Mitt Romney handed President Obama a political gift this weekend, when his campaign announced that he would not file his tax return on time. Romney made the announcement at 5 p.m. on Friday — the time politicians usually put out bad news they hope no one will notice. Team Obama noticed all right

President Obama is reportedly gearing up to "kill" Mitt Romney in the general election. He may not get the chance. Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who entered the presidential race Saturday, gets to take the first shot at the GOP front-runner-and if history is any indication, Romney won't know what hit him.

Well worth reading, John Lewis Gaddis' biography of George Kennan nonetheless raises the basic question of whether Kennan’s concrete contributions justify the many accolades he has received.

In 2008, the "politics of hope" campaign trained volunteers to testify about how they "came to Obama" the way one talks of "coming to Jesus." Now they ask supporters to help build a digital enemies list. Which they'll do, of course. But not because they love him.

Rick Perry's recent criticism of the GOP presidential debates and his announcement that he may skip some have led GOP officials and conservative commentators to suggest that there are just too many of them. The voters don't agree.

The reported debt-limit deal appears to be a victory for the Tea Party: no tax increases, a new precedent that debt-limit hikes must be accompanied by equal or greater cuts in spending, and the potential for a balanced budget in 10 years.

Obama's coalition has come apart recently, as Republicans gain an advantage with women, support among young voters is stagnating, and indispensable independents have almost completely abandoned Obama and his party.

The exact dimensions of the Democrats' rout are not yet clear, but we do know that Americans who embraced "hope and change" two years ago are now rejecting the change they were given.