This column is about four senators who will have extraordinary roles to play in the coming hours and years, and what they tell us about the state of the union as 2012 comes to a close.

If you haven't noticed, this is Mitch McConnell's moment. Only instead of being this century's Henry Clay -- Kentucky's "Great Compromiser" -- McConnell is and wants to be the Bluegrass's "Great Dismantler."

The lesson for Democrats in 2012 was taught by Harry Reid in 2010, who fought back ferociously and obliterated Sharron Angle to be reelected.

During his Senate orientation, Paul said a colleague asked him, "'Will you be a great compromiser?'" Paul said Wednesday that he had pondered the ques...

All politicians and the president should stop talking about compromise as if it's something ideal in all cases. Going into any negotiation intending to meet halfway is foolish in a host of contexts.

Both Boehner and McConnell have deluded themselves into believing they have already triumphed. Health care was to be Obama's Waterloo, but he won that battle. Those he defeated have become Napoleons.

Following Liz Cheney's call to remove the "Al-Qaeda Seven," here's a list of seven additional U.S. officials whose work on behalf of enemies of the state would make them unfit to serve their country.