May 27, 2011 – In some circles, the Republican 2012 field has been written off faster than last year's business expenses. Newt Gingrich lacks discipline. Mitt Romney's health care law was too similar to President Obama's. Nobody knows who Tim Pawlenty is. All are common swipes against the budding crop of presidential...

May 27, 2011 – There seems to be an incessant buzz in America these days caused by our collective carping about the game playing of elected officials. I have contributed mightily to this noise and have fed it a fair amount through my writing for print media and in this space. On...

May 27, 2011 – Will the White House get its favorite Republican candidate? Last October, top White House adviser David Plouffe told reporters of the 2012 GOP contest: "These guys are going to be running through hoops to please the far-right folks who are kind of the acolytes of Sarah Palin. Now maybe...

May 27, 2011 – Texas Gov. Rick Perry acknowledged Friday that he will consider a bid for president, reversing his past opposition to the race and setting up a period of intense speculation about whether he will run and whether he can win. "I'm gonna think about it," Perry said when asked about the...

May 27, 2011 – A conservative Georgia congressman is questioning whether President Barack Obama had the constitutional authority to use a mechanical autopen to sign an extension of the “Patriot Act” into law last night. In a letter sent Friday, Rep. Tom Graves, who voted against the bill, asked Obama to confirm that the...

May 27, 2011 – A federal court in Alexandria, Va. on Thursday struck down a federal ban on corporate campaign contributions, in a case with potentially dramatic ramifications for a campaign finance regulatory system under siege by legal and regulatory attacks. The ruling, from the U.S. District Court for Eastern Virginia, piggybacked on a...

May 27, 2011 – Rush Limbaugh lashed out at what he called a “hit piece” against Fox News chief Roger Ailes that appeared in Rolling Stone magazine, citing author Tim Dickinson’s “arrogance and smugness.” The article, “How Roger Ailes Built the Fox News Fear Factory,” says that “Fox News viewers are the most misinformed...

May 27, 2011 – Less than three years into the job, first lady Michelle Obama is on her third chief of staff and third social secretary. She is on her second communications director, the White House chief usher recently departed, and her press secretary’s last day is Friday. The turnover, greater than under recent...

May 27, 2011 – MASON CITY — U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, will be in Mason City Tuesday as he campaigns for support in the 2012 Iowa Republican caucuses. Paul will be at the Rose Bowl for a meet-and-greet from noon to 1 p.m. He was in Mason City last year to support...

May 27, 2011 – (Newser) – With the Justice Department preparing to file criminal charges against him for using illegal campaign contributions to cover up his affair, John Edwards paid an "entirely personal and social" visit to the donor at the heart of the probe, her lawyers say. The former candidate spent yesterday afternoon...

May 27, 2011 – (Newser) – Hillary Clinton met with senior leaders in Pakistan today, including President Asif Ali Zardari and the chief of the army, to discuss the country's future in the fight against terror. The New York Times puts it succinctly: The visit "did not appear to go well." In place of...

May 27, 2011 – The long knives are out for Tommy Thompson. In the two weeks since Democratic Sen. Herb Kohl announced his plan to retire in 2012 and Thompson signaled his interest in running for his seat, the former four-term Wisconsin governor once heralded as a conservative superstar has come under sustained attack...

May 27, 2011 – DES MOINES, Iowa — Republican Mitt Romney is returning to Iowa to begin what his aides promise will be a leaner campaign for the state's leadoff nominating caucuses than the expensive juggernaut he assembled here in his 2008 race. The former Massachusetts governor plans to officially announce his second bid...

May 27, 2011 – The Republican Party soon will find out whether it has room for two female, conservative stars: former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann. Both are potential presidential candidates, and their camps are starting to butt heads, Politico reports. The two have a lot in common, with...

May 27, 2011 – ABC News' Rick Klein (@rickklein) reports: Amid the public hand-wringing over his party’s stance on Medicare, count freshman Sen. Mike Lee among those committed to standing behind a bold -- if politically risky -- set of policy proposals. "I'm not nervous about what Republicans are doing," Lee, R-Utah, who was...

May 27, 2011 – Minnesota GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann says if she decides to run for president in 2012 it would be independent of who else is running — and that includes former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Bachmann also said on CNN Thursday that if she becomes a candidate she will have to work...

May 27, 2011 – Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with the Pakistani president on Friday as part of a push to repair the relationship with Islamabad in the wake of a U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is...

May 27, 2011 – Hoping to encourage the push for freedom and democracy, President Obama and leaders of the G-8 countries announced Friday that they will allow international development banks to provide more than $20 billion to help spur development in the "Arab Spring" counties like Egypt and Tunisia. A statement released by the...

May 27, 2011 – Presidential candidate and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty says he will be a leader on the Medicare issue. Although he said Friday that he admires House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s plan, he restated that he will release his own Medicare plan shortly. “First of all, President Obama should be...

May 27, 2011 – (Newser) – At first, self-professed "frugal" Newt Gingrich's Tiffany bill of up to $500,000 just made him look ridiculously out of step with cash-strapped Americans. But now, the financial arrangement with the jewelry behemoth is raising questions about influence, notes Gawker. Gingrich and his wife enjoyed a special interest-free line...

May 27, 2011 – (Newser) – After a long day of fundraising yesterday in Chicago, Mitt Romney was ready for some of the city's famous deep-dish pizza. But what to do with the leftovers? Seeing as how Chicago is also the home of President Obama’s reelection headquarters, the GOP hopeful decided to be generous...

May 27, 2011 – (Newser) – The chairwoman of the DNC—who slammed Republican 2012 hopefuls for putting the US auto industry at risk by favoring foreign automakers—herself owns a foreign car, the Hill reports. "If it were up to the candidates for president on the Republican side, we would be driving foreign cars; they...

May 27, 2011 – (Newser) – Sarah Palin will like life in Scottsdale, Arizona, just fine ... so long as she can cope with the sun and steer clear of snakes and scorpions, say the Alaskan's new neighbors. Palin—whose purchase of a house in the desert community is being taken as a sign that...

May 27, 2011 – This post was authored by Kyle Olson. House Democrats in Indiana thought they were being clever by walking out on the legislative session in February, stealing a page out of the Wisconsin Democrats’ playbook.  Instead of having a debate on the serious issues of education reform, they decided to...

May 26, 2011 – WASHINGTON, May 26 (UPI) -- Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan says he's determined to push his Medicare plan even if it costs him his seat in the next election. "I don't care about that," Ryan told ABC News in an interview Wednesday. He said Republicans should fight for a House-approved Medicare...