Romney's role: The Hillary Clinton of 2012?  —  For Mitt Romney this December, it's beginning to look a lot like Clinton.  —  Like the great, fallen front-runner of 2008, here is another well-funded, Establishment-blessed, presumptive nominee whose supposedly firm hold on his party's greatest prize seems to be slip-sliding away.

Why Republicans Don't Nominate Swells  —  Don't pull a silver dollar out of that ear!  Don't!  —  The political press corps has decided that the “moment” of Saturday night's Republican presidential debate occurred when Mitt Romney decided to challenge Rick Perry to a $10,000 bet.

Deadly attack rocks central Liege in Belgium  —  A gun and grenade attack in the centre of the Belgian city of Liege has killed at least two people and wounded about 25, Belgian media say.  —  They say several men threw grenades and fired on a crowd at a bus stop in Place Saint Lambert, a busy square.

Swing States Poll: Downbeat Dems, resurgent Republicans  —  WASHINGTON - President Obama is moving to energize the Democratic base for his re-election campaign, but in the case of a dozen battleground states, he'll have to work harder than four years ago to find it.

Eric Holder wades into debate over voting rights as presidential election nears  —  The Obama administration on Tuesday will wade into the increasingly divisive national debate over new voting laws in several states that could depress turnout among minorities and others who helped elect the president in 2008.

Opinion: Obama would rather be university professor than president  —  After observing President Obama for the last three years, it has become obvious to me that the President might prefer to be a university professor rather than do the job he holds today.  While he may not realize that he feels …

Occupy protesters block West Coast ports  —  Demonstrators fail to shut down most shipping business.  Rain in some areas hampered turnout.  —  Protesters square off against police at the Port of Long Beach in one of several West Coast demonstrations.  (Mark Boster, Los Angeles Times)

Chelsea Clinton makes broadcast debut on NBC's ‘Rock Center’  —  It's no surprise whatsoever that Chelsea Clinton didn't electrify broadcast journalism with her debut Monday night on NBC's “Rock Center With Brian Williams,” because she has no experience in broadcast journalism.

Conferees omit anti-gay provisions from defense bill  —  Lawmakers on Capitol Hill unveiled on Monday an agreement on major defense budget legislation that omits anti-gay provisions found in the House version of the legislation — including language that would have prohibited military chaplains …

Newt Gingrich takes his fourth ‘no-adultery pledge’  —  Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich this week signed a pledge to uphold conservative values from the Iowa-based group The Family Leader and vowed to restrict federal dollars from paying for abortion overseas …

In U.S., Fear of Big Government at Near-Record Level  —  Democrats lead increase in concerns about big government  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans' concerns about the threat of big government continue to dwarf those about big business and big labor, and by an even larger margin now than in March 2009.

The Gingrich-Huntsman Debate: A New Way to Bash Mitt Romney  —  If you happened to devote 90 minutes to the Lincoln-Douglas-style debate between Newt Gingrich and Jon Huntsman that took place yesterday at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire — and you are in tenuous possession …

Supreme Court an ‘enormous issue’ for 2012  —  The Supreme Court, which has faded as a major campaign issue in recent years, could make a resurgence in 2012: The justices just keep adding to the hot-button political issues they plan to tackle before the election.

Romney in 2002: I'm “Moderate,” “Progressive,” and “Not a Partisan Republican” [VIDEO]  —  Mitt Romney says he's a die-hard conservative.  He says he's not a flip-flopper.  Yet...plenty of Republican voters don't seem to believe him.  They have plenty of reasons not to.

Yearly deficit falls below $1 trillion for the first time under Obama  —  The Treasury Department forecast Monday that the budget deficit for fiscal 2012 will come in at $996 billion, the first time President Obama has presided over an annual deficit of less than $1 trillion.

Iran army declines comment on MP's Hormuz exercise remarks  —  TEHRAN (Reuters) - A member of the Iranian parliament's National Security Committee said on Monday that the military was set to practice its ability to close the Gulf to shipping at the narrow Strait of Hormuz …

Gingrich Tax Plan Puts ‘Hole’ In Deficit: Study  —  The economic plan proposed by Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich would add $1.3 trillion to the U.S. budget deficit in 2015 alone, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.

Millionaires on Food Stamps and Jobless Pay?  G.O.P. Is on It  —  WASHINGTON — It's an image many Americans would find rather upsetting: a recently laid-off millionaire, luxuriating next to the pool eating grapes bought with food stamps while waiting for an unemployment check to roll in.

Ehud Barak Calls Extremist Israeli Settlers' Attack On IDF ‘Homegrown Terror’  —  Militant settlers stand guard at Migron  —  In the latest of a recent trend of attacks in the Occupied Palestinian West Bank, dozens of right-wing Israeli settlers stormed an army base in order to punish the state.