Since last week's election, Sarah Palin has been credited by some with helping the GOP gain seats in the House, blamed by others for preventing them from capturing the Senate and kept just about everyone guessing about whether she'll run for president in 2012.

He insists he's not running himself, but Texas Gov. Rick Perry is not shy about weighing in on the looming 2012 Republican presidential sweepstakes, telling The Washington Times on Monday that Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, a fiscal conservative with few ties to the Christian right, already has stumbled, but can't be ruled out of the race.

Gay rights activists in Minnesota thought 2012 would be the year they could finally make a serious push for gay marriage in the state, but a surprise Republican takeover of the Legislature has them back on the defensive instead.

If today's election is critical for Hawaii's future, it is equally important in setting up the winners and losers in the 2012 campaign.

BOISE, Idaho — Mormonism and politics have merged in two western campaigns this month, providing a glimpse of the renewed scrutiny Mitt Romney could face in a 2012 presidential run.

Top US Republicans, including three possible White House contenders in 2012, pushed Friday to strip US public radio of taxpayer money for firing a news analyst over comments seen as anti-Muslim.