Democrats course-correct on uneven terrain: The Note

The TAKE with Rick Klein

The issues may be settling in. The directions they point toward continue to move in ways that defy prediction.

The news of recent days adds up to a disturbing mix for the Democratic Party. There's inflation, COVID anger, political paralysis, a crisis in Ukraine with implications for energy markets and national security.

The party in power is adjusting -- sometimes willingly, sometimes less so. Democratic governors continue to roll back COVID restrictions; progressive parents in San Francisco recalled school board members who were viewed as focusing on the wrong priorities; the White House is acknowledging inflation and gas-price worries and recasting plans to address both; the State of the Union address March 1 will now feature a full House chamber.

There's potentially some good political news ahead for Democrats. President Joe Biden is expected to pick a new Supreme Court justice in the next week, and there's growing optimism about there being an effective end to the pandemic.

But there's enough uncertainty, courtesy of Russian President Vladimir Putin and a jittery economy among other factors, to ensure that any course-correction by Democrats is built on shaky ground at this point.

"The state of the union is stressed," David Axelrod, a senior adviser and strategist in the Obama-Biden White House, wrote in a widely shared New York Times op-ed this week. "To claim otherwise — to highlight the progress we have made, without fully acknowledging the hard road we have traveled and the distance we need to go — would seem off-key and out of touch."

Axelrod's prescription -- "humility" -- might fit the Biden brand. But Democrats can't be sure if it fits the moment, in part because it's still hard to say what the moment looks like at any point in time.

The RUNDOWN with Averi Harper

While Biden works toward announcing his Supreme Court pick, Senate Democrats are making it known that they intend to move quickly on confirmation.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told reporters Thursday he wants to see the confirmation process complete by April 9.

"I'd like to get this done before the Easter break because that adds two weeks to the process, and I think we can do it," Durbin told reporters.

White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One that President Biden "could begin interviewing potential nominees as soon as this week."

Biden needs a simple majority to confirm his pick, but Democrats will need to be unified in order to confirm her without Republican votes. Concerns about the potential absence of Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., after he suffered a stroke -- which would trigger a need for Republican support -- have seemingly been staved off for now. In a video released by Lujan's office, the recovering senator pledges to return to Washington in time to vote for Biden's Supreme Court pick. Even so, the president told NBC he believes his still-unnamed nominee will garner GOP votes.

The TIP with Alisa Wiersema

With the clock slowly winding down on the Supreme Court issuing a decision in the Mississippi case that could overturn Roe v. Wade, another state is advancing legislation to ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

On Thursday, Florida's House of Representatives passed HB 5, a GOP-backed bill that would cut the state's current 24-week abortion access timeline nearly in half. The legislation mirrors the Mississippi law currently before the Supreme Court. And although Florida's bill allows exceptions involving risk to a pregnant person's life, it does not include exceptions for rape or incest.

Regional Planned Parenthood doctors say the law would severely impact pregnant people who do not have means to travel outside of Florida to seek abortions. The bill's implementation would also limit abortion access for people from surrounding states.

The measure could be passed by both chambers as soon as next week, and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who previously expressed support for this kind of legislation, is likely to sign it into law. West Virginia and Arizona have also recently advanced 15-week abortion bans.

NUMBER OF THE DAY, powered by FiveThirtyEight

70. That's the percentage of Americans who think it's time we accept that COVID-19 is here to stay. But as FiveThirtyEight's Jean Yi writes, that doesn't mean Americans are "done" with COVID-19. There are signs that support for mask mandates and vaccine mandates are waning, but many Americans still say they're still willing to take precautions. Read more from Jean on how Americans are thinking about the pandemic.

THE PLAYLIST

ABC News' "Start Here" Podcast. Start Here begins Friday morning with ABC's Martha Raddatz on the latest from the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Then, ABC's Mireya Villarreal reports from the southern border on the status of migration encampments. And, ABC's LZ Granderson explains a new Gallup poll that found LGBTQ+ identification doubled in the last 10 years. http://apple.co/2HPocUL

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The Note is a daily ABC News feature that highlights the day's top stories in politics. Please check back Tuesday, after Presidents Day, for the latest.