Here is another good news/bad news column about the 112th Congress.

This is a defining moment for Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). He can go down in history as a statesman or as a weak and opportunistic pol. Right now, it doesn't look good on the statesman front.

Many political analysts may try to draw conclusions about this year's midterm elections but it is difficult to assert any great political truths based on midterm contests.

On Feb. 15, Leslie Moonves, the brilliant CEO of CBS, gave a piece of good news to investors — there would be an addition to the bottom line in 2012 of about $190 million, thanks to huge spending on political commercials coming into the network and its owned and operated...

Let’s start with the stark reality: Second presidential terms rarely result in major accomplishments. Presidents have few new ideas that have not been posed in their first two years, and already met with success or failure. And second-term presidents face even more obduracy from the opposition, bitter at a second loss of the big prize. 

In the first Election Watch event of the 2012 campaign, Michael Barone, Karlyn Bowman, Henry Olsen and Norman J. Ornstein will participate in a lively discussion about President Obama’s popularity, the Republican field, what the primary schedule means for the candidates, candidates’ cash on hand, and the other races we’re watching leading up to the 2012 elections.

The overwhelming success of the Mega Millions enterprise makes it an irresistible target for something more — a way to transform American elections and along the way reduce our deep political dysfunction.

Online registration for this event is closed. Walk-in registrations will be accepted.

Successfully managing an ordinary presidential election requires an enormous amount of preparation and planning. But what if the circumstances are anything but ordinary? Natural and man-made disasters alike have caused massive administrative disruptions to elections in recent years...