(CNSNews.com) - Possible 2012 presidential candidate Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) told CNSNews.com that the Obama administration should put the health care law “on hold” after federal judge Roger Vinson’s ruling that the law is unconstitutional.

Before his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), CNSNews.com asked Thune, “The federal judge in Florida who ruled that the health care law is unconstitutional said that his ruling is the functional equivalent to an injunction against the law. Do you think, given that, the Obama administration should stop implementing the health care law"...

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...

The phone in Sen. John Thune's office is about to start ringing -- a lot.

The South Dakota Republican -- who also leads the Senate GOP Policy Committee and is widely viewed as a 2012 presidential contender --is up for re-election this year. But no Democrat or Independent filed to run against him, leaving him with plenty of time and money to help Republicans win seats this November as the party seeks to regain a true sense of relevancy on Capitol Hill.

National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (Texas) said Thursday he planned to meet with Thune soon to explore ways the up-and-coming first-term Senator could help the NRSC and GOP candidates from now until Election Day. Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) added that he fully expects Thune to be a strong political asset over the next 135 days...

A Republican senator says most Americans he's been speaking to at town hall meetings tell him they don't want to pay for the creation of a new federal healthcare entitlement -- and they don't trust the government managing such a program.

Senator John Thune (R-South Dakota) says the crowds and the intensity at the town hall meetings he has been addressing cannot be manufactured, but instead are part of a genuine "organic" movement. Thune says one of the biggest concerns that he is hearing from constituents about the healthcare legislation being considered in Congress is that they do not want to pay for a more than $1-trillion expansion of federal healthcare when the country is already running trillion-dollar deficits "as far as the eye can see"...