“President” on The Daily Caller

Venezuelan presidential candidate Henrique Capriles on Monday called for “balanced elections” and criticized the use of government money and slanted coverage in state media as President Hugo Chavez seeks re-election. (more)

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin certainly wants people to think she’s running for president. But is she? That’s another question entirely. (more)

FreedomWorks launched a video today suggesting the libertarianish “Atlas Shrugged” film is Ripped Straight From the Headlines. (more)

Florida Congressman and Tea Party favorite Allen West isn’t opposed to the idea of joining possible presidential contender Donald Trump, West told The Daily Caller Thursday. (more)

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels spoke to Indianapolis Star reporters yesterday and gave strong indications that he might step into the race, while simultaneously noting his concerns. (more)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty may be running for president, but he’s not ready to be official about it. (more)

Presidents are loath to admit error. That’s what press secretaries are for. (more)

Mitt Romney on Monday announced the formation of a presidential exploratory committee via Twitter, following in the footsteps of another potential GOP contender, Tim Pawlenty, who announced last month on Facebook. But the move felt stale to some, despite the ‘hipness’ that a rollout using social media theoretically connotes. (more)

A top-ranking Republican senator on spending issues is calling on President Obama to submit an entirely new budget to Congress following news that the president plans a speech outlining changes to entitlement spending that are driving the government’s huge deficits now and into coming decades. (more)

Legislation co-sponsored by Tennessee GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander has Tea Party and other conservative leaders crying foul because it backs away from their goal of bringing added congressional accountability to President Obama’s czars, now 37 in number. (more)

From popular carnival singer known for dropping his pants on stage to buttoned-down president of Haiti, Michel “Sweet Micky” Martelly is on the verge of completing an unlikely transformation. (more)

In his first official campaign move, President Obama has launched his 2012 reelection bid with a web video titled, “It Begins With Us.” (more)

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria’s president dashed expectations that he would announce sweeping reforms Wednesday and instead took a tough line, blaming two weeks of popular fury on a foreign conspiracy. (more)

Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson will announce a run for president in April, according to a report from Fox News on Friday. Johnson served two terms as governor in the 1990s and early 2000s and has often been cited a a potential presidential candidate, including for the Libertarian Party. (more)

Former N.M. Gov. Gary Johnson will formally launch his presidential campaign next month in New Hampshire, Fox News and Politico are reporting. (more)

It’s Boehner’s Fault: New Republic explains why Obama didn’t get a Libya Bounce in the polls: It seems political scientists have determined that a “key variable” when a President takes military action is ” the reaction of politicians and leaders in the party out of power.” When opponents don’t criticize, the President’s numbers rise. When they criticize, they don’t. In this case, Republicans, including Boehner and Gingrich, criticized. Hence, no “poll bump.” Blame an  ”increasingly hyper-partisan politics” and “the extreme, anti-all-things-Obama sentiment that’s taken hold of the GOP”! … Obvious elephant-like problem with this convenient theory: Maybe the reaction of opponents to any given military action is a dependent variable. The independent variable would be, you know, the smartness/stupidity of the action itself. If it seems reasonable and necessary, the political opponents keep quiet. If it seems ill-advised, confused and clumsily handled, they criticize.  Hey, it’s a theory! I don’t see how TNR‘s fancy political science correlation  tells us to blame Boehner but not  Obama.  [Maybe TNR was just trying to "put sophisticated ideas into the news cycle" like Matt Yglesias--ed Sort of like fabric softener? This one came out in the rinse!] (more)

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — In office just over a year, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has become quite the hot commodity to Republican presidential hopefuls. (more)

Speaking from the India stop of her countries-that-start-with-the-letter-I-world-tour (she heads to Israel today), former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin called on President Obama to be “more decisive and less dithering” in his foreign policy approach. (more)

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty will announce today at 3 pm the formation of a presidential exploratory committee, the first official step toward seeking the Republican nomination for president. Pawlenty will make the announcement on Facebook, a source confirmed to The Daily Caller. (more)