(CNN)- Nevada Rep. Dean Heller told supporters Tuesday he intends to run for the seat being vacated by scandal-plagued Sen. John Ensign, a boost to national Republicans who view Heller as the best hope to keep the seat under GOP control.

"I know that the tough times are not yet over. However, I also know that there are better times ahead," wrote Heller in a Tuesday-morning e-mail to supporters. "Together we can move our country in a new direction, get Nevadans working again, and create a more prosperous future for us and our children."
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(CNN) – They are still mulling over presidential bids, but a new survey suggests Republicans Mike Huckabee and Michele Bachmann lead the field when comes to the most enthusiastic supporters.

According to a new Gallup analysis, Huckabee – the former Arkansas governor who also ran for president in 2008 – has a "positive intensity" score of +25 while Bachmann, the Minnesota congresswoman, comes in at +20 on the intensity meter.
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(CNN) - In what could be the beginnings of a presidential stump speech, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour took a swipe at President Obama's economic policies Monday during a speech to the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce.

Speaking in the president's hometown, Barbour painted a bleak picture of the economy despite recent clamor from many Democrats in Washington that conditions are improving.
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(CNN) – Donald Trump will venture to New Hampshire in June for an appearance at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics' "Politics and Eggs," the longtime forum that has become a must-stop for presidential hopefuls.

Carolyn Hammer, the communications specialist at the Institute of Politics, told CNN Trump agreed to the appearance within the last few days. A specific date in June has not yet been set. The same forum played host to 11 presidential wannabes in 2008.
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(CNN) – Prominent New Hampshire Republican Judd Gregg says that Sarah Palin just might have a clearer path to the Republican presidential nomination next year than commonly understood – an event he warns would lead to President Obama's clear reelection.

Gregg, the former senator and governor of the Granite State, says the muddled GOP presidential field means it's more likely than ever there won't be a clear consensus candidate before the party's nominating convention in August of 2012. If that happens, says Gregg, Palin and her army of supporters might have the upper hand when it comes to settling on a presidential candidate.
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(CNN) - Mike Huckabee said Monday that President Obama's world view is most certainly colored by where he grew up.

The problem? Huckabee appears to falsely believe the president grew up in Kenya.
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(CNN) - In a moment that Mitt Romney's future GOP opponents couldn't have scripted better themselves, President Obama Monday issued a full-throated embrace of the former Massachusetts governor's stance on health care.

"I know that many of you have asked for flexibility for your states under this law," Obama said during a speech to a governors meeting at the White House. "In fact, I agree with Mitt Romney, who recently said he's proud of what he accomplished on health care by giving states the power to determine their own health care solutions. He's right."
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(CNN) – As Sarah Palin mulls a presidential bid, the former Alaska governor is getting mixed news from Iowa, the state that traditionally kicks off the presidential primary season.

A newly released poll from the Des Moines Register suggests Palin is still liked by many GOP voters in the state, but perhaps not to the degree she once was.
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Washington (CNN) – Newt Gingrich, the potential presidential candidate who is intimately familiar with the last government shutdown 16 years ago, says queasy Republicans afraid of the political ramifications of history repeating itself need to cool down.

After all, Gingrich says, the effects of the last government shutdown weren't all that bad.
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Washington (CNN) - If he runs for president, Donald Trump is likely to take a page out of other recent billionaire political aspirant's playbooks and cut himself a check to the tune of $200 million to finance the expensive endeavor.

That's according to longtime GOP operative Roger Stone, who is currently an informal adviser to Trump.
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