Obamacare credibility going up in smoke: Our view  —  New HealthCare.gov data show just how broken it is.  —  CONNECT  —  The health insurance signup numbers the White House released Wednesday afternoon were deeply disappointing, though not particularly surprising.

LOCKED IN THE CABINET  —  The worst job in Barack Obama's Washington.  —  Steven Chu is a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, a brilliant innovator whose research fills several all-but-incomprehensible paragraphs of a Wikipedia entry that spans his achievements in single-molecule physics …

Rand Paul: Chris Christie Won Because ‘He Got A Lot Of Federal Money For His State’  —  An ongoing feud between potential 2016 contenders bubbled to the surface again Wednesday when Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) took a pointed shot at New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's (R) use of federal funds for Hurricane Sandy relief.

Two Secret Service agents cut from Obama's detail after alleged misconduct  —  A call from the Hay-Adams Hotel this past spring reporting that a Secret Service agent was trying to force his way into a woman's room set in motion an internal investigation that has sent tremors through …

Obamacare Schadenfreudarama  —  To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, you'd have to have a heart of stone not to laugh at the unraveling of Obamacare.  —  First, the obligatory caveats.  It is no laughing matter that millions of Americans' lives have been thrown into anxious chaos as they lose their health insurance …

GOP seeks Holder impeachment  —  A group of hard-line conservative House Republicans will introduce a resolution on Thursday calling for the impeachment of Attorney General Eric Holder.  —  But there is no sign yet that Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) or other House GOP leaders will act on the measure.

Obama open to health-law change  —  The government released numbers Wednesday showing that far fewer Americans had enrolled in private insurance plans under the new health law than expected and, in a marked shift, the Obama administration signaled it was open to legislation to fix the troubled rollout.

Americans' Approval of Healthcare Law Declines  —  Currently 40% approve and 55% disapprove  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Americans' views of the 2010 healthcare law have worsened in recent weeks, with 40% approving and 55% disapproving of it.  For most of the past year, Americans have been divided on the law …

Commissioned poll: Mike Enzi up 53 on Liz Cheney  —  Liz Cheney's support has faded in Wyoming since the summer, according to internal polling conducted for a super PAC that's been running ads against her and shared exclusively with POLITICO.  —  Sen. Mike Enzi (R) has expanded his lead …

The Necessary Contradictions Of A Conservative  —  Sorry for missing the Best of the Dish Today deadline last night.  I was giving a speech on conservatism at Eastern Michigan University, and the conversation didn't stop.  —  I prepped by re-reading parts of my friend Jesse Norman's terrific book …

Why We Lied to Obama  —  We told him he could be popular.  What we meant to say was he could be popular ... if he told the truth.  —  Americans told President Obama in 2012, “If you like your popularity, you can keep it.”  —  We lied.  —  Well, at least we didn't tell him the whole truth.

Socialist candidate leading in Seattle City Council race  —  A Seattle City Council election that was thought to be a foregone conclusion is suddenly on the cusp of seeing a Socialist candidate either win or force a recount, the Seattle Times reported on Tuesday.

Ex-S.D. Senator: Comeback Bid Based on ‘Idealistic Concept’  —  If he runs at all, former Sen. Larry Pressler's, R-S.D., bid for Senate as an independent won't look like your traditional campaign.  —  He said his campaign is running on an “idealistic concept” in a Wednesday phone interview with CQ Roll Call.

Why President Obama's sinking job approval numbers matter.  A lot.  —  Who cares?  —  That's a common reaction — particularly in the Democratic wing of the Twitter-sphere — anytime, like this morning, we post a piece detailing President Obama's sinking poll numbers.