Debate Swings Door Open for Perry, Closed for Palin  —  Most people have better things to do than to watch a presidential debate eight months in advance of the Iowa caucuses.  So when considering a debate like the one that took place among Republican candidates in New Hampshire tonight, it's important to be mindful of the following:

Obama: My family would be fine with just 1 term  —  WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama says his wife and daughters aren't “invested” in him being president and would have been fine had he decided against running for re-election.  But he says they believe in what he's doing for the country.

‘Paula Brooks,’ editor of ‘Lez Get Real,’ also a man  —  Just one day after the author behind a popular Syrian lesbian blog admitted to being a married, American man named Tom MacMaster, the editor of the lesbian news site Lez Get Real, with the tag­line “A Gay Girl's View on the World,” acknowledged that he is also a man.

Wingnut debt ceiling demands  —  NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — A lot of politicians are weighing in with demands before they'll support raising the debt ceiling.  Most of their conditions are related to debt, such as put in place a debt reduction plan or cut spending.

Pundit Under Protest  —  I'll be writing a lot about the presidential election over the next 16 months, but at the outset I would just like to remark that I'm opining on this whole campaign under protest.  I'm registering a protest because for someone of my Hamiltonian/National Greatness perspective …

Obama fundraiser underwhelms  —  The empty seats at President Obama's fundraiser in Miami, Fl. were hard to miss.  —  MIAMI, Fla. — A low-dollar fundraiser here Monday felt like a throwback to the 2008 campaign.  —  There was the same old soundtrack - including “City of Blinding Lights” …

In 5-4 Vote, Supreme Court Limits Securities Fraud Suits  —  WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that a mutual fund's investment adviser may not be sued for securities fraud over misstatements in fund prospectuses.  —  The 5-to-4 decision split along ideological lines.

Newt Gingrich Charity Paid Cash To Gingrich For-Profit Business  —  A non-profit charity founded by Newt Gingrich to promote freedom, faith and free enterprise also served as another avenue to promote Gingrich's political views, and came dangerously close, some experts say …

OVERNIGHT ENERGY: High noon for ethanol  —  Tuesday's Big Story: The Senate is slated to vote on Sen. Tom Coburn's (R-Okla.) plan to eliminate a major ethanol industry tax break and the ethanol import tariff.  —  Ethanol backers are battling the amendment and seeking to pull support from Coburn.

Hillary Clinton, the Comic Book  —  It reads more like a soap opera than a comic book, with its down-and-dirty details involving two of the most powerful political figures of our time: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.  —  A new 32-page comic book entitled “Political Power: Hillary Rodham Clinton” …

About Ron Klain  —  Ron Klain is a senior executive with a private investment firm in Washington.  From 2009 to 2011, he was chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden and a senior adviser to President Barack Obama on the Recovery Act, judicial selection, and other policy matters.

Obama stresses ‘need to accelerate the recovery’  —  President Obama was in North Carolina yesterday, touring a fast-growing manufacturer of clean energy lighting, and convening a meeting of his Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.  Of particular interest, though, were the president's comments …

DeMint ‘not considering’ presidential run  —  Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) on Tuesday closed the door to a run for president, saying he's not considering getting into the race.  —  Some conservative activists have urged DeMint to jump into the race due to their dissatisfaction with the current crop of candidates.

Politico's VandeHei: ‘Not Any Single Reporter At Any Media Organization Thinks Palin Should Be President’  —  People know that the MSM despises Sarah Palin.  Still, it was shocking to hear the beans so blithely spilled . . .  Jim Vandehei of Politico, on Morning Joe today:

Bankruptcy Court: DOMA Unconstitutionally Limits Same-Sex Married Couples From Joint Bankruptcy Filing  —  Today, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, in Los Angeles, released an opinion finding Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional …

Fact-checking the GOP debate in New Hampshire  —  That was some collection of facts and statistics during the GOP debate in New Hampshire on Monday night that aired on CNN.  —  We're going to take an instant stab at some of them, and then perhaps come back later this week with a more extended look at other assertions.

Capitol Report: ‘Extraordinary’ session never before used to pass budget  —  If top Republican lawmakers move forward Tuesday with a plan to pass the state budget in “extraordinary session,” it will be the first time lawmakers have used this speedy political maneuver to pass a budget in at least 80 years.

Clarence Thomas takes hard line on defendants  —  WASHINGTON — Twenty years ago, when a senator asked then-appellate Judge Clarence Thomas why he wanted to be on the Supreme Court, Thomas said he often looked out his courthouse window at arriving prisoners and said to himself, “But for the grace of God, there go I.”