Obama taps a key architect of Bush’s military commissions.

A comprehensive analysis shows Obama’s stances to be considerably more popular than the GOP’s.

The so-called Dem health care bill already contains six very Republican provisions.

GOP eyes inroads in the Northeast, risks trouble in the South.

The “Obama Method”: include the other side in the discussion to expose its disingenousness.

This time, Republicans might not bite. (Or maybe they will…)

Biden finds his stride.

You can follow all of Megan’s coverage here. Please give her a hearty TWI welcome!

Dems take advantage of their snow day.

Sarah Palin needs help.

Wall Street, speaking with its collective wallet, tells Dems “no thanks” on financial regulations.

Will Senate obstructionism be the country’s downfall?

House Dems are worried that repealing the Bush tax cuts on the rich will be politically thorny.

Slate takes a peek at Henry Paulson’s new memoir.

Mike Pence didn’t have a very happy Super Bowl.

Nate Silver makes the statistical argument for the Saints’ gutsy (and failed) first-half decision to go for it.

Conservative Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) response? That won’t cut it.

Kate Sheppard reports:

Graham on Wednesday also rejected moving the Senate energy bill alone. “If the approach is to try to pass some half-assed energy bill, and say that moves the ball down the road, forget it with me,” the South Carolina Republican told business leaders from the renewable energy industry on Wednesday.

This from a senator whose perceived waffling on cap-and-trade just a week ago was called the “death knell” for climate legislation.

Obama’s jab at Vegas is too much for Ensign and Reid.

One billionaire California GOP gubernatorial candidate accuses the other of extortion.

Turnout numbers in Illinois could be a good omen for Mark Kirk.

Two Democratic senators are teaming up with Republicans to block Obama’s proposal to try 9/11 co-conspirators in civilian court.

Rush Limbaugh responds to criticism that he’s “anti-women,” manages to make sexist jokes in the process.

U.S. military aid isn’t cutting into drug production in Colombia.

Evan Bayh declines an invitation to pose nude in Cosmo.

But even Schumer could be vulnerable.

Rumors of a secret Crist-Biden meeting are untrue — but they could still help Rubio.

Today, for the first time in 17 years, the Senate will debate “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

The Daily Caller joins the White House pool, to little objection.

Keep an eye on the Lech Walesa-approved Tea Party candidate in Illinois.

Obama’s budget may have an ulterior motive: Scaring Congress into tackling the deficit.

Rahm apologizes for calling liberals “retarded” — but not to liberals.

Colbert challenges Harold Ford on abortion and gay marriage.

That ought to please both environmentalists and fiscal conservatives in Congress, right? Don’t get your hopes up. From The Vine:

The president can propose whatever he wants; what really matters is whether lawmakers follow through. And the tax breaks for oil and gas producers have a lot of support in Congress—last year, in the FY2010 budget, the White House wanted to repeal $31.5 billion worth of fossil-fuel subsidies, and that idea was buried.

Remember that 12 Democratic senators just spent the weekend raising money for lobbyists, including some from oil companies.

The White House is holding a conference call on the energy and climate implications of the budget momentarily. More to come…

Update: White House officials on the call are presenting the administration’s three-pronged approach to energy issues in the budget. One element is a “focus on clean energy jobs and energy efficiency”; another is “a commitment to science research and energy innovation.” But the third, “increased funding for clean energy jobs in the nuclear sector,” will have some environmental advocates concerned. This point is largely in line with President Obama’s increased emphasis on nuclear power of late, including in his State of the Union last week. But considering that the budget will eliminate the nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, it’s bound to raise some questions about how exactly this nuclear expansion will work.

Obama says “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is “just wrong”; Boehner disagrees.

Graham: GOP can get its energy wishes, but “in return we have to come up with emissions standards.”

TNR has two takes on why there’s still hope for health care reform.

Mark Oppenheimer traces the professional — and moral — journey of Ross Douthat.

Speaking of which.

FiveThirtyEight assesses electability in Illinois.

Let’s look to boring Canada for economic inspiration.

George Packer is drowning in the River Twitter.

Romer says the stimulus is (partly) to thank for today’s good economic news.

But Krugman calls it an “inventory blip.”

Scott Brown on Romney: He used to be “kind of, you know, stiff,” but now “he’s actually, like, funny.”

The stimulus is unpopular, though its specific components have broad support.

Lindsey Graham: The stimulus was a “failure”; the SOTU was “schizophrenic.”

Rahm and Pryor tell us not to expect health reform passage anytime soon.

An objective diagnosis of Obama’s approval decline is … inconclusive.