On Friday former Democratic National Committee chairman and Clinton confidant Terry McAuliffe (nicknamed the “Macker” by Republicans) announced that he is running for governor.

The Republican Governors Association could hardly believe its good fortune. Its spokesman sent out an e-mail blast that included this: “The [Democratic Governors Association] . . . sent out an — we think unintentionally hilarious — statement saying Terry has ‘has a proven record of . . . working across the aisle in the Commonwealth.’ Let’s get real: Terry McAuliffe has never held elected office (despite flirting with gubernatorial runs in New York and Florida) and he doesn’t have any record of working across the aisle in Virginia. In fact, his limited political experience in the Commonwealth consists almost exclusively of raising money to defeat Republicans!”

Other Republicans in the Commonwealth were likewise relieved that former governor and now Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) would apparently not be running for the slot. A Republican insider in Richmond e-mailed me, “Warner can have the Democratic gubernatorial nod with a snap of his fingers. The fact that Macker says he’s in means they’ve talked and Warner has passed.” As for whether current Lt. Gov. Bob Bolling or state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli can beat McAuliffe remains to be seen. Nevertheless, whoever wins the nomination (to be decided at a state convention) will have a running start. The Virginia Republican said bluntly, “McAuliffe has major, major problems in Virginia.”

In fact, McAuliffe ran a spectacularly unsuccessfully primary race in 2009, spending an unprecedented $7.5 million to lose badly to Creigh Deeds, who went on to lose by 17 percent.

It is the nature of the 24/7 news media cycle that the 2012 election already seems a long time ago. Since then we’ve had much excuse mongering by the Mitt Romney team (It was Sandy! They ran mean ads against us in Spanish!); opening offers from Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) on the fiscal cliff and immigration reform; a presidential statement (no traditional after-election press conference, surely a sign that Obama has learned that he can ignore mainstream media with impunity); and the resignation of Gen. David Petraeus over an affair (conveniently wedged between the election and his now-postponed testimony on Benghazi). In short, events move fast, and the political debate shifts frenetically whether we are in an election year or not.

In the GOP weekly radio address Boehner recapped where we stand on a potential grand bargain:

Instead of raising tax rates on the American people and accepting the damage it will do to our economy, let’s start to actually solve the problem.

Let’s focus on tax reform that closes special interest loopholes and lowers tax rates.

Instead of accepting arbitrary cuts that will endanger our national defense, let’s get serious about shoring up the entitlement programs that are the primary drivers of our country’s massive, growing debt. 2013 should be the year to begin to solve our debt through tax reform and entitlement reform.

Together, we should avert the fiscal cliff in a manner that ensures that 2013 finally is that year.

Shoring up entitlements and reforming the tax code — closing special interest loopholes and deductions, and moving to a fairer, cleaner, and simpler system — will bring jobs home and result in a stronger, healthier economy.

A stronger economy means more revenue — which is exactly what the president is seeking. And without a strong economy, we’ll never be able to balance the budget and erase our country’s debt.

The Associated Press reports: “Mali’s authorities have arrested a Frenchman in the west African country who allegedly was trying to join radical Islamists controlling the north. French and Mali officials confirmed Friday that 24-year-old Ibrahim Ouattara was taken into custody there this week and charged in France with trying to reach radicals fighting in another country. Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb is among three extremist groups controlling northern Mali. It’s made up mainly of foreign fighters. Radical Islamists moved into the region after a military coup in March overthrew Mali’s president.” Indeed in late October there were reports that, much like Libya, jihadists had been flooding into the country. AFP reported:

Hundreds of jihadists poured into northern Mali over the weekend to help armed Islamist groups hang on to the territory as the country’s neighbors speeded up efforts to wrest control of the vast desert region from the Al-Qaeda linked militants.

Residents of the cities of Timbuktu and Gao, Malian security officials and Islamist commanders all confirmed that there had been a huge influx of foreign fighters over the past two days.

In sum, AQIM is on the rise throughout the Maghreb, opportunistically teaming up with other groups (like the violent, separatist Polisario) and setting up shop wherever the central government is in disarray. Jihadists have also moved into Syria amid the blood bath there. Al-Qaeda operates in more places and is destabilizing more countries than when President Obama took office in 2009.

What will Obama and his new secretary of state do about this? In the rush to push Benghazi off the front pages and out of oversight hearings we risk ignoring a region-wide phenomenon. The administration did not recognize the jihadist gains in Libya and risks finding itself similarly unprepared in Mali, Syria, the Western Sahara, Yemen and elsewhere. The administration desperately needs to stop avoiding conflicts, stop concealing misjudgment and focus on how to stem the rising tide of al-Qaeda. Without an election perhaps the president will finally get down to business.

What?! “So the GOP stayed with business as usual, conservatives had plenty of practical problems to organize around and deal with — and the rethinking of policy and politics was less bold, less comprehensive, and less heterodox than it might have been. Fresh thinking took a back seat. The critiques of big government liberalism in 1994 and 2010 weren’t followed by equally compelling articulations of the major elements of a governing conservatism.” Perhaps Rep. Paul Ryan’s efforts went unnoticed.

When? Time to get moving. “I think the obvious place to start is with immigration reform. Increase the number of visas available. Explore guest-worker programs. Establish a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who were brought here as children and have never known any other home. This not only gives the GOP a shot at the Latino vote, but also softens their image in the eyes of the professional class, who might be willing to give the party another look if it didn’t seem so committed to deporting poorer, darker skinned people who just want a shot at picking fruit, trimming lawns, and cleaning houses.” Yes, she has tongue firmly in cheek but there’s wisdom there.

Why was the FBI snooping in CIA chief David Petraeus’s e-mails? This is downright bizarre. “The FBI had no comment, and Gen. Petraeus’ email message dealt solely with the [extramarital] affair itself, without identifying the other party.”

Where are the jobs? “Since the recession ended in June 2009, almost three out of every four jobs added to U.S. payrolls have been in Right to Work states (1.86 million out of 2.59 million), even though those 22 states represent only 38.8% of the U.S. population (120 million). In contrast, only about one of every four new jobs were created in forced-unionism states (730,000), even though more than 61% of Americans live in those 28 states (189 million) . . . . Adjusting for differences in population, Right to Work states created four new jobs for every one job added in forced union states, because those 21 RTW states created 2.54 times more jobs even though forced union states have 1.6 times as many people.”

Will the president and Congress reach a grand bargain? If so, when, and will it include tax rate hikes on the wealthy? Remember all answers must be in by 6 p.m. ET.