everything they could to thwart one of George W. Bush’s top domestic achievements. They launched Senate filibusters to block essential HHS appointees from administering the law; they warned the sports and entertainment industries from participating in any public service announcements to help seniors understand how the law works; and, after taking control of the House of Representatives in 2007, they used the power of the purse to prohibit any more federal funds from being used to implement the law. As it turns out, none of that happened. And despite Democratic warnings that the law would be a bust — we remember the 2004 Dem presidential candidates campaigning against it — the Medicare prescription-drug law has been, for the most part, a pretty big success. But that thought exercise has become a reality 10 years later as Republicans have worked to thwart/stymie/sabotage — pick your word — the implementation of President Obama’s health-care and financial-reform laws.

J. Scott Applewhite / AP

In this June 11, 2013 file photo, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., left, accompanied by Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn of Texas speaks on Capitol Hill.

*** When does the campaigning end and governing begin? Recently, the top-two Senate Republicans — Mitch McConnell and John Cornyn — wrote a letter to the NFL and other major sports leagues warning them not to participate in any campaign to promote implementation of Obamacare. The Koch Brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity is in unchartered waters running TV ads to help prevent the law from being implemented, while the Obama political arm is also on the air promoting implementation. And Senate Republicans have vowed to filibuster any nominee (no matter how qualified) to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under the financial-reform law. Now there’s one big difference between the 2003 Medicare prescription-drug law and Obamacare: Some Democrats voted for the former, while not a single Republican supported the latter. (And just three Senate Republicans voted for the financial-reform law.) But we now have reached the stage in this era of increased polarization where EVERYTHING has become a partisan fight, even carrying out a law that has been passed and upheld by the Supreme Court. The mantra that “elections have consequences” has been thrown out the window and replaced by “everything must be a fight.” And this all raises the question: What’s the line between fighting for your ideology and ensuring that the government that pays your salaries actually works — or even attempts to work? At some point, governing has to take place, but when does that begin? We know what opponents will say in response to this: These are bad laws, and we have to do whatever it takes to stop them. But at what point does an election have a governing consequence?

*** Senate Democrats threaten to change the filibuster rules: Those are the questions that Senate Democrats are raising as they threaten to change the filibuster rules to get Obama’s appointees to head the EPA, Labor Department, and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau confirmed. “[Senate Republicans have] essentially said they are going to disable the executive branch if a minority of the Senate disagrees with or dislikes the president the people elect,” Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) told the New York Times. “It’s come into a realm where it’s just unacceptable because if the executive branch can’t function, then the nation can’t respond to the big challenges it faces.” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has fired back, saying that such a move to change the filibuster rules would hurt minority rights, and Democrats will someday find themselves in the minority again. “Majorities are fleeting, but changes to the rules are not,” Mr. McConnell has said, per the Times. “And breaking the rules to change the rules would fundamentally change this Senate.”

*** The copycat rule: But if we learned one thing after the Bork judicial fight in the 1980s, it’s that political parties copycat each other. And if Republicans are trying to stop Democratic laws from being implemented or preventing executive-branch appointees from being confirmed, then you can bet that Democrats will return the favor the next time there’s a GOP president. This is a slippery slope fraught with unintended consequences. In fact, we already saw Democrats in the minority on the state level trying to thwart laws that were being passed and signed into law by Republican governors and Republican-controlled legislatures. This “any means necessary” style of politicizing legislating and governing is only helping to add to the public’s distrust and cynicism toward government — on all levels.

*** Kristol-Lowry oppose Gang of Eight immigration bill: Conservative writers Bill Kristol and Rich Lowry have penned an op-ed urging House Republicans to “kill” the bipartisan Gang of Eight immigration-reform bill that the Senate recently passed. “The bill’s first fatal deficiency is that it doesn’t solve the illegal-immigration problem. The enforcement provisions are riddled with exceptions, loopholes, and waivers.” More from Kristol and Lowry: “According to the CBO analysis of the bill, it will reduce illegal immigration by as little as a third or by half at most. By one estimate, this means there will be about 7.5 million illegal immigrants here in ten years. And this is under the implausible assumption that the Obama administration would administer the law as written.” While it’s important never to overestimate the opinions from the conservative or liberal intelligentsia, this could have some sway with House Republicans sitting on the fence. Bottom line: They provide some establishment cover.  By the way, as for the substance of their criticism, particularly the part about fear of how Obama will implement the law, correct us if we’re wrong, but most of this law gets enforced under a new administration, post-2016… Tossing in the fear of how a law will get implemented seems to be simply red meat for the base.

*** Rick Perry and 2016: Now that Texas Gov. Rick Perry has announced he won’t run for re-election in 2014, the question for him now turns to 2016: Will he run for president again? On the one hand, it’s hard to imagine that someone who was outperformed by Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, and Ron Paul in 2012 would get many GOP operatives and donors excited. The “oops” remarks will live in infamy for him. But on the other hand, if Perry does run in 2016, he’d have VERY LOW expectations. And as we’ve seen in the past, Perry has been at his best when folks underestimate him (example: shellacking Kay Bailey Hutchison in the 2010 gubernatorial primary or surviving in 2006). Perry could never handle being the immediate front-runner in 2012. But could he do better as the spunky underdog? And he’s still the conservative, who uses Tea Party rhetoric, who is also considered to be more liberal on the spectrum when it comes to the issue of immigration. By the way, in case you are wondering, Perry has been VERY careful not to say much about the national debate over immigration reform. In one interview, he seemed to endorse the ideas in the Senate bill while simultaneously criticizing the government’s ability to enact what’s passed.

*** Scott Walker heads to Indiana: Here’s more 2016 watch: Tonight beginning at 6:30 pm ET, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) will be the featured speaker at an Indiana Republican Party dinner in Indianapolis.

*** Booker is lapping the NJ Dem field: Lastly, this shouldn’t surprise folks: Cory Booker is crushing his Democratic rivals, according to a new Quinnipiac poll. Booker leads the field with support from 52% of New Jersey Democratic voters, Rep. Frank Pallone gets 10%, Rep. Rush Holt gets 8%, and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver gets 3%.

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*** Tuesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews Amy Walter from the Cook Political Report and the Washington Post’s Karen Tumulty.

The New York Times: “Increasingly frustrated by his dealings with President Hamid Karzai, President Obama is giving serious consideration to speeding up the withdrawal of United States forces from Afghanistan and to a ‘zero option’ that would leave no American troops there after next year, according to American and European officials.”

(By the way, a Google search for Obama and frustrated returns 22.6 million results.)

Obama meets with the Congressional Black Caucus today to discuss the economy, immigration, and voting rights. Vice President Biden heads to Arizona for a memorial for the 19 firefighters killed.

Politico: “As millions of low-income adults gain access in just a few months to Medicaid coverage under Obamacare, those already in the program could be shut out of some of the key preventive services included in the law. And the new enrollees could have a hard time actually getting a doctor. Those are the findings of two Health Affairs studies published Monday” from George Washington University’s public health school.”

National Journal: “If you’ve been reading all the Obamacare stories lately, you might get the impression that the administration has just realized it will not be able to implement the massive health reform as designed. It has known for months. As far back as March, a top IT official at the Department of Health and Human Services said the department’s current ambition for the law’s new online insurance marketplaces was that they not be ‘a Third-World experience.’ Several provisions had already been abandoned in an effort to simplify the administration’s task and maximize the chances that the new systems would be ready to go live in October, when customers are supposed to start signing up for insurance.”

Sam Stein looks at the real-world impact sequestration’s having on Head Start families, including families seeing their children dropped from the federally funded early education program for lower-income families: “Sequestration was meant to hurt people just like Reynolds and Bella, Misty and April. The policy’s designers made a bet in the summer of 2011 that a deficit-reduction cleaver that decimated defense and harmed the most vulnerable would be abhorrent to Republicans and Democrats alike. They lost the bet. Sequestration went into effect on March 1, 2013, after lawmakers failed to agree on a replacement. In Washington, the conventional wisdom has sometimes held that sequestration’s harms were oversold. Dire warnings of massive job loss never came true, while government programs used budget gimmickry to keep operating. Outside the Beltway, the perception of sequestration is sharply, viscerally different. Budget cuts have resulted in fewer meals for seniors, less financial aid for scientific research, poorer natural disaster preparedness and more expensive treatments for cancer patients.”

“While the Obama administration throws its support behind Egypt’s military, some members of Congress are looking at withholding some or all of America’s annual $1.5 billion aid package if a civilian government isn’t quickly restored,” the AP writes. “Without the administration’s support, that’s a high hurdle. But after watching the violence spiral in recent days in Cairo and elsewhere, more lawmakers are questioning whether the Egyptian military’s ouster of Mohammed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood-led government last week must be defined as a ‘coup’ and how the U.S. should leverage the only significant element of influence it has in Egypt.”

Among those calling for aid to be suspended is Democratic Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

“The Senate is trying again on student loans,” the AP says. “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Monday scheduled a procedural vote for Wednesday on a bill restoring the interest rate on subsidized Stafford loans to 3.4 percent for one year. Interest rates doubled to 6.8 percent last week because Congress didn’t avert a rate hike built into the law.”

Charlie Cook says 2016 conversations at this point aren’t much more than cocktail-party fodder, but that it’s all about what Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden decide to do. “Far more immediately important (and less hypothetical) is what will happen in next year’s midterm elections. Even though those elections are just over 16 months away, we still don’t know whether Republicans will be playing defense as they were last year, when they had profound problems with minority, young, women, and self-described moderate voters. And, conversely, we don’t know if Democrats, as the party in the White House, will be on defense, as is usually the case during second terms and in so-called six-year-itch elections, halfway through a party’s second term in office. The potential for the Affordable Care Act to become radioactive again, as it was in 2009 and 2010, makes this scenario sound less theoretical and more plausible.”

The SEIU will air Spanish-language pro-immigration reform radio ads. It will target 10 House Republicans with a total buy of $200,000 — Representatives Jeff Denham (CA-10), David Valadao (CA-21), Gary Miller (CA-31), Howard McKeon (CA-25), Scott Tipton (CO-03), Mike Coffman (CO-06), Daniel Webster (FL-10), Joe Heck (NV-03), Mark Amodei (NV-02) and Randy Weber (TX-14).

The Democratic Super PAC American Bridge has launched CorrecttheRecord2016.org, a rapid-response website defending Democrats ahead of the 2016 election. From the group’s forthcoming press release: “Democratic leaders like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden, and others are already being subjected to coordinated attacks from Republican figures and organizations. In May, Karl Rove’s American Crossroads released an attack ad against Secretary Clinton, politicizing the tragedy in Benghazi. In June, another Republican Super PAC, America Rising, launched a ‘Stop Hillary 2016’ campaign. And House Republican leaders are using taxpayer dollars to fund partisan witch hunts with a clear eye towards 2016. Correct the Record will employ a dedicated war room staff charged with providing rapid response to false attacks from Republicans, utilizing traditional and new media tactics to promote the truth, and disseminating its fact-based content to the media, allied progressive organizations, and directly to voters.”

What gains you access to politicians and power? Money and… cybersquatting?

IOWA: The Des Moines Register: Gov. Terry Branstad’s campaign committee on Monday announced it has hired four campaign staffers to strategize for his re-election in 2014.

NEW JERSEY: Cory Booker continues to be the overwhelming favorite in the special election to replace the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg. In a new Quinnipiac poll, he gets 52% in the Democratic primary, while Rep. Frank Pallone gets just 10% and Rush Holt grabs 8%. Booker also leads Republican frontrunner Steve Lonegan 53%-30%.

NORTH CAROLINA: “The North Carolina Senate gave its final approval Wednesday to legislation adding new restrictions for abortions in North Carolina, even as hundreds of angry protesters descended on the legislature to express their displeasure,” the AP writes. “The Senate voted 29-12 for the measure that would direct state health regulators to change abortion clinic rules so they’re similar to those for ambulatory surgery centers. More than 500 opponents of the legislation – mostly women and many wearing pink – organized quickly to gather at the Legislative Building after Senate GOP leaders late Tuesday added several abortion-related provisions to an unrelated bill and won quick approval in a committee and in an initial Senate vote.”

Reuters from Raleigh: “North Carolina’s ‘Moral Monday’ protesters, now in their tenth week, objected to a bill that could limit abortion access — the latest move to counter a conservative shift by the state’s first Republican-led government in more than a century. The rally at the state capitol in Raleigh on Monday night was one of the largest since the protests began this spring, drawing about 2,000 people, including 64 protesters who refused to leave the legislative chambers and were arrested.”

The Raleigh News & Observer: “Gov. Pat McCrory on Monday voiced reservations about the abortion bill before the legislature – just days after his administration shuttered its second abortion clinic in a three-month period for safety reasons. At a news conference to talk about his first six months in office, McCrory said the abortion question was far more complicated than partisans on either side have portrayed it, and that the bill that passed the Senate last week would require more study.”

Said McCrory: “There is a fine line between safety measures and restrictions. But those two lines should not be confused. I am very concerned about the responsibility to ensure that the health of women is protected.” The R&O observes: “But McCrory left in doubt whether he would support the bill, perhaps leaving himself room for negotiations.”

PENNSYLVANIA: MSNBC’s Michael LaRosa takes a deep dive into next year’s gubernatorial contest, noting that incumbent Gov. Tom Corbett is perhaps the nation’s most endangered sitting governor. And he looks at the crowded Democratic field — led by Rep. Allyson Schwartz and state Treasurer Rob McCord.

TEXAS: The Dallas Morning-News: “Let the Texas-size political shake-up begin. With Rick Perry stepping aside after more than a decade as governor, a host of statewide candidates can finally try to move up. And the governor freed himself to focus on another possible run for president.”

Tom DeFrank: “Rick Perry is stepping down as the longest-serving governor in Texas history to clear the decks for a 2016 presidential campaign, according to several well-placed Republican sources. They said Perry is stepping down to make sure his declining popularity among Texas Republicans won’t complicate his Oval Office ambitions. Several Texas Republican sources told National Journal that despite Perry’s insistence Monday that he hasn’t decided on another presidential race, the governor has been passing the word for months he’ll definitely run again in 2016.”

Mark Z. Barabak: “Although leaving office in January 2015 could diminish his fundraising capacity, it would also allow Perry more preparation time than he took in the lead-up to his gaffe-filled 2012 campaign, the only election loss of his more than three-decade-long political career.”

Rand Paul delivered a little chin music to Perry if he decides to run in 2016. “If Governor Perry decides to run for president, I think there would be three good reasons why he could be president: Texas is a big successful state, he’s a long term governor and… I can’t remember the other one,” he said on FOX.

The Houston Chronicle: “About 2,000 people rallied at the Capitol on Monday to speak out for and against abortion rights before lawmakers return to a special session Tuesday to work on measures to restrict the procedure.”