From the Pork Barrel: Post-Election Bounce

* Barack Obama's favorability ratings are way up after his win last week, putting him in an excellent position for any major elections that might be coming up in the next few weeks.

* You ever get the feeling that all of life is but a multi-camera sit-com starring loving crank John McCain?

* I think Sen.-elect Ted Cruz might giving us a little bit too much of an inside look at his psyche. Some things are inside thoughts.

* Rep. Allen West has been denied a recount by a circuit judge. However, his petition to change the rules of mathematics is still being considered.

* I can't believe Williamsburg is jumping on the secession bandwagon like this. What will become of its hipster cred?

* Download our free iPhone and iPad app Indecision Election Companion and jump up into the the Peanut Gallery — our liveblog/instant reaction arena — to watch and respond as Sen. Lindsey Graham discusses Benghazi and David Petraeus on NBC's Meet the Press this Sunday at 10:30 am.

Photo by Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images

Tags: Allen West, Barack Obama, Florida, House of Representatives, John McCain, Polls, Pork Barrel, Senate, Ted Cruz

RNC Day 1: The Speeches by the Numbers

First, a number of Republican gave speeches. Then, Chris Christie gave the same speech, but louder, and while imagining the audience as a bunch of unionized school teachers in their underwear (because he had taken their pants, alongside their lunch money). The day drew to a close with a performance by Three Doors Down, because torture is still a part of the GOP platform.

Here's what else you may have missed from all the evening's events…

Number of times Chris Christie mentioned Mitt Romney: 7

Number of times Christie mentioned himself: 37

Number of Republicans besides Christie who are happy about this: 0.

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Tags: Chris Christie, John Boehner, Kelly Ayotte, Marsha Blackburn, Reince Priebus, Republican National Convention, Rick Santorum, Ted Cruz

Welcome Ted Cruz, Your Newest Tea Party Senator

Ted Cruz, a conservative Texas attorney and Hispanic Bill Murray imitator, defeated Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst in the Republican primary runoff to replace the retiring Kay Bailey Hutchison, who was a far saner senator for far longer than Texans had a right to expect. Cruz received 56 percent of the vote to Dewhurst's 44 percent and is going to be our newest Tea Party aligned senator, barring a meteor strike that levels everything except San Antonio and Austin.

As Dave Weigel and others have noted, Cruz's success has many fathers — to date, the only negative consequence of same-sex marriage anyone has uncovered. The Club for Growth provided millions in financing, while Senator Jim DeMint threw his support to Cruz last year, as part of a broader effort to ensure that reliably Republican Senate seats are held exclusively by politicians who think the United Nations' Agenda 21 is a communist plot to get rid of golf courses.

Nevertheless, much of the credit for Cruz's victory has to go to Governor Rick Perry, who endorsed Dewhurst…

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Tags: Kay Bailey Hutchison, Rick Perry, Senate, Ted Cruz, Texas