The New York Times notes that resolving the European debt crisis could very well be the issue that determines whether or not President Obama gets re-elected. “The American economy has shown signs of life recently, with talk of a double-dip recession fading and job growth picking up. The change has raised the prospect that the economy may not be quite the political weight around Mr. Obama’s neck in 2012 that his advisers had feared — unless Europe goes downhill. Mr. Obama’s aides realize that there is no easy way to plan a re-election strategy for one potential body blow: an implosion of the European currency. Such an event, experts say, would undoubtedly send the American unemployment rate higher and possibly induce another recession. Other than lobbying from the sidelines, Mr. Obama and his administration have little control over the situation.”

“The Obama administration stunned women’s health advocates and abortion opponents alike Wednesday by rejecting a request to let anyone of any age buy the controversial morning-after pill Plan B directly off drugstore and supermarket shelves,” the Washington Post says. “For what the Food and Drug Administration thinks is the first time, the Department of Health and Human Services overruled the agency, vetoing the FDA’s decision to make the contraceptive available without any restrictions. Revealing a rare public split, FDA Administrator Margaret A. Hamburg said her conclusion that the drug could be used safely by women of all ages was nullified by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.”

The Times is the latest to mention how Obama’s re-election team is now taking Newt Gingrich seriously. “Several Democrats said they were also trying to view Mr. Gingrich through a fresh lens, and in particular, trying to understand the dynamics behind his appeal to this electorate. It was once a unanimous sentiment inside the White House that Mr. Romney would be the strongest Republican to run against, particularly because of his well-financed operation and his potential reach among independent voters and women.”

More: “While most advisers still maintain that Mr. Romney has significant advantages — organization, discipline and support of the Republican establishment — Democrats pointed to at least two areas that could make Mr. Gingrich a more difficult candidate to face. First, he could be more difficult to brand as hostile to the middle class, because Mr. Gingrich does not have a history of buying and selling companies as Mr. Romney does from his time at Bain Capital. Second, Mr. Gingrich has a better record of reaching out to Hispanic voters, the fastest-growing segment of the electorate.”

A day after Republicans took whacks at President Obama at the Republican Jewish Coalition, he will host a Hanukkah reception at the White House.

The New York Times on Obama’s speech in Kansas yesterday: “Laying out a populist argument for his re-election next year, President Obama ventured into the conservative heartland on Tuesday to deliver his most pointed appeal yet for a strong governmental role through tax and regulation to level the economic playing field.” More: “The new tack reflected a decision by the White House and the president’s campaign aides that — with the economic recovery still lagging and Republicans in Congress continuing to oppose the president’s jobs proposals — the best course for Mr. Obama is to try to present himself as the defender of working-class Americans and Republicans as defenders of a small elite.”

The Washington Post on Obama’s speech today in Kansas: “Obama will speak in Osawatomie, Kan., the same Midwestern town where, 101 years ago, Theodore Roosevelt gave a famous address trumpeting a new progressive agenda. By arguing that every American deserves ‘a fair shot and a fair shake,’ White House aides said, Obama will echo Roosevelt’s speech laying out his New Nationalism philosophy. Roosevelt was calling for a government that ensures that the welfare of ordinary residents trumps that of businesses and special interests. ]\It’s an argument that builds on Obama’s jobs tour, in which he has attempted to cast himself as a champion of the middle class and accused Republicans of working only to protect the interests of the wealthy.”

“President Barack Obama and his Republican opponents are clashing over U.S. policy toward Israel as each side jockeys for support from Jewish voters, who could be critical in the 2012 election,” the AP writes. “Aiming to cast Obama as unfairly harsh toward Israel and soft on the Palestinians, Republican presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich have called on the president to fire his ambassador to Belgium.”

More: “The fiery debate will probably continue Wednesday when the GOP presidential candidates attend a Washington forum hosted by the Republican Jewish Coalition. Obama campaign officials say they will be ready to respond. And the next day, Jewish leaders will be at the White House for briefings on Israel and a Hanukkah party, followed by an Obama speech next week to an expected audience of nearly 6,000 at a conference of the Union for Reform Judaism.”

“Even as Jon Corzine’s MF Global was collapsing, a firm that includes former President Bill Clinton in a senior post was raking in huge fees for public-relations and financial advice from the ill-fated brokerage, The [New York] Post has learned. Clinton’s office insists the former president did not profit from the relationship between MF Global and Teneo Holdings, where he is chairman of the advisory board. But Teneo, on whose advisory board former British Prime Minister Tony Blair also sits, was paid $125,000 a month for at least five months in one of MF’s biggest consulting arrangements, according to sources at the brokerage house.”

“One trip, two money pitches. President Barack Obama wants more money in the pockets of U.S. workers -- and in his campaign treasury,” the AP writes. “With both goals in mind, the president was to travel Wednesday to swing-state Pennsylvania to press his case for a bigger temporary payroll tax cut that will boost paychecks. He then will descend on donor-rich New York City to raise money for his already flush re-election bid.”

More: “In New York, Obama will attend three fundraisers: one at a private residence where tickets begin at $10,000; one at the Greenwich Village restaurant Gotham Bar and Grill at $35,800 per ticket; and a reception at the Sheraton Hotel, where tickets begin at $1,000. The money will be split between the Democratic National Committee and the Obama re-election campaign.”

“Republicans are maneuvering to short-circuit an effort by Democrats on the National Labor Relations Board to approve rules that would quicken the pace of union elections,” the AP says. “The GOP member of the labor board is threatening to resign his post, which would deny the board a quorum and quash the entire process. At the same time, the House is poised Wednesday to approve a GOP bill aimed at short-circuiting moves they consider anti-business.”

“The Obama administration offered tempered praise this week as millions of Egyptians cast ballots in an election likely to be the country's freest and fairest ever -- a vote the U.S. insisted go forward despite objections by pro-democracy street protesters,” AP writes.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton embarks on an historic trip to Myanmar (also called Burma) this week, the first time a secretary of state will visit the isolated country in more than 50 years, NBC’s Kristen Welker reports. She will also meet for the first time with Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Laureate who had been a political prisoner in Myanmar for 15 of the last 22 years until she was freed last year.

On November 18, Welker notes, President Obama announced he was sending Clinton to Myanmar, saying that he had seen “flickers of progress” in the country which has been governed by military rule for half a century. “President Thein Sein and the Burmese Parliament have taken important steps on the path toward reform,” Obama said while in Bali, Indonesia. “A dialogue between the government and Aung San Suu Kyi has begun. The government has released some political prisoners. Media restrictions have been relaxed.  And legislation has been approved that could open the political environment.” 

Still the trip is a potential foreign policy risk, Welker observes. On the one hand, the United States could help the country usher in a new era of open government while loosening China’s influence in the region.  But Myanmar still has a long way to go -- it currently holds a number of political prisoners and has been heavily criticized for its treatment of minorities and its relationship with North Korea. GOP Sen. Richard Lugar released a statement saying that Myanmar’s relationship with North Korea should be closely scrutinized.  “North Korea is believed to be continuing development of its nuclear, biological and chemical weapons program…over five years ago, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was informed…of Burma’s reported intention to develop nuclear weapons in coordination with North Korea” Lugar said.   For years the United States has imposed a number of sanctions against the country and there is almost no chance that this trip will lead to a loosening of those sanctions.

“Michelle Obama yesterday got a mixed reception at NASCAR’s season finale in Homestead, Fla. — where the drivers applauded her, but the crowd booed,” the New York Post writes. She was there with Vice President Joe Biden’s wife, Jill, to honor the military. They got a standing ovation when Obama told the drivers in a prerace speech that NASCAR has been ‘amazing in terms of its support, not just today but every day, for military families.’ But later, when the first lady announced to the drivers, ‘Gentlemen, start your engines,’ fans booed.”

The Hill also picks up on it: “First Lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, were booed Sunday as they served as ceremonial Grand Marshals before the start of the Ford 400 NASCAR race at the Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida. The pair was at the NASCAR event to promote the Joining Forces initiative, a program championed by the First Lady to help veterans returning home from wars in the Middle East.”

“On Wednesday, Mr. Obama announced that the United States planned to deploy 2,500 Marines in Australia to shore up alliances in Asia, but the move prompted a sharp response from Beijing, which accused Mr. Obama of escalating military tensions in the region,” the New York Times says. “The agreement with Australia amounts to the first long-term expansion of the American military’s presence in the Pacific since the end of the Vietnam War. It comes despite budget cuts facing the Pentagon and an increasingly worried reaction from Chinese leaders, who have argued that the United States is seeking to encircle China militarily and economically.”

The Washington Post adds, "The expanded partnership is the first step in the Obama administration’s foreign policy shift away from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which the U.S. is winding down, to economic growth and security in the Asia Pacific region."

The New York Times suggests that politics and President Obama’s re-election effort played a major role in the administration rejecting a proposal to tighten smog standards. “The full retreat on the smog standard was the first and most important environmental decision of the presidential campaign season that is now fully under way. An examination of that decision, based on interviews with lobbyists on both sides, former officials and policy makers at the upper reaches of the White House and the E.P.A., illustrates the new calculus on political and policy shifts as the White House sharpens its focus on the president’s re-election.”

U.S. debt has now surpassed $15 trillion, NBC’s Frank Thorp reports.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s motorcade was hit with paint in Manila. “The protesters oppose a 12-year-old voluntary forces agreement between the U.S. and the Philippines,” the New York Daily News says. “The agreement exempts U.S. military personnel charged with committing crimes in the Philippines from prosecution under Filipino law.”

President Obama is heading to New Hampshire Tuesday to pitch his jobs bill, the Boston Globe reports.

News of the visit comes on the same day Bloomberg releases a New Hampshire poll showing Mitt Romney leading Obama by 10 points.

The Wall Street Journal: “The Supreme Court agreed Monday to review President Barack Obama's health-care overhaul, in a landmark case that could define not only Mr. Obama's presidency but the scope of federal power well into the 21st century.”

The New York Times notes how some young college students aren’t as enthusiastic about supporting Obama in 2012.

“The announcement … by the Obama administration delaying a final decision on the Keystone XL pipeline until after the 2012 elections gets President Barack Obama out of a jam that pitted two key constituencies for him, labor unions and environmentalists, against each other, but it received an immediate rebuke from the GOP,” Roll Call writes. “Obama portrayed the decision as one guided by health and safety… But the GOP — and business leaders — pounced.” House Speaker Boehner: “More than 20,000 new American jobs have just been sacrificed in the name of political expediency.”

“Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said he intends to press for ‘full accountability’ of those Air Force personnel involved in the mismanagement of fallen U.S. soldiers’ remains,” The Hill writes, adding, “The White House had balked at the subpoena, arguing it is too broad. White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler told committee lawmakers that she would provide documents if Republicans narrowed their request.”

“The White House agreed Thursday to provide House lawmakers with internal communications related to the $535 million Solyndra loan guarantee, Republicans said,” The Hill writes.

Reggie Love, President Obama’s body man, is leaving the White House.

Here’s our take on the new NBC/WSJ poll: “One year out before President Barack Obama faces voters in his bid for re-election, he encounters an American public that remains deeply pessimistic about the state of the country and its economy… Nearly three-quarters of respondents believe the nation is headed in the wrong direction; just 25 percent think the U.S. economy will improve in the next 12 months; and a solid majority says the country is experiencing the start of a long-term decline.” 

More: “Yet despite those views, Obama continues to run ahead of the Republican presidential front-runners in hypothetical general-election match ups — leading former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney by six points and former businessman Herman Cain by 15 points.”

Here’s the Wall Street Journal’s take: The poll “has found an electorate that is convinced the country's economic structures favor an affluent elite and is still deeply torn as to whether President Barack Obama or any of his leading Republican rivals can pull the nation out of decline.”

Open-mic night: “During the three minutes of conversation broadcasted to present reporters and politicians, Obama first criticized Sarkozy for backing the Palestinian bid for statehood in Unesco, and later Sarkozy let his personal dislike for Netanyahu out of the bag,” the New York Daily News writes. “‘I cannot stand him. He's a liar,’ Sarkozy was clearly heard saying. Obama's quick retort wasn't flattering, either. ‘You're fed up with him, but I have to deal with him every day!’ Obama said.

“The White House is not expected to comply with a subpoena issued by House Republicans for documents related to the $535 million loan guarantee to the failed solar firm Solyndra,” The Hill reports.

“Attorney General Eric Holder says an investigation of arms traffickers called Operation Fast and Furious was flawed in concept as well as in execution, never should have happened and ‘it must never happen again,’” AP reports.

Here’s our take on the new NBC/WSJ poll: “One year out before President Barack Obama faces voters in his bid for re-election, he encounters an American public that remains deeply pessimistic about the state of the country and its economy… Nearly three-quarters of respondents believe the nation is headed in the wrong direction; just 25 percent think the U.S. economy will improve in the next 12 months; and a solid majority says the country is experiencing the start of a long-term decline.” 

More: “Yet despite those views, Obama continues to run ahead of the Republican presidential front-runners in hypothetical general-election match ups — leading former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney by six points and former businessman Herman Cain by 15 points.”

Here’s the Wall Street Journal’s take: The poll “has found an electorate that is convinced the country's economic structures favor an affluent elite and is still deeply torn as to whether President Barack Obama or any of his leading Republican rivals can pull the nation out of decline.”

Open-mic night: “During the three minutes of conversation broadcasted to present reporters and politicians, Obama first criticized Sarkozy for backing the Palestinian bid for statehood in Unesco, and later Sarkozy let his personal dislike for Netanyahu out of the bag,” the New York Daily News writes. “‘I cannot stand him. He's a liar,’ Sarkozy was clearly heard saying. Obama's quick retort wasn't flattering, either. ‘You're fed up with him, but I have to deal with him every day!’ Obama said.

“The White House is not expected to comply with a subpoena issued by House Republicans for documents related to the $535 million loan guarantee to the failed solar firm Solyndra,” The Hill reports.

“Attorney General Eric Holder says an investigation of arms traffickers called Operation Fast and Furious was flawed in concept as well as in execution, never should have happened and ‘it must never happen again,’” AP reports.