According to a recent Gallup poll, only 18% of Americans say they approve of the work this Congress has done -- so it's more than likely it won’t go down as one of the more popular congressional bodies. 

J. Scott Applewhite / AP

Construction continues on the viewing stands for President Barack Obama's January's Inauguration Day ceremonies, early Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012, on Capitol Hill in Washington.

But with only weeks to go before it concludes, the 112th Congress (2011-2012) is on track to make another type of history. 

By passing just 196 bills into law so far, it is in the running to become the least productive Congress since the 1940s.

In fact, that amount is 710 fewer public laws than was produced by the 80th Congress (from 1947-48), which first earned the moniker "Do-Nothing" Congress.

The lack of legislation passed by Congress in recent years has become frustrating to many lawmakers. Outgoing Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) decided not to run for re-election because of the congressional gridlock, partisan politics, and lack of work being done on Capitol Hill. 

“As I have long said, what motivates me is producing results for those who have entrusted me to be their voice and their champion, and I am filled with that same sense of responsibility today as I was on my first day in the Maine House of Representatives. I do find it frustrating, however, that an atmosphere of polarization and ‘my way or the highway’ ideologies has become pervasive in campaigns and in our governing institutions,” Snowe said in a statement announcing her retirement last February. 

The U.S. House Clerk’s office keeps official records of all congressional activity dating as far back as 1947. During those 65 years and 33 different Congresses, more than 20,000 public laws have been passed.

The 104th Congress (1995-1996) currently holds the record low for passing the fewest pieces of legislation since 1947 -- just 333 bills were passed into law during that two-year span.

The 107th Congress (2001-2002) is next, passing only 377 new laws during its time in Washington.

To avoid earning the distinction as the least productive Congress since 1947, 138 bills must move through the House and Senate before the end of this Congress next month.

And with just 11 scheduled voting days left before the House’s target adjournment date for the year -- and with all eyes fixed on the looming fiscal cliff -- time is running out.

The number of bills passed into law by Congress since 1947:
80th: 906
81st: 921
82nd: 594
83rd: 781
84th: 1,028
85th: 936
86th: 800
87th: 885
88th: 666
89th: 810
90th: 640
91st: 695
92nd: 607
93rd: 649
94th: 588
95th: 634
96th: 613
97th: 473
98th: 623
99th: 664
100th: 713
101st: 650
102nd: 590
103rd: 465
104th: 333
105th: 394
106th: 580
107th: 377
108th: 498
109th: 482
110th: 460
111th: 383
112th: 196 (so far)   

Buoyed by national editorials condemning some Democrats’ desire not to touch entitlements in any fiscal cliff negotiations, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) challenged the White House today on the issue of entitlement reform.

Citing White House adviser David Plouffe recent comments that “fiscal cliff” talks should address Medicare and Medicaid, the “chief drivers of our deficit,” Cantor said, “we have seen, this morning, several editorial writers indicate the same; that it is important that we put these drivers of the deficit on the table and include them as part of any agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff.”

Cantor defended the GOP’s position of no increase on taxes for the wealthiest Americans and claimed that the party has “done its part” by putting new revenue on the table in the form of minimizing tax deductions and closing loopholes. He then accused the Obama administration of not putting forward a “good-faith effort…to talk about the real problem that we're trying to fix.”

Cantor’s desire to shed light on what he sees as Democrats’ intransigence on entitlement reform is a calculated effort by the GOP to try and paint the president and his allies as stubbornly in favor of policies that will add to the deficit, GOP aides told NBC News.

Recently, Democrats have coalesced around the idea that a “fiscal cliff” agreement should not necessarily touch Social Security and likely even Medicare or Medicaid -- and only pertain to spending cuts and taxes. 

“If the public sees we’re willing to give something and Democrats are not, it’ll strengthen our negotiating position,” one GOP aide admitted.

It remains to be seen whether the American public will buy such an argument, especially with polls showing a majority supporting the idea of raising taxes on the wealthy to pay down the debt and not raise even the entry age into Medicare.

Michael Conroy / AP

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Va.

Republicans, however, are banking on saying that Democrats are just as, if not more, unyielding on their “sacred cows,” and that leading to the typical Washington narrative of both parties being unwilling to move toward the center in favor of their own special interests. That, Republicans believe, could ultimately hurt the president, elected on the promise of doing big things. 

J. Scott Applewhite / AP, file

John Kerry is pursued by reporters as he arrives for a closed-door meeting about the assault on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Capitol Hill on Nov. 13.

The second-term cabinet intrigue continues.

Although U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice remains the front-runner to be President Obama's next secretary of state, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) is still in contention for the post.

And if Rice gets that coveted job, it's assumed that Kerry might become the next defense secretary.

But Kerry getting either position presents one potential downside for Democrats: His exit from the Senate would trigger a special election in Massachusetts, with recently defeated Republican Scott Brown waiting in the wings to possibly mount a comeback.

That prospect could very well explain why Senate Republicans have showered praise on Kerry after all the controversy surrounding Rice's initial statements about the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.

On Wednesday, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) -- who told reporters about her concerns about Rice after meeting with the U.N. ambassador -- offered that Kerry would be "an excellent appointment."

Brown even recommended Kerry for the secretary of state job at a Nov. 13 press conference in response to a question about whether Kerry would make a good defense secretary. “I’ve already been public on that quite a while ago. And I’ve told him personally that I thought he would make an excellent secretary of state. I haven’t even thought about any other positions but those are questions best asked of him and the president.”

But the running theory that Republicans want Kerry as secretary of state to so they can win his Senate seat ignores two realities.

One, that Senate seat is likely to be vacant whether or not Kerry gets the secretary of state job -- because he would be in line for the defense job.

Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), one of Rice's chief critics, said it was "absurd" to think that Republicans are opposing Rice to open up Kerry's Senate seat. "I would remind you this is an issue that I was pursuing and others long before the election, before we knew whether Scott Brown was going to win that election. So I think that claim is absurd.”

And two, Brown or any other Republican wouldn't have an easy time winning in a special election. "We don't think another Senate run is going to play differently for him," said Matt Canter, communications director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

"He lost by eight points. It was not a close race." Democrat Elizabeth Warren beat Brown, 54%-46%.

And a plugged-in Massachusetts Democrat tells First Read, "The reality is, Scott Brown's only a Goliath in the eyes of Beltway liberals still scarred by his special election win two years ago," adding: "His brand is badly damaged in Massachusetts, even if his legend lives on in Washington."

But a Kerry vacancy would give Brown or any other Republican a chance -- which is a better prospect that they have now.

As one GOP operative emails, “I’d certainly like to see that vacancy, and I’d like to see Scott run.”

*** UPDATE *** Also according to the exit polls, 60% of Massachusetts voters on Election Day had a favorable opinion of Brown (versus 56% who said the same about Warren).

NBC's Tom Curry contributed to this article.

President Obama expressed optimism in a “framework” for deficit reduction being worked out before Washington disperses for the holidays as he urged Congress to act quickly and extend tax cuts for 98 percent of Americans.

“I believe that both parties can agree on a framework that does that in the coming weeks. In fact, my hope is to get this done before Christmas,” he said, flanked by people who the White House said responded to emails asking them how a preserved lower tax rate would help them.

He said an immediate extension of tax cuts for those Americans would allow Democrats and Republicans to focus on long-term deficit reduction.

“Families and small businesses would therefore be able to enjoy some peace of mind heading into Christmas and heading into the New Year. And it would give us more time than next year to work together on a comprehensive plan to bring down our deficits.”

He also alluded to recent statements by Senate and House Republicans expressing a willingness to consider previously non-negotiable positions, including GOP Rep. Tom Cole’s statement yesterday that Republicans should in fact deal with tax cuts for the wealthiest earners separately from those Democrats want to extend now.

 “I'm glad to see, if you've been reading the papers lately, that more and more Republicans in Congress seem to be agreeing with this idea that we should have a balanced approach,” Obama said.

But House Speaker John Boehner Wednesday firmly rejected Cole’s suggestion and reiterated his position that Republicans are willing to consider new revenue but oppose a hike in any income tax rates.

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

President Barack Obama greets middle class people who joined him on stage after he delivered remarks about extending tax cuts for middle class people during an event in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building November 28, 2012 in Washington, DC.

The president’s event, held in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building’s South Court Auditorium, was meant to highlight a new social media campaign intended to get Americans vocal about what keeping an extra $2,000 on their paycheck would mean – similarly to what the White House did to encourage Americans to get involved over

The catchphrase for the new campaign? “My2K,” or #My2K for those on Twitter.

“Tweet using the hashtag My2K or email, you know, post it on -- on a member of Congress' Facebook wall. Do what it takes to communicate a sense of urgency. We don't have a lot of time here. We've got a few weeks to get this thing done,” Obama said.

“It's too important for Washington to screw this up,” he continued. 

Anyone thinking Republicans might be ready to accept extending the Bush tax cuts for those making less than $250,000 now, think again.

House Speaker John Boehner (R), the man at the center of negotiations with President Obama, today rejected Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole’s suggestion to pass an extension of tax cuts for 98 percent of people, declare victory, and go home.

Yuri Gripas / Reuters

U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) speaks next to Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, November 28, 2012.

"I told Tom earlier at our conference meeting that I disagreed with him,” Boehner said at a Capitol Hill news conference Wednesday morning. “He's a wonderful friend of mine and a great supporter of mine. In my view, raising taxes on the so-called top 2 percent, half of those taxpayers are small-business owners that pay their taxes through their personal income filing every year. The goal here is to grow the economy and control spending; you're not going to grow the economy if you raise the top 2 percent rates. It'll hurt small businesses, and it'll hurt our economy, why this is not the right approach. We're willing to put revenue on the table as long as we are not raising rates."

Cole (R-OK) on Wednesday reiterated his call for Congress to pass an extension of the Bush tax rates for those making less than $250,000 first and then work on the extension for higher-earners later, a major break from the Republican's strategy in fiscal-cliff negotiations.

“In my view, we all agree that we're not going to raise taxes on people who make less than $250,000 dollars, so we should just take them out of this discussion right now,” Cole said after a meeting of the GOP Conference. “Continue to fight against any rate increases; continue to try to work, honestly, for a much bigger deal.”

Cole, the deputy whip and former National Republican Congressional Committee chairman, first made the suggestion during a closed-door "whip meeting" yesterday, which was first reported by Politico last night.  His comments have drawn criticism from those in his party.

Boehner is not the only Republican to disagree with Cole. Rep. Sean Duffy said on MSNBC’s Daily Rundown Wednesday morning that he believed Cole’s views are in the “minority” of House Republicans. In fact, interviews with other GOP members confirms that.

The lack of support for Cole’s proposal highlights the gap that persists between the White House and House Republicans with the clock ticking toward the so-called “fiscal cliff,” when all Americans would see tax increases and there would be a round a severe Defense and domestic spending cuts unless a deal is struck.

“Cherry picking provisions and rates right now doesn’t solve the problem, and they're not a serious deficit solution,” Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) told reporters today after a meeting of the Republican Conference. 

Brady, who sits on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, said he is advocating for comprehensive tax reform, to be completed next year after all rates would be extended. 

“I think we're strongly unified behind no tax increases on New Year’s Day,” he said.

Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) echoed Brady’s concerns, saying he believes the majority of the Republican Conference, including himself, is opposed to the idea of decoupling the Bush tax rates.

“We have to make tough decisions about our tax rates,” Labrador said. “We have to make tough decisions about our spending; we have to make tough decisions about our deficit. Let's do that today. There's nothing courageous about saying let's raise taxes on a few people today.”

In August, House Democrats proposed a bill that would do exactly what Cole proposed, but it failed 257-170 with no Republicans voting for the bill, and 19 Democrats voting against it.

Related: 

How much is $250,000? Depends on the location

As President Obama prepares for his second term, NBC's Mark Murray and Domenico Montanaro discuss the legislation that may define his next four years in office: immigration reform.

Thanks Maxx the Moocher for the question!

Video edited by NBC's Matt Loffman.

TRANSCRIPT:
MARK MURRAY: Domenico, we have another Inside the Boiler Room questions and this actually comes from Maxx the Moocher, I think this is Maxx's first question to us, so welcome Maxx. Maxx asks, "What will be the President's "signature" piece of legislation for a second term?"

DOMENICO MONTANARO: Well we know in the first term it was health care, or he would like it to be health care. I think that once we get past the fiscal cliff
stuff the biggest piece of legislation we are going to see is going to be on immigration reform. I really think that Republicans more so than their stepping away from a pledge on Grover Norquist which is pretty minor to be honest. You've heard much more-- you have seen much more of a thaw on immigration reform after they saw those demographic numbers and that their pollsters were wrong about their assumptions that were going to be made, and that the Census data in fact shows Latinos actually under performing what their percentages, they make up almost 17 percent, only 10 percent showed up at the polls this time around. That is only going to grow. Republicans see that, they know that is real and they have got to do something about that problem.

MARK MURRAY: Domenico, I agree with you that it would be comprehensive immigration reform particularly in that it is his second term. You know we have talked about before that President Obama took a lot of heat during the presidential campaign for saying that change comes from the outside not from the inside. But comprehensive immigration reform would actually be a key example of change coming from the outside because Obama is pointing to the exit polls and saying, 'Look, 71% of the Latino voters voted for me. Republicans, if you guys want to start winning back Latinos you guys have to cut a deal with my on comp. immigration reform and change the rhetoric. So I think that is an interesting dynamic. And then if we take a step back and look at if President Obama is able to get immigration reform done, if there is some type of a budget deal, of course that again is going to be a big question --

DOMENICO MONTANARO: --This stuff always seems tougher than even some of these other issues.

MARK MURRAY: Those would be two very big domestic achievements for a second term. More than you usually see in most second term presidencies just because you are a lame duck and it is harder to get things done domestically. But if you have those two things, combine it with health care, combine it with Wall Street reform, combine it also with that new START treaty with Russia, that is really a very big--

DOMENICO MONTANARO: --you talk about DOMA, some of those other...

MARK MURRAY: Right. Big accomplishments that you could actually probably rival to FDR or Lyndon Johnson.

DOMENICO MONTANARO: Interesting. I do think immigration reform and health care are humongous pieces of legislation if they were to get done. It is hard to see what else there would be a push on, they've largely gone around Congress on education so I don't think they are necessarily going to go a route where they are going to try to reauthorize a No Child Left Behind or something. I think they are very happy doing that with Arne Duncan and through some of the more administrative and executive means. It is really hard to see what else there would be. Obviously on foreign policy they have a lot to manage when it comes to the war in Afghanistan and needing to wind that down in 2014, so I think that is going to be a big part of what happens in that second lame duck session.

MARK MURRAY: Also, don't lose sight on the Supreme Court. That is actually sometimes how a president has the most lasting effect.

DOMENICO MONTANARO: And really put their stamp.

MARK MURRAY: Right, and President Obama has the potential in the next four years to appoint maybe one, two or three Supreme Court justices potentially changing the balance of political power.

DOMENICO MONTANARO: It is really something and it is why the 2012 election was such an important one.

MARK MURRAY: Thanks Maxx for the question.

Edited by NBC's Jordan Frasier.

Despite talk of Mitt Romney’s momentum in the final weeks of the presidential campaign, Barack Obama cruised to a wide Electoral Vote victory and his popular-vote margin wound up closely mirroring George W. Bush’s 2004 victory.

In fact, voter confidence in the president consistently improved as Election Day neared and was nearly the identical level Bush had before his reelection, a review of data for the NBC News Voter Confidence Index shows.

President Obama’s VCI score was -11 for the month of October, exactly the same as Bush’s score in October 2004.

Despite his first debate performance and Romney’s claim of momentum, Obama never saw a drop in that period in the VCI. Obama’s VCI went from -29 in August to -15 in September to -11 in October and -10 in the first week of November.

And that improvement was squarely because Americans told pollsters in the fall they felt better about the direction of the country.

The VCI uses a combination of the president’s job approval rating, the direction of the country, and the so-called generic congressional ballot, which tracks voter preference between parties rather than individual candidates. There is equal weight given to all three questions. The difference between two sets of numbers in each question is calculated and then added up.

For example, Obama’s average job approval rating for the month of October was +2; the direction of the country average score was -14; and the generic congressional ballot was +1 for a -11.

Obama’s average approval rating remained fairly consistent throughout the 2012 campaign. It hit its lowest point (-8) right after the debt-ceiling debacle in September 2011. Combining the bad direction of the country score (-52) with the generic ballot (Republican were ahead by 3 points that month), Obama had his worst VCI score of his presidency : -63.

No president had ever been reelected with a VCI that bad. Jimmy Carter had a -72 VCI right before the 1980 election he lost. George H.W. Bush was -84 right before the 1992 election he lost.

The successful presidents reelected since 1980 – Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton – enjoyed high VCI scores. Reagan stood at +62 in 1984 before his landslide victory. Clinton was at +45 before his sweeping reelection over Republican Bob Dole.

The generic ballot portion of the VCI in 2012 also remained consistent with Democrats holding a slight lead most months.

But direction of the country is what really moved and likely buoyed the president to a second term. More Americans said they were more optimistic about the direction of the country as November 2012 neared. It went from a nadir of -56 in October 2011 to -23 in March by the time the GOP presidential primary wrapped up.

The VCI score for direction of the country stayed in the -20s through July, dipped to -30 in August and then began to break through that plateau after the parties' conventions. The score improved to -19 in September, the best since May 2011 – the month Osama bin Laden was killed.

Before that, direction of the country hadn’t been that strong since January 2010. And at that point, it was trending in the other direction.

The direction of the country average improved again in October to -14 and again in that first week of November to -13.

It’s clear that how people feel about the country -- whether it’s headed off on the wrong track or in the right direction -- is perhaps the most telling indicator of whether a president will be reelected.

President Obama and the man he defeated in the 2012 presidential contest -- Republican Mitt Romney -- will have lunch Thursday at the White House, Obama's press secretary announced.

It will be the first meeting since the election's end.

The White House said there will be no press coverage of the meeting.

Both sides begin to manage fiscal-cliff expectations for their bases… GOP Rep. Tom Cole: In the short term, Republicans would be better off extending the Bush tax cuts for everyone BUT the wealthy… Dick Durbin: Entitlements, in some form or fashion, will be on the table… New WaPo/ABC poll shows two-thirds oppose raising Medicare’s eligibility age… Susan Rice’s meeting with McCain/Graham/Ayotte didn’t go well… And brace yourselves from Cuccinelli vs. McAuliffe.

*** Managing expectations: We wrote yesterday that the current fiscal discussions essentially amounted to running in circles, because the real negotiations won’t take place until mid-to-late December. The reason: Washington typically needs hard deadlines to force members to act. But there is something quite significant that’s going on during this running-in-circles period. Republicans and Democrats are beginning to prepare their own bases for what the deal will ultimately look like. That’s perhaps the best way to describe the news that GOP Rep. Tom Cole, a former National Republican Congressional Committee chairman, told some GOP colleagues that the party would hold a stronger hand if Republicans backed President Obama’s idea to immediately extend the so-called Bush tax cuts for everyone BUT the wealthiest. “I think we ought to take the 98% deal right now,” he told Politico. “It doesn’t mean I agree with raising the top 2%. I don’t.” Translation: House Republicans right now don’t have the upper hand in the negotiations, and they’re going to have to grapple with raising rates, at least in the short term. And Cole is actually giving them a way out of this box, short term, which is do the de-couple on rates and live to fight another day.

J. Scott Applewhite / AP

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., center, accompanied by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., left, and Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., gestures while speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Nov, 27, 2012, following a GOP strategy luncheon.

*** Tom Cole vs. Dick Durbin: And it’s just not Republicans who are trying to prepare their bases for what a deal might look like. Here’s the New York Times on Sen. Dick Durbin’s speech yesterday to the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress: “He made clear that the parties agreed on what a final deal would look like: an initial deficit-reduction down payment to calm financial markets and avoid most of the fiscal jolt that would otherwise hit in January; instructions to congressional committees to draft tax, spending and entitlement legislation to save around $4 trillion over the next decade; and some form of fallback deficit plan in case Congress fails to pass those changes.” But it’s what Durbin said -- or didn’t say -- about entitlements that was striking. His prepared remarks read, "Progressives should be willing to talk about ways to ensure the long-term viability of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, but those conversations should not be part of a plan to avert the fiscal cliff," Durbin said. Yet he didn’t say that in his speech. But he later clarified that those entitlement conversations shouldn’t be part of the down payment, but rather as part of the longer-term deal. Translation to liberals: Entitlements, in some form or fashion, will need to be on the table, and it’s going to be something you won’t like but that’s the price of not controlling the House.

*** The public: Don’t raise Medicare’s eligibility age: But when discussing Medicare, there’s something the public is adamantly against -- raising the eligibility age. Per a new Washington Post/ABC poll, 67% oppose increasing the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67. On the other hand, 60% favor raising taxes on incomes more than $250,000, but there’s a partisan split. “While 73 percent of Democrats and 63 percent of independents are in favor, far fewer Republicans, 39 percent, agree.” We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Both parties have done such a good job demagogue-ing Medicare over the years (see ’96, ’10, ’12) that it’s made the program arguably more untouchable than Social Security, at least politically. 

*** Rice’s meeting didn’t go well: Turning to the other big Washington story -- Susan Rice’s meeting yesterday with Sens. John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Kelly Ayotte -- let’s not pretend it went well. The Washington Post: “What was supposed to be a make-nice meeting on Tuesday seemed only to make things more contentious between the White House and Senate Republicans over U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice’s comments following the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya… ‘Bottom line, I’m more disturbed now than I was before,’ said Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.).” But Rice and the Obama White House did get some good news from outgoing Sen. Joe Lieberman, who also met with Rice. “‘I’ve interrogated and cross-examined a lot of witnesses in my day, but I felt she was telling me the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth based on that and corroborated by the director of the CIA,’ Lieberman said. ‘I don’t see a basis for disqualifying Susan Rice for some other position in our government.’” Remember, Lieberman, as a former member of the McCain-Graham three amigos clan, is an influential voice. And it also sends the signal that Rice might have all the votes she needs. If she’s got Lieberman’s support, what Democrat would be against her?

*** Ayotte, Graham pledge holds; Dems vow to fight for her: Additionally, Ayotte and Graham would place a hold on a Susan Rice nomination to be secretary of state, aides to the senators told NBC News yesterday. Democrats, though, tell NBC they’re ready and willing to fight for Rice and believe they could overcome those holds. Anyone who thinks that John McCain, Ayotte, and Graham’s caustic reaction to their meeting with Rice yesterday gives Democrats any pause on Rice’s nomination, should think again, according to a Democratic Senate aide. “People are happy to fight for her,” the aide said, adding, "This is getting people’s back up. The general sense of the mood is this is ridiculous. She’s obviously qualified.” The aide also questioned whether Republicans besides McCain, Graham, and Ayotte would think this is a “smart fight to pick” given Rice’s qualifications and that this would mean a “high-profile fight with a qualified African-American woman.” As to the threat of holds from Ayotte and Graham, the aide said that if Rice is nominated and presents well at her confirmation hearing, there’s a “good chance cooler heads prevail” and there would be more than enough votes to confirm her. That would make Ayotte and Graham’s holds “moot” once it goes to a cloture vote, the aide said, because “either we have the votes or we don’t.”

*** Get ready for Cuccinelli vs. McAuliffe: Lastly, Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling is expected to drop out of next year’s gubernatorial race, meaning that the race will likely be Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) vs. Terry McAuliffe (D). Politico: “Bolling, now in his second term as lieutenant governor, was widely seen as the underdog against the conservative Cuccinelli, whose supporters engineered a move to change the 2013 nominating process from a primary to a convention. Conservatives typically dominate Virginia GOP conventions.” While this year’s Tim Kaine-vs.-George Allen Senate contest didn’t produce any real fireworks – the two men seemed to respect each other – a Cuccinelli-vs.-McAuliffe race will be NASTY and EXPENSIVE. Folks, it’s going to be personal, ugly, and divisive. As one veteran Virginia GOP operative told First Read: “This will be the least inspiring race for governor Virginians have seen in a long time.” By the way, the joke among operatives on both sides for months on McAuliffe and Cuccinelli has been, the only chance either has to become governor is if their opponent in the general election is each other. This campaign has all the signs of being a race to the bottom, will the C.W. be wrong?

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*** Wednesday’s “The Daily Rundown” line-up: Obama 2012 Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter on the road ahead for a second term… Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) and returning Rep.-elect Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ) on the fiscal cliff negotiations… Author and PR guru Craig Shirley on the fight between conservatives and the GOP… Plus Roll Call’s David Drucker, former DNC spokeswoman Karen Finney and former Bush 43 spokesman Tony Fratto.

*** Wednesday’s “Jansing & Co.” line-up: MSNBC’s Chris Jansing interviews Clarence Page, Dana Milbank and Rep. Pete Defazio on the fiscal cliff; Sen. John Barrasso on the Susan Rice affair; strategists David Winston and Steve Elmendorf; plus, professors Jennifer Lawless and David Hayes on gender bias and the success of female candidates this year.

*** Wednesday’s “MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts” line-up: Thomas Roberts’ guests include Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY), Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Fmr. Amb. Dennis Ross, and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed.  Power Panelists include:  MSNBC Contributor Ari Melber, TheGrio.Com Managing Editor Joy-Ann Reid and Republican strategist Chip Saltsman.

*** Wednesday’s “NOW with Alex Wagner” line-up: Alex Wagner’s guests include Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), former  Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA), Rolling Stone Executive Editor Eric Bates, TIME Asst. Managing Editor Rana Foroohar, BuzzFeed’s McKay Coppins, and Slate’s Sasha Isenberg.

*** Wednesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews former GOP Sen. Alan Simpson, Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), Honeywell CEO & Chairman David Cote, The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza, USA Today’s Susan Page and Politico’s Mike Allen.

*** Wednesday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: MSNBC’s Tamron Hall interviews Dem strategist David Goodfriend, RealClearPolitics’ Erin McPike, Michael Smerconish, and NBC Latino’s Sandra Lilley.

USA Today on Obama’s “fiscal cliff campaigning”: “These are the latest steps in an all-out political blitz to sell Obama's budget plans.”

“President Barack Obama is introducing a new hashtag to the fiscal cliff debate,” AP writes. “The White House plans to promote (hashtag)My2K on Twitter and other social media — a reference to the estimated $2,200 tax increase that a typical middle-class family of four would see if the Bush tax cuts expire.”

Obama’s inauguration of Jan. 21^st will be only the seventh time it’s happened in history that Jan. 20^th of an inauguration year fell on a Sunday.

National Journal notes how business leaders meeting with the president are realizing that they “feel just as much pressure [as Obama] to make things right.” Said Stan Collender, a former Democratic staffer on the House and Senate budget committees: “They made a big bet, and they lost,” “And now they have to, if not grovel, make it clear they’ll work with the administration.”

More: “There are signs they already have. The business-backed group Fix The Debt, an organization ostensibly pushing for both sides to strike a grand bargain to reduce the country’s deficit, has drawn conservative ire for, in their opinion, focusing less on entitlement reform and more on raising taxes. Some observers believe the tilt, however slight, is part of an implicit effort to extend an olive branch toward Obama – and the impetus for a Wednesday meeting between House GOP leaders and the group.” 

In other fiscal cliff news… “Republican Rep. Tom Cole urged colleagues in a private session Tuesday to vote to extend the Bush tax rates for all but the highest earners before the end of the year — and to battle over the rest later,” Politico’s Jonathan Allen writes, adding, “At a meeting of the House GOP whip team earlier in the day, he made the case that Republicans would strengthen their position by joining hands with President Barack Obama now to give most taxpayers what he calls ‘an early Christmas present’ of ensuring their taxes don’t go up on Jan. 1. Cole’s position is striking because he’s hardly a ‘squish’ — Norquist’s term for a weak-kneed lawmaker — when it comes to Republican orthodoxy. Cole served as chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee and in other official posts within the party. He might also provide cover for other Republicans looking to make an agreement to avoid a sharp fall off the so-called fiscal cliff.”

National Journal: “The Kumbaya rhetoric and photo-ops between President Obama and congressional leaders surrounding the so-called fiscal cliff are starting to wear thin. … For all of the optimism surrounding the initial meetings between leaders, very little progress has been made….”

Politico: “This is the public relations phase of the latest fiscal showdown in Washington, where direct engagement is no longer viewed as the optimal route to reaching a deal. As Wall Street shudders and Congress once again risks looking feckless in the face of crisis, both sides are locked in a battle to win over key interest groups — and the public.”

Roll Call: “Democratic leaders emboldened by this year’s electoral victories are driving a hard bargain on a potential deficit reduction package, pushing to raise taxes significantly in a short time period, while resisting major spending cuts as part of an agreement during the lame-duck session.”

The Washington Post: “What was supposed to be a make-nice meeting on Tuesday seemed only to make things more contentious between the White House and Senate Republicans over U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice’s comments following the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya… ‘Bottom line, I’m more disturbed now than I was before,’ said Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.).

Graham and Kelly Ayotte would place a hold on a Susan Rice nomination to be secretary of state, aides to the senators told NBC News yesterday.

“Following a rocky meeting with her strongest Republican critics in the Senate on Tuesday, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice plans to meet with two more Republican senators on Wednesday,” National Journal writes. “Rice will sit with Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Bob Corker of Tennessee on Wednesday. Corker is next in line to be ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.”

AP: “Senate Democrats rallied to U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice's defense as Republicans said they were even more troubled by her account of the deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, and signaled they would try to scuttle her nomination if President Barack Obama tapped her as the next secretary of state.”

Majority Leader Harry Reid said: "The personal attacks against Ambassador Rice by certain Republican senators have been outrageous and utterly unmoored from facts and reality,"

And this from the bottom of the story: “In a statement late Tuesday, McCain, Graham and Ayotte said Morell told them the FBI had removed references to al-Qaida in the talking points to prevent compromising ongoing investigations. Later in the day, the three senators said the CIA contacted them to say Morell misspoke and the CIA had deleted the references.”

The Boston Globe: “Rice’s unusual visit to Capitol Hill — typically only nominees meet privately with lawmakers — reflects the Obama administration’s campaign for the current front-runner to replace Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton against some strenuous GOP opposition.”

As we’ve noted on First Read, Politico writes, “Sen. John McCain renewed his attacks on U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice on Tuesday, but he’s gone soft on Hillary.” It adds, “McCain, a leading voice on defense and foreign policy matters, has spent weeks belittling Rice as ‘not very bright,’ incompetent and ‘not qualified’ to succeed Clinton as secretary of state… But the Arizona Republican has largely spared Clinton from any criticism over the Sept. 11 Benghazi assault that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. When Clinton tried to fall on her sword, saying she alone was responsible for diplomatic security, McCain wouldn’t have it. He called Clinton’s act ‘laudable’ but was adamant that the buck stops with President Barack Obama and that he would try to block Rice’s possible nomination as the nation’s top diplomat.”

More: “Asked pointedly why he hasn’t been as critical of Clinton, McCain did not directly mention the secretary, who has decided against staying on for a second term.” He said: “I’ve said it continuously that the State Department has responsibility. I have been very critical of the State Department and their actions. I’ve been critical of everybody’s actions.”

ILLINOIS: “Alderman Anthony Beale has filed paperwork to run in the special election for former Democratic Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr.’s 2nd District seat on Chicago’s South Side,” Roll Call writes, adding, “Beale marks the second Democrat to officially jump into the race, following former Rep. Debbie Halvorson’s Monday morning announcement. The district is heavily Democratic, and the winner of the [Feb. 26] primary will serve in Congress in all likelihood.”

NEW JERSEY: Gov. Chris Christie (R) is the clear favorite for governor in 2013, according to a Quinnipiac poll. He leads Newark Mayor Cory Booker, the challenger who scores best, 53-35% in a hypothetical match up.

VIRGINIA: “Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling is expected to drop out of next year’s gubernatorial race Wednesday morning, leaving Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli with a clear path to the GOP nomination next year, two Virginia Republicans tell Politco. … Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) announced last week that he would not seek to run for governor again, likely leaving Terry McAuliffe with a clear path to the Democratic nomination.”

The Washington Post notes that this “sets up an unusually colorful race next fall. Virginia and New Jersey are the only states with gubernatorial contests in 2013, so the high-profile race in the commonwealth is sure to generate national attention. … Some Democrats are hoping ex-Rep. Tom Perriello, currently at the liberal think tank Center for American Progress, will decide to enter the gubernatorial race, but he has so far not indicated publicly that he is interested.”

TEXAS: Political Wire: “Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) said that he will ‘make an announcement about my future political plans’ in July, the Rio Grande Guardian reports.”

President Obama is taking his fiscal campaign around the country, with his first stop to Hatfield, Pa.

Yet during Tuesday’s briefing, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney was asked why the president is starting in Pennsylvania -- which at one time was considered up for electoral grabs -- instead of a state that might have been less hyper-aware of the debate over economic issues in which Obama and his opponent Mitt Romney were embroiled.

“This conversation about fiscal issues has been had during the months and months of the campaign. But the president only visited seven to 10 swing states,” Washington Post correspondent David Nakamura noted, asking why the president wasn’t visiting a deeply red state. 

Pushing back on Nakamura’s premise, Carney cited the president’s speech on December 6, 2011 –- almost a year ago -- in Osawatomie, Kan., where Obama rolled out what was to be the premise of his campaign: higher taxes for the wealthy and continued lower rates for the middle class. 

“This is a make-or-break moment for the middle class,” Obama said at that speech, premiering a line often heard on the trail. But since talk of the fiscal cliff really heated up in Washington, the president hasn’t done any outside-the-Beltway campaigning beyond states highlighted in “path to 270” electoral vote maps. 

That doesn’t mean the president’s words in Pennsylvania won’t reach the ears of Americans elsewhere -- nor does it mean there isn't some political motivation. In fact, some of the areas in Pennsylvania surrounding Hatfield’s 13th Congressional District are represented by Republican members, meaning Obama could be traveling there to influence some potential crossover House votes. 

Plus, Carney didn’t rule out the fact that Obama will be doing more travel in the future. 

“The president will travel all around the country in his second term, and looks forward to it,” he said. 

In the early talks to avert the so-called "fiscal cliff," congressional Republicans are taking a page straight out of the summer 2011 playbook -- going back to the negotiations during the showdown over the debt ceiling.

That July, House Speaker John Boehner and President Obama came close to a "Grand Bargain" on a wide scale bipartisan deficit-reduction plan. The outline of that plan did not raise taxes, but reportedly found up to $800 billion in new revenue by closing tax loopholes and eliminating deductions. The plan also called for entitlement reform with changes to Medicare and Social Security.

On Nov. 11th, Bob Woodward presented the White House’s final offer from that time on Meet the Press:

"This is a confidential document, last offer the president -- the White House made last year to Speaker Boehner to try to reach this $4 trillion grand bargain. And it's long and it's tedious and it's got budget jargon in it. But what it shows is a willingness to cut all kinds of things, like TRICARE, which is the sacred health insurance program for the military, for military retirees; to cut Social Security; to cut Medicare. And there are some lines in there about, "We want to get tax rates down, not only for individuals but for businesses."  So Obama and the White House were willing to go quite far."

GOP aides tell NBC News that a central tenet of the GOP strategy in these current negotiations is to remind the president of just how far he was willing to go in July of 2011, especially when it comes to entitlements.

Today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said there’s been “little progress” on the fiscal cliff and claimed that Social Security would not be part of any deal. A Democratic aide tells NBC News that their early strategy centers upon not capitulating to intransigent GOP demands regarding tax rates.

As the adage goes, elections have consequences. And Democrats believe that Obama's re-election -- as well as picking up additional Senate and House seats -- has strengthened their negotiating hand. After all, those 2011 "grand bargain" negotiations came after the GOP's thumping of Democrats in the 2010 midterms.

Still, one component of the talks that GOP aides circle back to -- if President Obama truly wants to accomplish big things in his second term (such as immigration reform or an infrastructure bank), how these "fiscal cliff" negotiations go will set a precedent for future cooperation.

Their feeling is that the president’s tone this Friday during his first public rally regarding the fiscal cliff will be telling of how conciliatory he’ll be in the talks.

Democrats say despite today’s McCain-Graham-Ayotte press conference, they are ready and willing to fight for Amb. Susan Rice to be secretary of state.

“People are happy to fight for her,” a Democratic Senate aide said. In fact, the aide said, those that think what happened today gives Democrats any pause on Rice’s nomination, should think again.

"This is getting people’s back up,” the aide said. “The general sense of the mood is this is ridiculous. She’s obviously qualified. … No one on our side thinks there’s any substance whatsoever to the Republican criticisms.”

The aide added, “All signals are that [Obama’s] going to nominate her. Everybody’s sort of gearing up for that. It’s a battle, and I think we win because something else has to drop to fatally wound her [Rice]. This is not enough. It depends on how the hearings go.”

The aide also questioned whether Republicans besides McCain, Graham, and Ayotte would think this is a “smart fight to pick.” After all, it would be a “high profile fight with a qualified African-American woman.”

If Rice presents well at her confirmation hearing, if she’s nominated, and rebuts her critics, the aide said there’s a “good chance cooler heads prevail” and there would be more than enough votes to confirm her.

As to Sens. Kelly Ayotte’s and Lindsey Graham’s threats to place holds on a Rice nomination, the aide called that “moot,” because “either we have the votes or we don’t.”

On McCain-Graham-Ayotte’s press conference today, the aide said, “I was stunned. I thought the meeting was a face-saving way for everyone to back down. I was really surprised. It shows this has turned into a total vendetta for them.”

The aide added that “the larger question is if the president wants to spend the political capital.” And if he does, Democrats are ready to fight.

For those thinking Obama might instead avoid the fight and go with Sen. John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a likely shoo-in for confirmation, the aide noted that it’s well known that Majority Leader Harry Reid doesn't want to lose the potential vote.

If President Barack Obama selects United Nations envoy Susan Rice to replace Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, he’ll face determined opposition from at least three Republican senators: John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire. Ayotte and Graham would each place a “hold” on Rice’s nomination if she were nominated, their aides told NBC News Tuesday. McCain's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The three GOP senators met with Rice Tuesday and said afterwards they still weren’t satisfied with the administration’s handling of the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi and Rice’s initial role in explaining that attack.

Related: Senators not satisfied with Rice's Benghazi story

If Rice were nominated and her nomination came to the Senate floor for a vote, it seems highly likely that with Democrats holding the majority in the new Congress, she’d be confirmed.

But her Republican opponents could use the Senate rules to try to prevent her nomination from coming to a floor vote.

A “hold” is an informal procedure by which a senator signals to his or her floor leader that he or she doesn’t want a bill or nomination to come to the floor. Holds have been used for years by senators to indicate that a nomination is so unacceptable to them that they’d try to filibuster it -- to stop it through endless debate -- if necessary.

“I would hold her nomination until I had additional answers to questions, and then I will render judgment," Ayotte told reporters after meeting with Rice.

When Graham was asked by Defense News if he would place a hold on Rice’s nomination, he said, “Oh, absolutely. I would place a hold on anybody who wanted to be promoted to any job who had a role in the Benghazi situation.” Graham’s office confirmed that account.

Graham told a press conference Tuesday after he, McCain and Ayotte met with Rice that “before anybody can make an intelligent decision about promoting someone involved in Benghazi, we need to do a lot more (investigating).”

But indicating they’d put a hold on a nomination does not mean that Rice’s opponents could themselves kill her nomination.

If Rice were nominated and if the Foreign Relations Committee reported her nomination to the full Senate, it would be up to Majority Leader Harry Reid to decide when to bring it to the floor for debate.

Susan Walsh / AP

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, center, flanked by fellow committee members, Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., left, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., right, speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012, following a meeting with UN Ambassador Susan Rice. Rice met with lawmakers to discuss statements she made about the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya that left the ambassador and three other Americans dead.

If senators opposed to Rice were able to keep debating the nomination, and if Reid failed to muster 60 votes for cloture, bringing the debate to a close, then the nomination would essentially be dead.

It’s early in this battle, and it’s not clear there would be enough Republicans to sign onto a filibuster, but one Democratic Senate aide said Democrats would welcome the fight and are confident she would be confirmed. “People are happy to fight for her,” the aide said.

There are echoes here of the nomination battles of the Bush era. Democratic filibusters blocked, and ultimately killed, a number of President George W. Bush’s judicial nominees and Bush’s nomination of John Bolton to be U.N. ambassador.

“I remember the John Bolton episode pretty well,” Graham told reporters Tuesday. “Democrats dug in their heels saying we're not gonna vote, we're not gonna consider this nomination until we get basic answers to our concerns.”

There were two cloture votes on Bolton’s nomination in 2005. He got 56 votes on one of them, four shy of the number needed to end debate and confirm him.

In some cases, a senator putting a hold on a nomination is enough to convince the majority leader or the chairman of the committee considering the nomination to not try to move ahead with it.

For example in December 2011 the Washington Post reported that Matthew Bryza, Obama's nominee to be ambassador to Azerbaijan, was "deemed insufficiently hostile to Armenia's enemies by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) and two Democratic senators with Armenian American constituencies, Barbara Boxer (Calif.) and Robert Menendez (N.J.)."

Boxer and Menendez put a hold on his nomination, preventing or at least delaying a floor vote. Obama gave Bryza a recess appointment and renominated him.

But Boxer and Menendez continued to oppose him and the Post reported that Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., never scheduled a hearing on his nomination.

Sometimes a hold on a nomination is simply a way of trying to extract some specific policy change or administrative action from the executive branch.

For example, the Hill reported last year that Sen. David Vitter, R-La., announced he was lifting his hold on Obama’s nomination of Dan Ashe to head the Department of Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service.

Vitter wanted speedier action from the Obama administration on approving deep-water drilling permits in the Gulf of Mexico.

“I said I would lift it when we got to 15 permits,” Vitter said on June 1, 2011. “We finally reached that mark today, and I’m lifting my hold.”

But the stakes would be far higher if Obama nominated Rice, partly because it would be the first nomination battle since he won re-election last month.

NBC News’s Domenico Montanaro contributed to this story.

NBC's Mark Murray and Domenico Montanaro discuss the outlines of a possible budget deal and whether or not the president has a mandate to craft one to his liking.

Thanks newdayDAWNING...RETURNED for the question!

Video edited by NBC's Jay Rankin.

TRANSCRIPT:

MARK MURRAY: Welcome to Inside the Boiler Room, I'm NBC's Mark Murray joined by Domenico Montanaro. Domenico, it has been a while since we have done an Inside the Boiler Room! We ended up getting a lot of really good questions, particularly as it relates to the fiscal cliff. This actually comes from newdayDAWNING...RETURNED who asks: "Mandate. We keep hearing the word, and both sides claim it. Did the President get a mandate on taxes in this last election, and will that help in making a deal with the Republican House? Or did the House Republicans retain an edge since they held the House? 

DOMENICO MONTANARO: I love that we talk about mandates when people win fifty-one percent of the vote. It seems to me kind of nuts that anybody thinks there is an overwhelming mandate for anyone to get anything done. I do think thought, that the President has some leverage, more leverage than House Republicans because he did win fairly overwhelmingly, especially in the Electoral College. There's all of these changing demographics going on. He ran on this idea of raising taxes on the wealthy. So, on that one specific issue I think he does have some leverage. I don't know if I would call it a mandate. I think the longer that it goes, the less that political capital he will have. But just like after '08, he had a lot of political capital. Well he has got political capital again coming out of this thing but it is just going to depend on whether or not Republicans are going to decide they want to take that leap and sign off on increasing rates, so far they haven't. The other thing is Republicans think they have a mandate because they retained the House, because in most of their districts 88 percent of them won by 55 percent or more, two-thirds of them won by 60 percent or more so they dont feel like they need to give an inch. 

MARK MURRAY: Right, and when you look at the exit polls, what was really striking to me was that 60 percent of the entire presidential electorate ended up saying that they actually favored raising taxes on everybody or those making--with income of $250,000 or more. That is pretty significant and you are going to hear the White House and President Obama return to those figures time and time again, and also Democrats are pointing out, 'Look, this isn't 2010 again when we actually had to come--during the debt ceiling negotiations,' that actually came after Republicans had taken control of the House, after Democrats had gotten thumped in those midterm elections. But in this presidential contest, and Domenico as you mentioned, probably the biggest idea between President Obama and Mitt Romney was precisely on the burden on the wealthy. President Obama made it a big issue and won, getting about 51 percent of the vote and winning decisively in the electoral college.

DOMENICO MONTANARO: What is a little fascinating to me is that they are still seemingly having a fight that they had during the campaign because the President wants to raise rates on the wealthy, and what Republicans in the House are saying is let's cut tax deductions and loopholes. Well who said that during the 2012 campaign? Mitt Romney. So they are still pushing the same line that Mitt Romney was pushing even though they have seemed to have thawed a little bit on revenue at all, but you know, at the end of the day, as we get closer to a deadline it is going to be interesting to see if--who gives on what here.

MARK MURRAY: Right. I do think the President has the upper hand, but then again, if this is going to be a big deal it seems like everybody is going to get a little something and also have to give up something in return.

DOMENICO MONTANARO: Sure thing.

Obama to head to Philly ‘burbs on Friday to campaign on averting the fiscal cliff… But the reality is that everyone is still running in circles -- until we get closer to the deadline… The challenge of getting to 218 House votes… Face-saving time? Susan Rice travels to the Hill to meet with McCain, Graham, and Ayotte… 2016 Watch Part 1: Christie’s job-approval rating reaches 72%... 2016 Watch Part 2: Jeb Bush huddles with top GOP political operatives in DC… Conservatives groups try to decapitate Capito’s candidacy -- just hours after it was announced… And Feb. 26 is the date set for the special primary election to fill Jesse Jackson Jr.’s House seat.

*** Running in circles: In the latest development in the “fiscal cliff” negotiations, the White House announced this morning that President Obama will be hitting the road on Friday to make his case that the Bush tax cuts should be extended for the middle class, but not for income above $250,000. The president will travel to the Philadelphia suburbs, in Hatfield, PA, to deliver remarks at the Rodon Group manufacturing facility. In addition to that trip on Friday, Obama today meets with small-business owners and tomorrow with middle-class Americans who the White House says will be impacted if the tax cuts aren’t extended. While Team Obama is beginning to increase its activity as we get closer to the fiscal cliff deadline at the end of the year -- we learned yesterday that Obama chatted over the phone with House Speaker John Boehner on Saturday (along with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid) -- the reality is that everyone is going to run in circles over the next couple of weeks. Why? Because Washington typically needs the pressure of a deadline to get things done. There’s more of a chance for getting a deal in mid to late December. That’s just the nature of how this process works. And by the way, it’s what the negotiators themselves know. All of them have privately expressed an interest to hit the fast forward button on the DVR and simply get to the end game.

J. Scott Applewhite / AP

President Barack Obama shakes hands outside a small bookstore in Arlington, Va., Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012, where he went shopping with his daughters.

*** The challenge of getting to 218: But getting a deal isn’t going to be easy. Why? It’s about getting to 218 House votes (the Senate will approve whatever gets through the House that has the White House’s blessing). Here’s why getting to 218 is a challenge: Looking at the just-completed election, 205 House Republican incumbents ran in general-election races, and 190 of them (93%) won. What’s more, 117 of these House Republicans (so 66%) won by getting 60% or more of the vote. Put it another way, House Republicans were elected by a different electorate than we saw in the presidential and key Senate contests of 2012. And this makes getting them to sign on to higher tax rates or even just more revenue a challenge. Boehner may end up being comfortable going to floor with less than a majority of the majority (100-120 members), but he needs a deal that can get at least 100 Republicans. Yet that will have to include some serious inclusions of entitlement reform. The White House defines “entitlement reform” as Medicare and Medicaid… They do NOT believe Social Security should be included. Is that going to fly with House Republicans? We’ll see. But more importantly, if Medicare means-testing and raising the age to 67 is part of a final deal that raises tax rates and it garners 100-120 House Republicans, can the White House and Nancy Pelosi (or Steny Hoyer) find 100-120 Democrats to join in?

*** Face-saving time? As NBC’s Luke Russert and Andrea Mitchell reported yesterday, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice today will head to Capitol Hill to meet privately with GOP Sens. John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Kelly Ayotte -- who have been Rice’s biggest critics over her initial comments about the September Benghazi attack. Today’s meeting comes after McCain appeared to soften his criticism of Rice, saying on Sunday: "I'd give everyone the benefit of explaining their position and the actions that they took. I'd be glad to have the opportunity to discuss these issues with her." Indeed, today, appears to be an opportunity for both sides -- Rice and her biggest GOP detractors -- to save face as Rice seems to be the front-runner to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. The meeting was requested by Rice, and sources tell NBC News that when she heard McCain’s public comments over the weekend, she decided to take him up on the offer to sit down. If Rice passes this test today with McCain/Graham/Ayotte, then expect her to get the secretary of state nod. She doesn’t have to “win” McCain over, simply assuage him a bit.

*** 2016 Watch, Part 1: The day after New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) filed paperwork to run for re-election next year, a new Quinnipiac poll shows Christie’s approval rating -- post-Hurricane Sandy -- at a whopping 72%. That’s the highest approval rating for a New Jersey governor in the history of the Q-poll. And it shows why it might be risky for Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D) to mount a challenge against Christie, a potential GOP 2016er. Of course a lot can happen in a year, but Christie winning a second term in a blue state could silence many of the Republicans who criticized him for cozying up to Obama after Sandy. Remember, even Romney decided not to seek a second term as Massachusetts governor. And those close to Christie have always believed that Christie won’t have a story to tell Republican primary voters if he can’t convince New Jersey voters to re-elect him.

*** 2016 Watch, Part 2: Also, National Review’s Costa reported yesterday that Jeb Bush was in Washington, to discuss education reform -- but also to meet with top GOP political operatives including Romney pollster Neil Newhouse. “In an interview with NRO, Bush did not rule out a presidential run. ‘I am here to catch up with folks and promote education reform,’ he said, smiling. When asked again whether he will issue a Sherman-type statement about his future, Bush remained coy. ‘We have an alumni group that I like keeping in touch with,’ he said. ‘I’m here to focus on educational reform, and that’s what I’m going to tell people.’” Today, Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education hosts a summit in DC, where Bush (at 8:45 am ET), John Podesta (at 11:30 am) and Condi Rice, among others, (7:30 pm) all speak.

*** Conservative groups try to decapitate Capito’s candidacy: Think the folks over at the National Republican Senatorial Committee experienced a little PTSD after conservative groups began attacking Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R), who yesterday announced she was running for West Virginia senator? In fact, her candidacy wasn’t even a day old before the attacks started. Here was the Club for Growth: “The problem is that Congresswoman Capito’s record looks a whole lot like the establishment candidates who lost this year. Congresswoman Capito has a long record of support of bailouts, pork, and bigger government.” And here was Jim DeMint’s Senate Conservatives Fund: "Congresswoman Capito is not someone we can endorse because her spending record in the House is too liberal." The question confronting Republicans right now: Just weeks after their losses in the November elections, do they place a premium on electability or on ideology? That’s a debate that still hasn’t been settled inside the GOP. Democrats have made a virtue about finding Senate candidates who fit their state and fit their electorates. The Republicans have allowed ideology to trump the “right fits” for a state. Capito is a classic example of a candidate who “fits the state” better than she fits the GOP’s ideology.

*** Special primary set to fill Jackson’s seat: Lastly, the Chicago Tribune reports that Illinois Gov, Pat Quinn (D) set a special primary election for Feb. 26 to begin replacing Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D), who last week announced that he was stepping down from Congress. Quinn also set the special general election to occur on March 19, but the governor is trying to move that up to April 9 to coincide with already-set municipal elections. Roll Call lists some of the Democrats who are eyeing the seat, including Jackson’s wife Sandy, his brothers, and ex-Rep. Debbie Halverson, who actually kicked off her campaign for the seat yesterday.

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*** Tuesday’s “Jansing & Co.” line-up: MSNBC’s Chris Jansing interviews USA Today’s Susan Page, Huffington Post’s Ryan Grim, and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (to discuss the fiscal cliff); Amy Kremer (on the future of the Tea Party); Robert Traynham and Blake Zeff (on the Susan Rice meeting); Rep. Rick Nolan (on returning to Congress after 30 years); and NBC’s Martin Fletcher (on the exhumation of Yasser Arafat).

*** Tuesday’s “MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts” line-up: MSNBC’S Thomas Roberts interviews Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Casey Pick with the Log Cabin Republicans.  Today’s Power Panel includes:  Washington Post Columnist Jonathan Capehart, Republican Strategist Susan Del Percio and Democratic Strategist Doug Thornell.

*** Tuesday’s “NOW with Alex Wagner” line-up: Alex Wagner’s guests include New York Magazine’s Benjamin Wallace-Wells, Mother Jones Washington Bureau Chief David Corn, msnbc.com Executive Editor Richard Wolffe, theGrio.com Managing Editor Joy Reid, U. of Michigan economics professor Justin Wolfers, and Telemundo anchor Jose Diaz-Balart

*** Tuesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews former Ambassador Nicholas Burns, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) and the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza.

*** Tuesday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: MSNBC’s Tamron Hall interviews The Atlantic’s Molly Ball, Dem strategist Jimmy Williams, Michael Smerconish and Fmr. State Dept. officer Joel Rubin.

The AP: “President Barack Obama plans to make a public case this week for his strategy for dealing with the looming fiscal cliff, traveling to the Philadelphia suburbs Friday as he pressures Republicans to allow tax increases on the wealthy while extending tax cuts for families earning $250,000 or less. The White House said Tuesday that the president intends to hold a series of events to build support for his approach to avoid across-the-board tax increases and steep spending cuts in defense and domestic programs. Obama will meet with small business owners at the White House on Tuesday and with middle-class families on Wednesday.”

USA Today: “Obama hits 'fiscal cliff' campaign trail.” Today, he meets with small business owners at the White House; on Wednesday, he holds an event at the White House with “middle-class Americans” who could be affected by higher taxes and hosts another “meeting with business leaders” at the White House; on Friday, he stops at a toy manufacturer in Hatfield, PA.

“The president's top economic adviser on Monday said Obama still believes the expiring payroll tax cut should be a part of broader fiscal talks, suggesting that an issue that some believed was settled months ago could see new life,” National Journal reports.

Hands off my Medicare (and Medicaid and Social Security)… The New York Times: “President Obama’s re-election and Democratic gains in Congress were supposed to make it easier for the party to strike a deal with Republicans to resolve the year-end fiscal crisis by providing new leverage. But they could also make it harder as empowered Democrats, including some elected on liberal platforms, resist significant changes in entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare.”

“President Obama practices some hemispheric diplomacy Tuesday, meeting with the incoming president of Mexico and taking about a major U.S. domestic issue: Immigration,” USA Today writes. “President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto stops by the White House late this afternoon.”

“With congressional opposition softening, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice could find her name in contention as early as this week to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state,” AP writes. “It’s a step that may signal greater U.S. willingness to intervene in world crises during President Barack Obama’s second term. As Obama nears a decision on who should be the country’s next top diplomat, Rice has emerged as the clear front-runner on a short list of candidates.”

“Americans are giving the White House low marks for how it's handled the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, and the resignation of former CIA Director David Petraeus, according to a new national survey. But according to a CNN/ORC International poll released Tuesday, a majority of the public doesn't believe the Obama administration intentionally tried to mislead Americans on the September attack that left the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans dead. And the survey also indicates a plurality have a positive opinion of Petraeus and are divided on whether the former top U.S. should have resigned as CIA director after acknowledging an extra-marital affair.”

“Despite the dire consequences Congress appeared to be in all too familiar territory — deadlocked,” the New York Daily News writes, quoting Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell from a floor speech: “We remain at an impasse.”

More: “The red line separating Democrats and Republicans was President Obama’s insistence any deal must allow for the year-end expiration of Bush-era tax cuts on Americans making $250,000 or more. GOPers have refused to hike taxes on the top earners, but are open to increasing revenue by capping tax deductions and closing loopholes.”

“Anyone interested in avoiding a tumble over the fiscal cliff at the end of the year - and that includes everyone from Wall Street stock traders to Main Street businessmen concerned about a double-dip recession - may want to take note of the news out of Washington the past few days,” the Boston Globe’s Johnson writes. “It didn’t come from negotiation principals like President Obama or House Speaker John Boehner, but rather rank-and-file members of Congress. Members of both the House and Senate said simply that the Emperor has no clothes on. And that emperor is Grover Norquist.”

The AP: “It’s quite an about-face for senior members of a party that long has stood firmly against almost any notion of tax increases. And while GOP leaders insist they still don’t want to see taxes go up, the reality of a nation in a debt crisis is forcing some to moderate their opposition to any movement on how much Americans pay to fund their government.”

“A British newspaper is reporting that police in New York are investigating how confidential records - including information about a Mitt Romney motorcade route - ended up in confetti that showered down on the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade,” the Boston Globe writes.

Scott DesJarlais (R-TN) says he has no plans to step down from Congress despite revelations of multiple affairs and urging a former sexual partner to get an abortion. He told the Knoxville News Sentinel last week: "I am human. I don't think I ever put myself out there to be somebody that was perfect. I put myself out there as somebody who wanted to serve the public… "I will serve as long as the people want me to serve."

Charlie Cook lays out the 2014 Senate landscape.

GEORGIA: Karen Handel is thinking about running for the U.S. Senate and challenge incumbent Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

ILLINOIS: There will be a special primary election to replace resigned Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. Feb. 26, the Chicago Tribune reports. The general election will be March 19, but could be pushed back to April 9 when other municipal elections are scheduled to be held. But it is outside the mandated window of a special election taking place 115 days after when a vacancy occurs.’

NEW JERSEY: “New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has filed papers to seek re-election next year, while enjoying a popularity surge due to his hands-on response to Superstorm Sandy, the worst natural disaster in state history,” AP writes

“Just hours after Gov. Chris Christie announced he’s running or re-election, a new poll shows a strong majority of New Jersey voters are behind him,” the New Jersey Star-Ledger writes. “The Rutgers-Eagleton poll of 1,108 registered voters shows 59 percent support re-election for Christie while 32 percent oppose.” Christie leads Cory Booker 53-34% in the poll.

A Quinnipiac poll shows Christie’s approval up to 72% in the aftermath of Sandy with 95% thinking he did an “excellent” or “good” job handling the superstorm.