NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Next up, Sarah Palin.

The spotlight at the three-day Southern Republican Leadership Conference turns Friday to the 2008 vice presidential nominee.

The former Alaska governor is among the potential GOP contenders to challenge President Barack Obama in 2012 addressing the gathering of a few thousand Republican activists in Louisiana.

At least four possible candidates passed up the event, choosing instead to do their political leg work elsewhere...

The real verdict on health care reform won't come until November, but the slew of polls that have come out in the week since the sweeping package passed Congress show the key players in the debate are already seeing a shift in the political headwinds.

For President Obama, health care passage seemed to give him a slight -- and temporary -- boost at a time when his poll numbers had been sinking and even Vice President Biden admitted the administration was on the verge of losing its persuasive power.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is rallying the base, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is steadily losing support...

A former Republican presidential candidate and close friend of former Indiana Senator Dan Coats says liberals are leveling "bitter and vicious" attacks against the GOP Senate hopeful.

Politico.com reports that "Democrats have launched a withering, no-holds-barred assault" on Dan Coats, who is trying to unseat incumbent Senator Evan Bayh (D-Indiana) and recapture the seat he once held.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee issued a statement referring to Coats as a "federally registered lobbyist whose client lists include banks, private equity firms, and defense contractors." Democrats are also criticizing Coats for being registered to vote in Virginia instead of Indiana, and for telling North Carolina delegates at the 2008 GOP convention that he was planning to retire to their state.

Gary Bauer, president of American Values and a longtime friend of Dan Coats, says "the left" finally realizes that there is a real backlash in the country against what is happening in Wa

Republicans in North Dakota are planning one of the party's first organized efforts to capture some of the energy and enthusiasm of the "tea party" movement, an experiment that nervous party officials around the country will be watching with hopeful anticipation.

North Dakota Republican Chairman Gary Emineth is one of the organizers of what is being billed as a "Take Back Washington" rally and town hall meeting on Feb. 12 in Bismarck, N.D., with Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, an outspoken conservative, as the keynote speaker.

"The role the tea party could play in the future of the Republican Party is significant and critical," Mr. Emineth said. "It is how we speak and reach out to the tea party activists that speaks volumes to the movement. The 'Take Back Washington' event is designed to have the Republican Party leadership and elected officials listen to activists within this movement."...

As Congress begins picking through President Obama's vast election year budget, many Democratic incumbents and candidates seem to be finding something they love — to campaign against.

A Democratic Senate candidate in Missouri denounced the budget's sky-high deficit. A Florida Democrat whose district includes the Kennedy Space Center hit the roof over NASA budget cuts. And an endangered Senate Democrat denounced proposed cuts in farm subsidies.

A headline on the 2010 campaign website of Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), blares her opposition to Obama's farm budget: ``Blanche stands up for Arkansas farm families,'' it says.

Heading into an election season in which Republicans are trying to tie Democrats to Obama's unpopular policies, Obama's budget gives his fellow Democrats an unlikely campaign tool — a catalogue of ways to establish their distance from controversial aspects of his administration...

Facing a disgruntled electorate and bracing for losses in the November midterm elections, Democrats hope to make up ground by framing this year's campaign as a fight against Republicans who want to turn back the clock on progress.

Democratic strategists say the party's candidates should tout legislative victories, especially if Congress enacts health care reform in the coming weeks, and draw a stark contrast with a Republican desire to return to the era of President George W. Bush.

The game plan is designed to prevent the election from becoming a referendum on the party in power, which is almost always a losing bet during tough economic times. Democrats must convince voters that the health care overhaul will be beneficial and that President Obama's $787 billion stimulus program has worked before they can criticize Republicans for opposing the measures...

(CNSNews.com) – More self-identified Independents are labeling themselves as “conservative” in 2009 than at any time during the past decade, the Gallup organization found in a recently released study.

In fact, the percentage of American Independents who identified as conservatives – 35 percent – increased at the fastest rate in 10 years between 2008 and 2009, the latter Obama’s first year in office.

“The rather abrupt three-point increase between 2008 and 2009 in the percentage of Americans calling themselves conservative is largely owing to an increase – from 30 percent to 35 percent – in the percentage of political independents adopting the label...

Congressional Democrats could soon have a retirement problem on their hands -- several representatives in vulnerable districts are stepping down ahead of an election year in which the party's incumbents are already threatened by discontent over the economy.

In the course of less than a week this month, three Democratic representatives announced their resignations: Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn.; Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii; and Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash.

That brings the total number of open House seats to 11 for the Democrats, presenting Republicans with a plethora of attractive targets. While House Republicans have 12 members stepping down, many to run for higher office, most of them are leaving behind seats in reliably Republican districts...

Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, after securing a sweetheart deal for his state as part of the health insurance reform bill, said Tuesday that three other senators have told him they want to bargain for the same kind of special treatment.

"Three senators came up to me just now on the (Senate) floor, and said, 'Now we understand what you did. We'll be seeking this funding too'," Nelson said.

But the Democratic senator, who has faced a heap of criticism for appearing to trade his vote on health care for millions in federal Medicaid money, said he's considering asking that the Nebraska deal be stripped from the bill...

Washington (AP) - Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee says he's leaning slightly against running for president in 2012 but says it's far too early to say what he will do.

Huckabee says how the 2010 congressional elections turn out will affect his decision. He also will be looking at whether the Republican Party is willing to unite behind him as a candidate.

Another consideration, Huckabee says, is the status of his weekly TV show on Fox News...