Obama: On the way to a failed presidency?  —  Ronald Reagan famously quipped that the Democratic Party left him before he left the party.  Like many progressive supporters of Barack Obama, I'm beginning to have the same feeling about this president.  —  Consider what we've seen since …

Cancer claims Elizabeth Edwards  —  Elizabeth Edwards, author of ‘Saving Graces’ , greets and autographs copies of her book for the community in 2006.  —  Elizabeth Anania Edwards, who became a national figure in her fight against cancer and as a partner in her husband John's political career, died today.

Julian Assange's Great Luck  —  Why his arrest and jailing in the United Kingdom is good news for him.  —  A U.K. magistrates' court denied Julian Assange bail and jailed him this morning over charges filed in Sweden that he had violated sex laws in that country last summer.

Michele Bachmann and DeMint: Not so fast on that agreement with Obama on Bush tax cuts  —  Conservatives, tea partiers, and republicans have worked diligently and effectively to give the republican party its larget house win in years, and this is how they repay us?

Obama administers a stern scolding to lefty critics  —  I noted this morning that Obama's strategy going forward will be to position himself as Washington's lone resident adult in a town full of squabbling children on right and left, and at his presser just now, Obama offered a surprisingly stern …

GOP taps Hal Rogers for House Appropriates Committee Chair  —  House Republicans have tapped Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) to be chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, setting up an old bull appropriator with a history of earmarking to deliver on the anti-spending tea party platform that carried the GOP to victory this fall.

Seminal Moment  —  Let's be honest with each other here: Presidential press conferences are usually news voids into which a lot of ink and chatter are dumped.  —  But Obama's press conference this afternoon will be seen as a turning point if not in his Presidency then in how we understand and perceive him and his approach to politics.

Klobuchar Formidable  —  Amy Klobuchar is overwhelmingly popular and would cruise to reelection at this point pretty much no matter who her Republican opponent was.  —  Klobuchar's approval rating is 59% with only 29% of voters disapproving of her.  She is universally well liked by the Democratic base …

The End of Social Security  —  President Obama and the Republicans will say that the payroll tax holiday is all about stimulating the economy.  But don't be fooled.  According to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities,extending the Making Work Pay Tax Credit, is a much better, more targeted stimulus.

So much for bipartisanship: Obama calls GOP “hostage-takers,” Boehner a “bomb-thrower;” attacks lib critics, too  —  President Obama looks haggard and peeved and petulant at his White House press briefing on the tax deal, still underway as I type.  —  Exuding his typical gracelessness …

More Dems Sign On To Extended Session Plan To Save DADT Repeal  —  Add Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) to the list of Democrats who say the Senate should stay open long enough to give Republicans the time they require to bring the military's ban on openly gay servicemembers to an end.

Palin Success Triggered FCC Complaints  —  Voting, hug angered “Dancing with the Stars” viewers … In the days after Bristol Palin was voted into the finals of “Dancing with the Stars,” viewers from across the country wrote to the Federal Communications Commission accusing the ABC show …