Huckabee Denies 'whores' Report

[] not officially a candidate, the former New York senator, secretary of state and first lady sits far atop early polls against a small field of potential rivals for the Democratic nomination. "No one wants a complete coronation, but it's hard to see who a credible challenger will be," said Steve Westly, a California-based fundraiser for Obama's campaigns who is supporting Clinton. [] the work of campaign planning involves trying to figure out when to get into the race, how to avoid giving off a sense of inevitability and how to generate enthusiasm among the party's base for the general election without the benefit of a spirited fight for the nomination. Clinton's main obstacles during a quiet primary campaign could come from Republicans and GOP-leaning outside groups, which already are trying to discredit her record at the State Department and tie her to Obama's policies. [] a low-key primary could limit her campaign's ability to test its organizational strength and its opportunities to seize on important moments — a primary night, debate, major address — that often fuel online fundraising and list-building. During the last contested Democratic campaign, the party's first presidential debate was held in South Carolina in April 2007 and the field went on to take part in more than two dozen such events. Even with Republicans as the main foil, a relatively uncontested primary would give Clinton a clear path to raise millions of dollars and build a campaign organization, a benefit normally bestowed to an incumbent president, and perhaps keep her above the political fray.

Unlike the active jockeying among Republicans thinking about running for president, there is little public action among the Democratic considering a White House bid. The vice president has said he will make a decision later in the spring or summer, but has taken few steps to build the foundation of a campaign structure. The former Virginia senator and Navy secretary announced an exploratory committee last year, but has done little publicly in recent weeks as he recovers from knee replacement surgery. O'Malley signed on with a speaking firm after leaving the governor's office and will be as a visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University. The Massachusetts senator remains the subject of a draft movement by liberal activists but has repeatedly declined interest in running for president.

WASHINGTON -- Every election cycle can be considered, first and foremost, a monument to hype. With every passing week, the political world is a blizzard of brash predictions, bold pronouncements, and bad advice. This year, your Speculatroners shall attempt to decode and defang this world with a regular dispatch that we're calling "This Week In Coulda Shoulda Maybe." We hope this helps, but as always, we make no guarantees! Hillary Clinton: Any Minute Now

A little less than two weeks ago, a number of people who trade Super Bowl tickets like stocks did what they’ve been safely doing for at least five years: they sold away a bunch of tickets that they didn’t yet have. This year, the trusted maneuver was not so safe, and left some sellers short tens of thousands of dollars.

It’s barely 2015 but 2016 is busting out all over. No fewer than 24 Republicans threaten White House runs. In January a dozen or so went to Iowa to pay homage to popular xenophobe Steve King at an event King humbly dubbed the Freedom Summit. At a tonier soiree that same weekend in Rancho Mirage, California, the Koch brothers pledged to raise precisely $889 million to buy the election outright.