Through 11 presidential elections, beginning with the Democrats’ nomination of George McGovern in 1972, Republicans have enjoyed a presumption of superiority regarding national security. This year, however, events and their rhetoric are dissipating their advantage. Read full article > >

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Republicans need more than rhetoric on defense

Former senator Bob Kerrey told The Fix on Tuesday that he will not run for the open Senate seat in Nebraska, a move that robs Democrats of their top potential recruit in a tough state. Democrats eyed a potential Senate comeback for Kerrey after Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) announced in late December that he wouldn’t seek reelection . Read full article > >

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Bob Kerrey won’t seek Nebraska Senate seat

Democrats have been saying for a long time that the House could be in play in 2012, and now some Republicans are starting to join them. “For Democrats to take 25 seats, they will need a wave,” former congressman Tom Davis wrote in an op-ed in The Hill recently. “Continued polarization and obstruction could create such a wave.” Read full article > >

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Democrats’ chances of retaking the House improve

RICHMOND — The Republican revolution is on in Richmond. Virginia Republicans have aggressively pursued a conservative agenda since taking over all of state government, steamrolling Democrats along the way. Read full article > >

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Republicans in Virginia push conservative agenda, with bills on guns, gays

Federal agents based in Phoenix were responsible for the controversial tactics used in the flawed gun operation known as “Fast and Furious,” rather than Justice Department officials, according to a report released today by Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Read full article > >

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House Democrats say Phoenix ATF to blame in ‘Fast & Furious’ fiasco

Sarah Palin, not one known to mince words, accused Chris Christie of committing a rookie mistake and playing into the hands of Democrats by denigrating Newt Gingrich.

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City Room: Palin Has a Few Choice Words for Christie

President Obama will promise a populist “blueprint for an American economy that’s built to last,” as he seeks to draw a contrast between the Democrats and Republicans in his State of the Union address.

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Obama to Draw an Economic Line in State of Union

Democrats and their allies in organized labor say they delivered over a million recall petition signatures against Gov. Scott Walker (R) Tuesday, far more than the 540,208 needed to spark a recall election. Read full article > >

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Over a million signatures filed to force recall of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker

It’s tempting to see the news that Bill Daley is leaving as White House chief of staff — to be replaced by budget director Jack Lew — as a triumph of the new populist Obama over the old bipartisan and reconciliatory Obama. While there’s a grain of truth in that reading, it’s overstated. Bill Daley’s departure is not exactly heartbreaking news for Hill Democrats and liberals, because Daley is directly associated with many of the failings liberal Dems saw in the White House before Obama’s turn towards a more aggressive populism. Daley was brought in to repair relations with the business community, at a time (as liberals argued at the time) when literally nothing could have ever gotten corporate leaders and Republicans from from tarring Obama as anti-business. Daley’s olive branch went unrewarded, confirming liberal suspicions about the folly of hoping for improved relations. Read full article > >

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Greg Sargent:
Bill Daley exit represents White House shift into populist mode

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Former senator and Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum is trying to get New Hampshire conservatives to fall in love with him. But in so doing, he’s reminding some independents, and certainly Democrats, exactly why they fell out of love with him in his home state of Pennsylvania, where he was ousted from office by more than 17 points in 2006. Read full article > >

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New Hampshire voters hammer Santorum over his views

Agreements on issues that divided Democrats and Republicans could be even more elusive when Congress returns for an election-year session.

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Congress Delays Political Struggle

This is a moment when policymakers should be thinking big, not small. History will little note nor long remember that the payroll tax holiday was extended for two months rather than 12. The complex and difficult questions we’re avoiding, however, may haunt us through the century. Let me be clear that I applaud President Obama and the Democrats for the political victory they won last week. The impact was to weaken the influence of the most reactionary and clueless faction in Congress — the Tea Party Republicans — and strengthen the hand of both progressives and pragmatic conservatives. This can only be a good thing. Read full article > >

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A brainpower revolution

BOSTON — When Mitt Romney was governor, he had a routine: Every Monday afternoon at 3, he would meet with the two Democrats who controlled the Massachusetts legislature. They rotated offices each week and, over cheese, juice and popcorn, the three negotiated the budget, taxes and health care. Sometimes they just chitchatted about movies, leaving Romney to wonder whether he had just wasted an hour. Read full article > >

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Romney touts himself as successful consenus builder

President Obama called House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) on Wednesday to urge him again to allow a vote on a Senate-passed measure that would extend a payroll tax holiday for two months, as Democrats and Republicans sought to step up pressure on each other over an impasse that risks hitting millions of Americans in their pocketbooks next year. Read full article > >

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Obama presses Boehner to allow vote on Senate payroll tax measure

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, who has been castigated by Democrats and hailed by Republicans for his plan to privatize Medicare, will on Thursday unveil a new approach that would preserve the 46-year-old federal health program. Working with Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), the Wisconsin Republican is developing a framework that would offer traditional, government-run Medicare as an option for future retirees along with a variety of private plans. Read full article > >

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Paul Ryan to announce new approach to preserving Medicare