Bill Sank Hillary's VP Chances: Plouffe

Preliminary hearing begins Dec. 16

(NEWSER) - Bradley Manning's preliminary hearing is set to begin Dec. 16, and if the US Army private has his way, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will be among the witnesses. The president and the secretary of state were included on a 20-page list of defense witnesses in a request made Friday, Politico reports. Manning's preliminary hearing will determine whether the case against him—accusing him of passing classified information to WikiLeaks—should be referred for a full-scale court martial. More»

He faults strategy on debt ceiling

(NEWSER) - Bill Clinton thinks the country is "a mess" right now, and while he mostly blames conservatives' anti-government views, he also "gently dings" President Obama for some miscues in his new book, reports the AP . For one thing, Clinton says he was able to persuade the rich to pay higher taxes because "I didn't attack them for their success," he writes in Back to Work. It's out next week, but the AP got an advance copy. More»

Hillary Clinton, as 'buyer's remorse' plagues a third of the country

(NEWSER) - The most popular politician nationwide is the one that got away: Hillary Clinton. Nearly two-thirds of the country sees the secretary of state favorably, and a third are battling what Bloomberg terms “buyer’s remorse” over not electing her president. Just over a year ago, only a quarter of Americans felt that way. “Looking back, I wonder if she would have been a stronger leader, knowing the games and the politics and all that goes on,” says a Florida woman. “I don’t think she would have bent as much.” More»

His position makes no sense, and isn't changing: Dana Milbank

(NEWSER) - Hillary Clinton fell over herself congratulating her home state on its “historic vote” in favor of gay marriage this week. “I’ve always believed that we would make progress because we were on the right side of equality and justice,” she declared. “Clinton left out one salient detail though,” writes Dana Milbank of the Washington Post : “She and her boss, President Obama, oppose legalizing gay marriage.” They say they believe gay couples should be equal, yet oppose giving them the 1,300 federal benefits straight couples enjoy. More»

He claims the president was not leading talks on spending cuts

(NEWSER) - According to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, President Obama had to be dragged “kicking and screaming to the table to cut spending,” he said on Fox News Sunday. Cantor says White House senior adviser David Plouffe is being dishonest in his claim that Obama was the one leading that discussion, Politico reports. Elsewhere on the Sunday dial:

• The president will make a major budget address Wednesday. He will lay out “his approach to long-term deficit reduction,” David Plouffe said on Meet the Press, adding that the president’s 2012 budget includes a plan to reduce the deficit by $1 trillion over the next decade. Meanwhile, Sen. Chuck Schumer said on Face the Nation that details on the spending cuts included in the budget deal will be posted online tomorrow.