MIAMI, Fla -Florida's newest U.S. Senator has barely been in office for 5 days but in nearly every interview since being sworn in on January 5th, Republican Marco Rubio has been asked about his aspirations for 2012.

Rubio has repeatedly sought to shut down any speculation that he may run for president, but speaking Monday to a local radio station in Fort Myers, Fla., Rubio also rejected any talk of becoming a vice presidential pick on a potential GOP ticket.

"No, and I don't spend anytime thinking about it," Rubio said bluntly to FOX 92.5 radio host Trey Radel...

MINNEAPOLIS -- You may not have heard of the name Tim Pawlenty. His name isn't familiar to most Americans, and even showing people a picture of the former Minnesota governor doesn't help.

People in Iowa and New Hampshire, however, may know him better. That's because Pawlenty is spending time and money in those two key early primary states - strong signs that he hopes to be the next Republican presidential nominee.

But will he take the presidential plunge? Even his daughter wants to know the answer...

It's official: Robert Gibbs is leaving his post as White House press secretary.

One of President Obama's most seasoned and trusted advisers, Gibbs tells the New York Times' Jeff Zeleny that he will leave the podium in early February to lend outside assistance to the president's re-election campaign. He broke the news to this staff at a meeting earlier Wednesday morning.

No successor has been named, but Gibbs says a successor should be in place within two weeks. Among the names bandied about lately as a replacement: Deputy Press Secretaries Bill Burton and Josh Earnest, as well as Vice President Joe Biden's spokesman, Jay Carney...

WASHINGTON -- Even if the next two years end in congressional gridlock, Republicans hope to build a record that demonstrates to voters in 2012 that they can get it right.

The GOP is promising to use the new Congress that convenes Wednesday to cut spending, roll back President Obama's health care overhaul and prevent unelected bureaucrats from expanding the government's role in society through regulations that tell people what they must or can't do.

Passing their top priorities may be easier in the House, where Republicans hold a 241-194 majority. It will be harder in the Senate where Democrats still hold an edge, though smaller than the one Obama had during his first two years in the White House. But if the GOP agenda fails to change the lives of Americans, it could still prove to have a greater impact on next year's elections...

A California-based law group says the freshmen legislators who will soon enter Congress will not be able to repeal the healthcare bill in the next session.

As a new set of lawmakers prepares to take office, one lawyer says ObamaCare will most likely stay for now. Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI), explains that even though legislators wish to defeat ObamaCare, they will only be able stop the cash flow to portions of the bill that are federally funded.

"They can't repeal it until they have 60 votes in the Senate, which won't happen...[until] 2012, maybe not until 2014," he reports. "And there also needs to be a president elected in 2012 that is willing to sign a repeal and have other reform adopted"...

A conservative senator thinks it is a certainty that Republicans will take over the Senate in 2012.

Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) has no doubts the GOP will take control of the Senate in the next election. "All [the GOP needs] is three, and I could read a list of 11 [Democratic senators] that are really going to be having a hard time [running in 2012]," he notes.

The Oklahoma Republican says President Obama and the Democratic-led Congress have pushed their liberal agenda too hard and too fast. But they have apparently not learned their lesson because the party continues to maintain its status quo during the lame-duck session...

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a pro-life advocate, says he is more inclined than not to consider a presidential bid in 2012 seeking the GOP nomination against pro-abortion President Barack Obama.

Gingrich says he will probably not make a decision until late February or early March of next year but he says talking to friends and colleagues about a presidential bid is making him lean towards running.

In his comments, in an interview with Fox news Sunday, Gingrich says he sees the potential for winning the nomination and a general election contest against Obama is “doable” but he believes former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who lost the nomination bid to John McCain in 2008, is “probably the front-runner”...

As the focus moves from the Congressional elections to the race for the presidency, political observers are chomping at the bit to dissect every new poll that comes out — and a new one today shows bad news for Obama.

President Barack Obama is behind former governors Republicans Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee in their possible 2012 quest to prevent Obama from getting another term.

According to a new poll released today by Quinnipiac University, both are in a statistical dead heats in hypothetical matchups with Obama where Romney, the ex-Massachusetts governor, leads Obama 45-44 percent and Obama leads Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, 46-44 percent...

A conservative activist and former presidential candidate says he wouldn't be surprised if New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will be a serious candidate to challenge Barack Obama in 2012.

Since taking office, the Republican governor has demonstrated he is not afraid to go against the grain. He has unabashedly taken on the teachers unions and other Democratic groups in the heavily "blue" state -- and he has made a name for himself with his budget-cutting measures, including pulling the plug on a major, long-term tunnel project.

Furthermore, during a September campaign appearance with California GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, he dressed down a heckler who was yelling at Whitman. And at a recent rally in Iowa for another GOP gubernatorial candidate, Terry Branstad, Christie said he is not planning a presidential run in 2012 -- but his speech did nothing to dampen speculation.

The Democratic National Committee has asked the Pentagon to provide records of correspondence between the Army and nine potential challengers to President Obama in 2012, Fox News has confirmed, giving a unique glimpse of part of what appears to be the Democrats' opposition research strategy.

ABC News first reported an internal Army e-mail that indicates the DNC filed Freedom of Information Act requests for "any and all records of communication" between military agencies and Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Haley Barbour, Tim Pawlenty, Newt Gingrich, John Thune, Mitch Daniels and Bobby Jindal, all of whom are considering campaigning for the White House...