A top union and a top liberal blog announced Tuesday that they'll team up to sponsor polling through the 2012 elections.

Daily Kos and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) said they will join forces to conduct issue and campaign polling in key states and races over the next two years.

The joint poll continues an effort by Daily Kos, a premiere liberal blog founded in 2002 by Markos Moulitsas, a contributor to The Hill, to take its advocacy a step further, and provide raw political information to readers, especially on races and issues of importance to that online community.

"Rather than sit around and have know-nothing pundits and politicians in DC tell us what the American people think, we prefer to ask them directly," Moulitsas said in a statement. "And this partnership will allow us to conduct significantly more polling than any other media organization in the country.”

“We continue to work to ensure our members have their voices heard in the political process and honest, objective polling plays an important role in identifying the issues that concern working families and the politicians that can best advocate for working people,” added SEIU National Political Director Brandon Davis.

The SEIU/Daily Kos poll will use Public Policy Polling (PPP), a Democratic firm that uses automated polling rather than live, over-the-phone survey methods. Moulitsas contracted with PPP in June of 2010 after severing ties with Research 2000, which faced allegations of producing faulty poll results.

Daily Kos, like other liberal blogs, have taken an increasingly active role in advocacy, campaigns, and fundraising. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), for instance, has used Daily Kos as a medium to help raise over $500,000 to support recall efforts against Republican state senators in Wisconsin.

Republicans are borrowing a page from the playbook Democrats used against former President George W. Bush and criticizing the Obama administration's handling of rising gas prices. The tactic could score the GOP political points if, as expected, the price of gas remains high for several months to come.

In the summer of 2008, as gas prices hit record highs, 49 percent of Americans believed the Bush administration was to blame for the country's energy problems, according to a Gallup survey taken at the time. That was up from 38 percent in 2006. Moreover, just 17 percent of Americans believed Bush was doing enough to lower the cost of fuel.

This perception came after then-presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton spent months pounding the Bush administration over the price of gas and for subsidizing oil companies with tax breaks. 

Republicans are now the ones trying to capitalize on the public's perception that the president has some control over the price of gas.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) claimed that $4-per-gallon gas "brought my state to its knees" in 2008.

He cited Energy Secretary Steven Chu as saying, in December 2008, "Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe."

"This administration's policies have been designed to drive up the cost of energy," Barbour said last week at a breakfast hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "In the name of reducing pollution; in the name of making very expensive alternative fuels more economically competitive."

The Senate Republican Communications Center picked up on that in a release Tuesday, noting Chu's quote and questioning Obama's "gas price goals."

--Updated at 12:17 p.m.

Rep. Wu continued his apology tour and said the tiger costume was part of a family costume theme for Halloween.

Rep. Pete Sessions was instrumental in helping the GOP recapture the House, but he received little credit.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich offered up a fiery critique of President Obama in Iowa Monday night, urging Republicans to unite in 2012 to defeat the values of the "secular, socialist left."  

Gingrich was one of five potential presidential candidates to speak Monday at a gathering hosted by the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition. It was billed by organizers as the unofficial launch to the 2012 race for the Republican nomination.  

Despite the absence of a number of top tier Republicans, including former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the event marked the first time this many rumored GOP hopefuls shared the same stage, which translated into an extraordinary level of attention as rumored contenders made an early case to potential Iowa caucus-goers.

"We are at a crossroads that we cannot hide from," Gingrich said, calling the 2012 presidential election as central to the future of America as the election won by Abraham Lincoln in 1860.  

Former Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) officially launched her Senate campaign Monday with the endorsement of former Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), the Republican whose seat she sought after his retirement back in 2008. 

After losing out to Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.) in a Republican primary three years ago, Wilson is waging another campaign in 2012, this time for the seat of retiring Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.). 

In her Monday rollout, Wilson touted the endorsements of Domenici and dozens of other local GOP leaders from across the state.

"I have worked more closely with Heather Wilson than any other House member during my career in the Senate," Domenici said in endorsing Wilson. "Our nation faces some serious challenges -- a debt that is unsustainable, an economy that isn't creating enough jobs and instability in hot spots around the globe. We need her experience in the Senate to work for New Mexico."

So far, Wilson is the only big name Republican to jump in the race, but that's likely to change. Pearce hasn't ruled out another run and Lt. Gov. John Sanchez (R) is weighing a bid, as well. 

While early polling shows Wilson ahead of Pearce in a potential Republican primary rematch, even if he opts not to run again, Wilson is sure to face a primary challenge from the right.  

Nationally, conservatives are already urging a challenge to the centrist Republican. Last week, conservative blogger Erick Erickson tweeted that keeping Wilson out of the Senate "will be the next great noble cause for conservatives."

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), the chairman of the House Budget Committee, would be the top pick of Republicans in Wisconsin for president in 2012 if he opted for a campaign.

New numbers from Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling (PPP) show Ryan would lead the Republican field in the state with 30 percent of Wisconsin Republicans in support of a Ryan presidential bid.  

He's followed by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee with 17 percent, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at 12 percent, and former Govs. Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin at 9 percent. 

Despite the numbers, Ryan has shown next to no interest in a 2012 presidential bid and isn't expected to throw his hat into the ring next year. 

He's been mentioned as a potential challenger to Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.) next year, as well, and while a Senate race is more likely, few observers expect Ryan to sacrifice his budget chairmanship for a campaign. 

Still, pollster Tom Jensen says Ryan's solid numbers in his home state are worth noting given that he performs better than most of the leading rumored GOP presidential hopefuls do in their home states. 

Aside from Romney, who PPP found with solid support among Republican voters in Massachusetts, Palin, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.) can't boast great numbers among Republicans in their home states. 

Without Ryan in the mix, Wisconsin Republicans give the edge to Huckabee, who leads with 23 percent of the vote. He's followed by Gingrich and Palin, who each garner 15 percent. Romney takes 12 percent, while Pawlenty follows with 10 percent of the vote. 

Nevada Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki (R) said he will consider in "the coming days" whether to run for the seat being vacated by Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.).

Ensign announced Monday he wouldn't seek a third term. The GOP primary for the open seat is expected to be highly competitive, with Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), former Senate candidate Sharron Angle and others mulling runs.

Krolicki was considered a contender for the nomination to face Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) last cycle but decided against a bid. At the time, observers thought that was because he considered a challenge to Ensign to be more likely to succeed.

On Monday, Krolicki called Ensign "a respected conservative voice."

"Today is a day when all Nevadans should be grateful to Senator Ensign for his consistent and conservative votes in the United States Senate and thankful for his willingness to serve our state and our country," he said in a statement.

The release noted that "he and his family will consider opportunities to best serve the people of Nevada" in the coming days.

Sen. Ensign (R-Nev.) made the announcement Monday afternoon in a move that should help the GOP keep his seat.