Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), who was expected to address a possible 2012 run for Indiana governor on a conference call with supporters Monday morning, delayed any announcement after news of the U.S. raid in Pakistan that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.  

The Pence call was set for 10 a.m., but in a statement Monday morning a spokesman for the congressman announced the delay "due to the momentous news concerning Osama bin Laden." The conference call will take place sometime next week.

Earlier this year, Pence passed on a bid for president in 2012, saying in a statement that he wanted to keep his focus "closer to home."

Most political observers fully expect Pence to get into the governor's race now that other prominent potential candidates, including former Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), have passed on a run.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) is term limited and weighing his own run for president next year. Daniels said over the weekend that a final decision is coming within weeks.

The race for Rep. Dean Heller's (R) seat in Nevada is one campaign where terrorism could remain an issue going into 2012.

The slate of GOP candidates incudes former Senate candidate Sharron Angle, state lawmaker Greg Brower and Navy veteran Kirk Lippold, who commanded the USS Cole when it was attacked by al Qaeda terrorists while in port in Yemen. Seventeen sailors died in the incident.

Lippold issued a statement "celebrating" Osama bin Laden's death at the hands of U.S. forces.

The al Qaeda leader's death signals "that no matter how long it takes or how difficult the task, the United States will be relentless in its pursuit of justice,” Lippold said.

"Having experienced firsthand, as commander of the USS Cole, the death and carnage ruthless al Qaeda killers can inflict, I join Americans everywhere and our servicemen and -women all over the world in celebrating the death of Osama bin Laden," he said. "My thoughts and prayers, too, are with the 17 Cole crewmembers we lost on Oct. 12, 2000, and their families. May tonight’s news bring a measure of justice and closure to them.”

Heller is leaving his 2nd district seat this week after being tapped by Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) to replace Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), who resigned effective May 3. 


Other GOP candidates could also join the field. 

--Updated at 3:43 p.m.

President Obama's reelection prospects skyrocketed on Intrade, the online prediction market, Monday morning as news of Osama bin Laden's death spread.

Obama's 2012 reelection was trading below 60 percent on the site, but quickly jumped to 70 percent overnight. It's currently at 64 percent.

Absent any polling data showing the impact of the event on Obama's approval rating, which will take a few days to materialize, the Intrade number is an early glimpse of the potential bump.

Pollster John Zogby predicted Monday that Obama's approval rating, which is under 50 percent in the latest national polling, could jump as much as 10 percentage points or more thanks to bin Laden's death.  

GOP presidential hopefuls, meanwhile, universally welcomed the death of bin Laden, but only two offered any congratulations to the president.

Both former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty singled out Obama personally for praise in statement released after the news of bin Laden's killing.

Other potential candidates, including former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, former Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.), Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.) and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee avoided any praise for Obama in their statements.

Some would-be White House contenders congratulated Obama on bin Laden's killing, while others didn't mention the president at all.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said Sunday that he is in no way interested in being the running mate of the eventual Republican presidential nominee.

"No, I'm not going to be on a ticket in 2012," Rubio said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "Understand no circumstance."

The freshman senator and Tea Party favorite said he wants to concentrate on the office he won in 2010.

"I don't want to be the Vice President of the United States. I want to be a Senator and I want to be a Senator from Florida," Rubio said.

Inferring anything from the former governor's verbal misstep at New Hampshire forum is a "a ridiculous exaggeration," a spokeswoman says.

At the first candidate "cattle call" in New Hampshire, five rumored presidential candidates took turns slamming the president's policies.

Speaking before a crowd of conservative activists in New Hampshire Friday, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney again faced questions about the healthcare plan he championed as Bay State governor.

Romney called the Massachusetts law "an experiment," admitting that "some parts didn't work," but he didn't directly answer a question on whether or not he regretted signing it into law.

"I went to work to try to solve a problem," Romney said of the Massachusetts law, which has drawn comparisons to the law championed by President Obama. "It may not be perfect -- by the way, it is not perfect -- some parts of that experiment worked, some parts didn't, some things I'd change."

Some conservative critics have dubbed the law "RomneyCare," noting its inclusion of a mandate requiring people to purchase health insurance.
Romney, meanwhile, blasted the federal healthcare law as "unconstitutional," warning, "it will bankrupt us."  

"You will note that [Obama] and the Democrats constantly want to give me credit for their plan," Romney said, alluding to recent comments from Obama and national Democrats likening the two plans. "You know there's a method to their madness. But let me tell you this, if and when I have the occasion to debate President Obama, I'm gonna ask him this question: 'Mr. President, why didn't you call me and ask how it worked?'"

Romney was one of five rumored presidential hopefuls who took the stage Friday at a forum hosted by Americans for Prosperity. He was joined by former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.), Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.) and talk radio host Herman Cain.

All five blasted President Obama's economic policies and called for repeal of the healthcare law.

For Romney, it marked his first major appearance in an early presidential state since officially forming an exploratory committee earlier this month, but his speech wasn't free of missteps.  

Alluding to the "misery index" that Ronald Reagan hit President Carter with during the 1980 presidential race, Romney said of the president, "We're gonna have to hang the Obama misery index around his neck." 

Continuing his line of economic attack on Obama, Romney almost talked himself into trouble, but he stopped himself mid-sentence after uttering, "we're gonna hang him with that."

Here's Romney's full quote: 

We're gonna have to hang the Obama misery index around his neck, and I'll tell you the fact that you've got people in this country really squeezed with gasoline getting so expensive, with commodities getting so expensive; families are having a hard time making ends meet. So we're gonna have to talk about that. And housing foreclosures and bankruptcies and higher taxation -- we're gonna hang him with that -- so to speak, metaphorically with -- you have to be careful these days. I've learned that.

One-time advocate of a truce on social issues, possible presidential candidate Mitch Daniels is set to defund Planned Parenthood.