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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

‘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.

CREW Files Complaint Over House DOMA Defense, Boehner Spokesman Calls It “Stupid”  —  Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics against House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) regarding the $500,000 contracted by the Office …

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 …

HELLO! exclusive: Mildred Baena, the housekeeper who had a child with Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks out for the first time  —  When it was revealed that Arnold Schwarzenegger had a 13-year-old child with a trusted member of the family's domestic staff, the world let out a collective gasp.

Rick Perry Says Voters Want More Options In GOP Field  —  Keywords:  —  Enlargephoto by: Bob Daemmrich  —  Texas Governor Rick Perry carries his bags off a private plane at the San Antonio International Airport on November 1, 2010.  —  Texas Gov. Rick Perry, in New York …

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 …

National poll: Anthony Weiner's got to go  —  As Rep. Anthony Weiner continues to face calls for his immediate resignation, a new poll finds six in 10 Americans agree with those who want him out of Congress - and only eight percent have a favorable view of the lawmaker.

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” …

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.

Cass Sunstein: The Obama Administration's Ambivalent Regulator … When President Barack Obama let it be known in January 2009 that he had selected Harvard law professor Cass Sunstein to be his regulatory czar, it was an early example of how some of his staffing decisions would undercut his lofty campaign promises.

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 …

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 …

Bachmann says she won't seek re-election to Congress, while running for president  —  MINNEAPOLIS - U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann says she's not running for re-election in Minnesota's 6th Congressional District while she's campaigning for the Republican nomination for president.