Allen West Loses, Grover Norquist on Obama’s ‘Poopy Head’ Strategy, and More

State of Flux:

There’s speculation that Jon Huntsman could replace Hillary Clinton as the next secretary of state. Hunstman, a Republican, previously served in the Obama administration as its ambassador to China. The early favorite, Sen. John Kerry, could get passed over because of Democrats’ fears that Republican Scott Brown, who lost to Elizabeth Warren in the Massachusetts Senate race, could win in a special election for Kerry’s seat. (Read more)

West End: It’s official: Tea party favorite Allen West has lost his congressional race, but is refusing to concede. According to Florida results that were released over the weekend, Democrat Patrick Murphy defeated West by more than 2,400 votes, which is beyond the half-point margin needed to mandate a recount. (Read more)

Trailblazers: 2012 has been a year of election firsts. In Wisconsin, Democrat Tammy Baldwin won her race to become the first openly gay person elected to the Senate. In California, Democrat Mark Takano became the first openly gay minority to be elected to Congress. And on Monday, Democrat Kyrsten Sinema was declared the winner of her Arizona race, which will make her the first openly bisexual member of Congress. (Read more)

Another Run Brewing: Arizona Republican Gov. Jan Brewer says she hasn’t ruled out seeking a third term in office, even if it means challenging state law to do so. Arizona law stipulates that the governor can serve only two consecutive terms. Brewer took over for Janet Napolitano when the Democrat left the job to become secretary of homeland security in 2009. As her former attorney Joe Kanefield explained, Brewer’s ability to run depends on whether “term” applies to a governor who inherited the office. (Read more)

Head Honcho: Grover Norquist, founder of Americans for Tax Reform, has his own theory on why Mitt Romney lost the election. Let’s call it the “Poopy Head Theory.” Here’s how Norquist eloquently explained it on CBS’ “This Morning” on Monday: “The president was elected on the basis that he was not Romney and that Romney was a poopy head and you should vote against Romney.” By the way, Norquist is the man behind the no tax pledge that has been signed by most congressional Republicans. (Read more)

Video of the Day: Months before she was identified as the woman having an affair with David Petraeus, Paula Broadwell appeared on “The Daily Show” to promote her biography of the now ex-CIA director. Among the things she joked with Jon Stewart about was how scandal-free Petraeus was. Oh, the irony.