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:

Citing his own past, Frank passes on Weiner judgment  —  Citing his own brush with sexual scandal, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said Tuesday that he's in no position to judge the lurid actions of colleague Anthony Weiner.  —  “Given these circumstances, where I was myself engaged in activity …

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.

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.

Statue of Liberty redux  —  A smart colleague reminds us that Ronald Reagan kicked off his formal general election campaign in 1980 with a Liberty Park speech, as Jon Huntsman is doing for his primary effort.  —  But there's another, more recent , and far more local, candidate who announced …

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 …

‘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.

Allen West Violates Federal Law During Weekend Diving Trip  —  ​There's nothing really bad to say about Rep. Allen West going diving off the coast of Deerfield Beach with a bunch of military veterans — except for the fact that he violated U.S. federal law in the process, and provided pictorial of himself doing so.

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 …

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” …

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.

Puerto Rico-Bound President Obama Courts Latinos, Raises Cash on Visit  —  President Obama today becomes the first sitting U.S. president in five decades to visit Puerto Rico on a trip meant to curry favor among mainland U.S. Latinos and raise some campaign cash.

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.

High Hopes at Miracle-Gro in Medical Marijuana Field  —  Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. has long sold weed killer.  Now, it's hoping to help people grow killer weed.  —  In an unlikely move for the head of a major company, Scotts Chief Executive Jim Hagedorn said he is exploring targeting medical marijuana …

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” …

Are Weiner's women blameless?  —  Editor's note: LZ Granderson writes a weekly column for CNN.com.  A senior writer and columnist for ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com, he has contributed to ESPN's “Sports Center,” “Outside the Lines” and “First Take.”  He is a 2010 nominee and the 2009 winner …

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 …

Activists cry foul over FBI probe  —  CHICAGO — FBI agents took box after box of address books, family calendars, artwork and personal letters in their 10-hour raid in September of the century-old house shared by Stephanie Weiner and her husband.  —  The agents seemed keenly interested …

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.