Katie Connolly

What's behind Obama's decision to open U.S. waters to oil drilling—an about-face that's enraging environmentalists? In part, it's a concession to get conservative members of Congress to sign on to a climate-change bill, which would create a cap-and-trade system to limit carbon emissions.

Gallup released it's latest research into the demographics of tea-party supporters this morning, and some of the results are a little surprising. For all the talk of tea partiers being older and whiter than the rest of the country, Gallup's findings show that the demographics of tea-party supporters largely align with the rest of the country on several socioeconomic categories.

National Journal's resident political sage, Ron Brownstein, has an interesting column out today about the near-historic unity of the congressional Democratic caucus.

When it comes to pranks, Brits are usually pretty good sports. Their newspapers are no exception, and for April Fools', they had some fun fibs. For starters, there's the Daily Express's story about the queen catching a cut-price flight on the budget British airline EasyJet. (Complete with a quite convincing photo of the queen boarding, while waving in her signature fashion.)But the story that almost had me was this one from The Guardian.

I have a story out today about the political left's gradual but warm embrace of Vice President Joe Biden. Upon his selection, liberals were pleased enough with Biden, but their attention was steadfastly trained on the top of the ticket.

Obama's offshore-drilling announcement this morning has left many environmentalists with their knickers in a knot. For them it's a betrayal by an administration from whom they'd expected more.

Liberals love Joe Biden because he keeps things interesting in the White House.

When it comes to midterm elections, voter enthusiasm is everything. Relative to presidential years, midterm turnout is depressed. Without the hype of a presidential battle, the only people you can really rely on to hit the polls are the party faithful; those folks who'll turn out rain or shine.

This afternoon the Senate passed the package of reconciliation fixes that was supposed to complete this round of health-care reform. Three Democrats defected: Blanche Lincoln (Ark.), Mark Pryor (Ark.), and Ben Nelson (Neb.).

Health-care reform finally passed, allowing Washington to move on to other issues, of which it has plenty. We give you the rundown on where they are going.

Today was perhaps the most important single day in Barack Obama's presidency so far. Joe Biden agrees, but in less, ahem, diplomatic language. We're not entirely sure that he dropped the F bomb. It does sound like it. What we are sure of is that Biden knows how to liven up a party. (Spoiler alert: there's possibly a naughty word in the clip below.)

It's official. President Obama's health-care-reform bill is the law of this land. The signing was almost as arduous as the lawmaking: with Joe Biden, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi at his side, Obama used 20 different pens to sign the 11 letters of his name on the historic bill.

Last night, many Republicans privately think they were handed a gift: a bloody piece of prime rib to stoke unrest in their base. Between now and November, conservatives will grouse shrilly about the coming evil of reform.

President Obama could have been smug. The bill that makes his most prized policy priority a reality, the culmination of more than a year's work, is making its way to his desk to be signed into law.

I've just returned from the lawn outside the U.S. Capitol where so-called tea partiers are protesting health-care reform with chants such as "Kill the bill" and "We'll remember in November." It's hard to describe the gathering as anything other than a prototypical angry mob.

Sweetheart deals and backroom brokering have become rallying points for opponents of health-care reform. Republicans have been bashing Democrats about these deals for weeks.

I've argued before that I don't think Sarah Palin really wants to be president, regardless of the desires of her most ardent supporters. She doesn't appear to enjoy the actual process of governing.

News broke this morning that the president was postponing his trip to Australia and Indonesia until June. He'd already delayed the trip, moving his departure date back to Sunday.

The Congressional Budget Office has long been a pivotal, though indirect, player in congressional politics, but it's hard to think of a time when a bill has hinged so precariously on its findings.

Since becoming president, Obama has done his fair share of interviews with the big TV news anchors, including sit-downs with Charlie Gibson, Brian Williams, and Katie Couric.

Hot on the heels of Kucinich's declaration of support for health-care reform, the Associated Press is reporting that Catholic nuns are urging Democratic lawmakers to support health-care reform.

Yesterday, I wrote that if there was ever a time for the most idealistic Democrats on the Hill to become pragmatists, it was now. I was referring in particular to Ohio's Dennis Kucinich, a former presidential candidate and steadfast progressive who arguably sits further to the left than any of his peers.

NBC and The Wall Street Journal are out with a new poll this evening, but the WSJ has already given us a sneak peek. And guess what? Voters don't like anyone right now.

Dennis Kucinich is one of the odder characters in contemporary politics. Arguably the most committed progressive on the national scene, he generally operates on the edges of Capitol Hill's drama (the left edge, if you want to be precise).

No matter how interesting you've found the health-care-reform debate over the last year, even if you've been endlessly fascinated by the intricacies of subsidies and actuarial values, brace yourself for a few days of procedural bamboozling.

Patrick Caddell and Doug Schoen, a former pollster and a pollster, respectively, have written an op-ed in today's Washington Post about arguing that Democrats need to change their approach on health-care reform.

After almost a year of discussions, speeches, grandstanding, and dissembling about health care from those who roam Pennsylvania Ave., you'd be forgiven for feeling like the debate would never end.

Well, wonder no more. The White House today announced that, as expected, the president would donate his $1.4 million prize to charity. Here's the list: List of Charities$250,000 to Fisher House: Fisher House is a national nonprofit organization that provides housing for families of patients receiving medical care at major military and VA medical centers. $200,000 to the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund: In the wake of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, President Obama asked former...

After Eric Massa's claim on Glenn Beck two nights ago that he no longer had the energy for the allegedly arduous, time-consuming task of fundraising, Politico sent some reporters to suss out the truth behind his defeated grousing.

This afternoon the president will meet with Sens. Chuck Schumer and Lindsey Graham to discuss immigration reform. The political strategy of attempting immigration reform this year is curious, especially after the epic health-care-reform drama of the past year.