A Midsummer Miscellany (with a Nod to Larry King)

It's hard to imagine Nancy Pelosi staying on — as minority leader — if Republicans take control of Congress ... Fall campaign travel schedules to watch for: Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown, Al Gore, Jeb Bush and George W. Bush (the former President's memoirs launch nationwide the week after Election Day) ... (See 10 Republican surprises other than Scott Brown.)

If you look up dead in the dictionary, you'll find "Democratic legislative action on energy, immigration and entitlement reform in 2010." But expect Barack Obama to dangle big deals in front of Republicans on all three in his State of the Union address early next year ... You know what's harder than finding an egg cream and a handful of pretzel rods for five cents in Tulsa? Finding a corporate type or Washington pol of either party who has kind words to say these days about the White House. One reason: the President still hasn't seen fit to put into a top job an experienced businessperson who has met a private-sector payroll ... I listen pretty closely, and I haven't heard a single Republican candidate with a deficit-reduction plan that will help the party win seats in the midterms ...

Life lesson: putting the rent money on the roulette wheel gets you better odds than wagering against Nevada Senator Harry Reid ... Independent Florida Senate candidate Charlie Crist's ability to get out of a jam makes him look like a white-haired Houdini ... Democratic bigwigs start to worry about losing Senate seats in Wisconsin and Washington State ... I don't know about you, but I never get tired of listening to Joe Biden talk ... Same with John Kasich, who's having a tougher time in his race for governor of Ohio than I thought he would have (and he thought he would have!) ... If there's a better app for the iPad than the White House's, I haven't seen it ... If the guests at Chelsea Clinton's wedding are half as excited about the big event as the media are, that is going to be one rocking party ...

See the top 10 political defections.

Read "Sarah Palin in '12? Why She's for Real."