David Lightman

WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney has begun searching for a vice presidential running mate -- in his usual methodical, close-to-the-vest style.

While the logical big names are being tossed about -- Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, among others -- it's all speculation at this point. No decision is close. But how Romney goes about making this big decision will offer insights into how he'd run his presidency.

WASHINGTON -- Conservatives are fired up, convinced that this will be a big year, but they worry that Mitt Romney will make their task harder.

The foot soldiers of the American political right have been meeting in Washington this week, and stickers and signs touting the former Massachusetts governor -- who's still the favorite for the GOP presidential nomination -- are scarce here.

WASHINGTON -- Once again, Congress has delayed until the last minute approving funds to keep the federal government running. And once again, lawmakers are giving their constituents more reasons to be disgusted and alienated.

STRATHAM, N.H. -- Mitt Romney plans to enter the race for the 2012 Republican nomination formally on Thursday at a chili cookout at Bittersweet Farm -- a name that may say a lot about voters' views of the presumptive GOP front-runner.

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- America's voters were supposed to be introduced Thursday for the first time to the Republican Party's 2012 presidential candidates -- but they only met five hopefuls who are far down in state and national polls.

And they didn't hear many surprises. The potential candidates generally agreed they wanted lower taxes, President Barack Obama's foreign policy wasn't tough enough -- days after his direct orders resulted in the death of the world's most wanted terrorist -- and his health care plan needs to be stopped.

The party's better-known figures, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, businessman Donald Trump, and others, stayed away from this first debate of the presidential campaign. No one participating Thursday polled more than 2.5 percent in the last month's Winthrop Poll, which measures state GOP voters' sentiment.

WASHINGTON -- As the nuclear crisis worsened in Japan on Wednesday, China announced it was suspending construction to rethink its designs for nuclear plants, following the lead of Switzerland and Germany.

In Washington, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, a proponent of nuclear power, told Congress that the Obama administration wants money to help power companies build from six to eight new plants in the U.S.

And opponents of nuclear power were busy arguing that the health risks facing Japanese citizens are much worse than the public is being led to believe.

WASHINGTON -- The debate over the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that bars gays from serving openly in the military will heat up Tuesday when the Pentagon issues a long-awaited report on how 400,000 members of the nation's military feel about repealing the restriction.

But it's hardly clear that Congress will react to that report, which is expected to show broad support for repeal, by voting to do away with the 17-year-old policy. Both proponents and opponents of the survey are using it as a rallying cry, and the conflict will be on full display when a key Senate committee holds hearings Wednesday.