Aides: GOP senators may let 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal go forward  —  Washington (CNN) — Four key GOP senators who have announced their support of a “don't ask, don't tell” repeal are prepared to join Democrats in voting to let the bill proceed, as long as Congress first deals with a measure …

The new comeback kid  —  If Barack Obama wins reelection in 2012, as is now more likely than not, historians will mark his comeback as beginning on Dec. 6, the day of the Great Tax Cut Deal of 2010.  —  Obama had a bad November.  Self-confessedly shellacked in the midterm election …

PolitiFact's Lie of the Year: ‘A government takeover of health care’  —  In the spring of 2009, a Republican strategist settled on a brilliant and powerful attack line for President Barack Obama's ambitious plan to overhaul America's health insurance system.

CNN and Tea Party Express to host 2012 debate  —  CNN said Friday that it is joining forces with the Tea Party Express — a political action committee that played a key role in the 2010 midterm elections — to co-host a Republican presidential debate.  —  The debate is scheduled for Labor …

Judge Hints He May Rule Against Health Law  —  PENSACOLA, Fla. — A federal judge asserted on Thursday that it would be “a giant leap” for the Supreme Court to accept the Obama administration's defense of a central provision of the new health care law, suggesting he may become the second judge to strike it down as unconstitutional.

Snub for Obamas as Royal sources reveal they will not be invited to Prince William's wedding  —  President Obama and his wife Michelle will not be invited to Prince William's wedding next year.  —  Because Prince William is not yet heir to the throne, his wedding to Kate Middleton is not classed …

How Would President Romney Govern?  —  “Sincerity is everything - once you can fake that, you've got it made.”  —  There's Mitt Romney's problem in 1 sentence.  He cannot fake sincerity.  His insincerity is blatant, inescapable, clumsy and off-putting.  Ross Douthat phrased the indictment …

Exclusive: Sarah Palin on 2012 Plans, Double Standards for Women  —  Palin Says Thinking About Presidential Run Is a ‘Prayerful Consideration’  —  Sarah Palin is surveying the lay of the land to consider whether to make a presidential run in 2012, she told “Good Morning America” …

Breaking?  Study Finds Fox News Viewers Are The Most Misinformed  —  To perhaps nobody's surprise, a study released this week finds that Fox News viewers are the most misinformed of any news consumers.  —  The University of Maryland study, called “Misinformation and the 2010 Election,” …

Pakistani Role Is Suspected in Revealing U.S. Spy's Name  —  WASHINGTON — The Central Intelligence Agency's top clandestine officer in Islamabad was pulled from the country on Thursday amid an escalating war of recriminations between American and Pakistani spies, with some American officials convinced …

Our view: Pawlenty wishes he'd have run again; will he pursue the presidency?  —  Outgoing Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty didn't even hesitate.  “Yes,” he answered when asked by the News Tribune editorial board this week whether, after the Republicans took control of the Minnesota Legislature …

Why I Am Donating $50,000 to WikiLeaks' Defense Fund  —  What's Your Reaction:  —  Let's get something straight: Julian Assange is a journalist.  You can argue that he is not practicing journalism the way you think it should be practiced — releasing classified U.S. State Department documents — but he's a journalist nonetheless.

HPD knows names of 2 slain robbers  —  In the back room of a humble jewelry store and pawn shop in Houston's East End Thursday afternoon, a gunman tied Eva Castillo's wrists tightly — too tightly.  She complained of the pain, so he loosened the bindings.  Then Castillo's husband was ordered …

Feds Force Okla. Bank To Remove Crosses, Bible Verse  —  Federal Examiners Say Religious Decoration Inappropriate  —  PERKINS, Okla. — A small-town bank in Oklahoma said the Federal Reserve won't let it keep religious signs and symbols on display.  —  Federal Reserve examiners come every four years …

Reapportionment Preview: Mapping Out States “On the Bubble”  —  House Editor David Wasserman kicks off the Cook Political Report's in-depth coverage of Redistricting 2012, which you can also follow via Twitter handle @Redistrict as the remap gets underway.  Over the next year …

Top RNC fundraiser quits  —  The Finance Chairman of Michael Steele's Republican National Committee resigned today, a Republican source said.  —  Peter Terpeluk, a major George W. Bush fundraiser who served as Ambassador to Luxembourg, had struggled to raise large-dollar contributions from big donors skeptical of Steele.

Obama brand remains surprisingly strong  —  Some interesting — and unexpected — results in The Washington Post's big post-election poll.  First, Obama's position against the Republicans in Congress is much stronger than that of his predecessors.  The following polls were all taken …

Dems are earmark junkies but GOP goes straight  —  Press coverage of the budget frenzy on Capitol Hill has suggested that pork-barrel earmark spending is still a bipartisan problem, that after months of self-righteous rhetoric about fiscal discipline, Republicans and Democrats remain equal-opportunity earmarkers.

DREAM Act is an acute issue for Asian Americans  —  David Cho has a dream — and it's to become a citizen of the country in which he has grown up, graduated high school and now attends college.  However, instead of entertaining employment offers upon his graduation this spring …

Wall Street Whitewash  —  When the financial crisis struck, many people — myself included — considered it a teachable moment.  Above all, we expected the crisis to remind everyone why banks need to be effectively regulated.  —  How naïve we were.  We should have realized …

Michelle Obama, Sasha, Malia, Bo to Hawaii; Not Taking the Jumbo Jet … First Lady Michelle Obama, daughters Sasha and Malia and family dog Bo will fly to Hawaii on Saturday for a winter vacation, Politics Daily has learned, while President Obama remains in Washington to deal with Congress.