First Thoughts: GOP goes off the image cliff  —  NBC/WSJ poll: GOP already goes off one cliff — the image cliff... American public: We want compromise... But this also presents dilemma for White House: Does it bend over backwards to achieve compromise, or does it try to make the GOP cry …

‘The a—hole factor’  —  Back-bench freshmen Justin Amash, Tim Huelskamp and David Schweikert are gaining martyr status among conservative activists after they were “purged” from House committees for what they say is a matter of sticking to their principles on tough votes.

Where big GOP bucks could matter  —  Mitt Romney and the GOP lost, but it wasn't for lack of money.  They spent a lot; they just didn't get enough bang for the buck.  —  Billionaire Sheldon Adelson alone donated $150 million.  But Romney lost anyway, especially among unmarried women.

Hagel Said to Top Obama's List to Take Over at Pentagon  —  Former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel has emerged as the leading candidate to become Obama's next Secretary of Defense and may be nominated as soon as this month, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Corker introduces bill trading nearly $1T in entitlement cuts for debt-ceiling hike  —  Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) introduced a bill Wednesday to trade nearly $1 trillion in entitlement savings for an equal hike in the debt ceiling.  —  Corker said the Dollar For Dollar Act would include $937 billion …

Joe Lieberman's sad send-off  —  It was a lonely farewell for Joe Lieberman.  —  When the senior senator from Connecticut stood to give his parting address Wednesday afternoon, just one of his colleagues, Delaware Democrat Tom Carper, was with him on the Senate floor.

The Strange Republican Shift on Taxes  —  There's been an odd change in Republican rhetoric in the last few weeks about taxes.  As we all know, for a couple of decades now, particularly since George H.W. Bush went back on his “Read my lips” promise and agreed to a tax increase to bring down the deficit …

Obama ‘May Decide To Go Blow Up Small Countries’ For Fun, Norquist Predicts … Although a growing number Republicans are distancing themselves from the Americans for Tax Reform anti-tax pledge, Grover Norquist is confident that Congressional Republicans will force massive cuts to government programs …

U.S. Terrorism Agency to Tap a Vast Database of Citizens  —  Top U.S. intelligence officials gathered in the White House Situation Room in March to debate a controversial proposal.  Counterterrorism officials wanted to create a government dragnet, sweeping up millions of records about U.S. citizens—even people suspected of no crime.

LANSING UNION ATTACK VICTIM: ASSAILANT WORE GUY FAWKES-LIKE ‘DEVIL MASK’  —  Local Lansing Michigan hot dog vendor Clint Tarver was catering for Americans For Prosperity during the right-to-work demonstrations at the State Capitol on Tuesday, when two men rushed into the tent.

Insight: How Republicans engineered a blow to Michigan's powerful unions  —  (Reuters) - As a trained aerospace engineer, Patrick Colbeck applied his penchant for data analysis and “systematic approach” to his new job in early 2011: a Michigan state senator, recently elected and keen to create jobs in the faded industrial powerhouse.

Aetna CEO Sees Obama Health Law Doubling Some Premiums  —  Health insurance premiums may as much as double for some small businesses and individual buyers in the U.S. when the Affordable Care Act's major provisions start in 2014, Aetna Inc. (AET)'s chief executive officer said.

And the Winner of TIME's Person of the Year Reader Poll Is...  Kim Jong Un is having a good year.  After taking over the leadership of North Korea from his late father Kim Jong Il, at the end of 2011, he's solidified his control over the country, appeared on TIME's cover and he was even named …

The Conservative Case for Right-to-Work Laws  —  The enactment of a so-called right- to-work law by the state of Michigan this week is indeed, as the news media have described it, a blow against the union movement.  Michigan, of all places.  But it is also a blow against fairness and common sense.

SC governor: Experience not required for DeMint's Senate seat  —  COLUMBIA, SC — Gov. Nikki Haley said Thursday that political experience is not a requirement for the successor to resigning U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint.  —  Haley will name that successor, and two of the governor's five reported finalists …

ELECTION OVER, ADMINISTRATION UNLEASHES NEW RULES  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — While the “fiscal cliff” of looming tax increases and spending cuts dominates political conversation in Washington, some Republicans and business groups see signs of a “regulatory cliff” that they say could be just as damaging to the economy.

The Note: Chris Christie, Born to Run  —  THE NOTE If there's one takeaway from Barbara Walters' Chris Christie interview last night it was this: the man is setting up to run for president in 2016.  —  The buzziest example, of course, was his pushback against Walters' question as to whether he was “too heavy” to be president.