Presidential races

"I’m sure he’ll talk about that in the Republican primary," Bill Daley quipped of the ambassador's administration work.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) will hit President Obama's economic policies and handling of the recession in New Hampshire.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said he will come to a final decision in a matter of weeks.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is likely to confirm Thursday that he’s moving decisively toward a White House run.

White House press secretary Jay Carney was forced to step into the 2012 presidential election Wednesday, dismissing claims by potential candidate Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour.

Carney said that Barbour's belief that the Obama administration wants to see higher gas prices as a way of pushing Americans to buy more fuel-efficient cars was obviously a shot from a would-be political opponent.

"Those remarks were clearly made in the context of 2012 presidential politics," Carney said. "So I think you have to take them understanding that."

At a breakfast with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Barbour pointed to remarks made by Energy Secretary Steven Chu that a gasoline tax would prod Americans to buy more fuel-efficient cars. Chu made those comments in 2008 before Obama was president and before Chu was energy secretary.

"This administration's policies have been designed to drive up the cost of energy in the name of reducing pollution, in the name of making very expensive alternative fuels more economically competitive," Barbour said.

Carney said that the president is concerned about rising gas prices as a result of turmoil in the Middle East and continues to monitor the situation because higher oil prices could damage the global economic recovery.

One Democratic official scoffed at Barbour's criticism, noting that in his significant time as a Washington lobbyist, the Mississippi governor and former RNC chairman lobbied extensively on behalf of oil and gas company interests.

"Barbour's made millions lobbying for the oil and gas companies in Washington, so his criticism of policy that would lessen our dependence on his clients products isn’t at all surprising," the official said. 

Fox News has suspended two of its prominent on-air contributors because they show serious signs of running for president.

The groups, created by Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie, helped Republicans win the House last cycle.

Virginia will again be a presidential battleground state in 2012, according to Gov. Bob McDonnell (R).

President Obama won Virginia in 2008, but he's seen his popularity there dip as the economy has remained stagnant. Recent poll numbers from Gallup show Obama's popularity dropped by double-digits during the past year in a number of key states the president won in 2008, including Virginia, where Obama's approval rating is below 50 percent.

Virginia's top Republican offered his take on the state's campaign dynamics during a briefing for reporters ahead of the Republican Governors Association's annual gala Monday.

Asked if he thought Virginia will be competitive in 2012, McDonnell offered a slightly nuanced assessment.  

"Probably, but I think it's going to swing right," he said. "The president won Virginia by seven points [in 2008] and I was fortunate the next year to win by 18."

He noted that Republicans picked up three House seats in 2010 and now control eight of the 11 in the delegation. "It's a right of center state," McDonnell said. "But it's competitive in the Northern Virginia area."

The GOP's prospects in the state will be closely tied to politics in Washington, the governor added.

"I think that Virginia is a very fiscally conservative state," said McDonnell. "If the fiscal situation stays where it is with Washington, they will see that this is not the way to govern and it will go Republican."

At convention, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty applauded the Tea Party movement as "modern-day Paul Reveres."

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said a number of Florida Republicans, including West, would do well as vice president.