Sen. Kent Conrad to retire, possibly marking end of Dakota Democrats

U.S. Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) will announce Monday he will not run for re-election in 2012 after being in the Senate since 1987, scoops Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post:

Conrad had been open about his ambivalence about running for another term and those doubts almost certainly increased following

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GOP creates new leadership position to satisfy Tea Party demands

Greg Sargent reports that the GOP may yet come up with a way to satisfy the Tea Party’s demands for representation among the Republican leadership. How? By creating a new position called “representative of the incoming freshman class”:

A GOP aide tells me that the decision has been made

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The Democrats’ Jobs Pickle

With unemployment in double digits and no relief in sight, swift passage of the Democrats’ “jobs agenda” — set to be unveiled today in the Senate — might seem like a sure thing.

Well, not quite.

Not only are Senate Republicans balking at early proposals to cover the More…