Mitt Romney 2014?

Americans are so down on President Obama at the moment that, if they could do the 2012 election all over again, they'd overwhelmingly back the former Massachusetts governor's bid. That's just one finding in a brutal CNN poll, released Sunday, which shows Romney topping Obama in a re-election rematch by a whopping nine-point margin, 53 percent to 44 percent. That's an even larger spread than CNN found in November, when a survey had Romney winning a redo 49 percent to 45 percent.

Two years ago, Obama won re-election with about 51 percent of the vote.

Of course, the poll should be taken with a grain of salt. While Obama is actually taking on the tough task of leading the nation, Romney is sitting comfortably on the sidelines. Still, the finding comes as foreign and domestic crises have sent Obama's approval rating tumbling back to 40 percent, per Gallup.

Also in the CNN survey, a record-low 46 percent say Obama "shares [their] values," while only 49 percent say he is "sincere in what he says," also a record-low. Jon Terbush

It's no secret that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) doesn't see eye to eye with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the rest of Democratic congressional leadership. But, she told The Intercept in a podcast interview Wednesday, much of her discontent stems from the fact that the caucus' current top crop has been hogging power without "any real grooming of a next generation of leadership."

The congresswoman, referring to both Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), said "a lot of this is not just about these two personalities, but also the structural shifts that these two personalities have led in their time in leadership. The structural shifts of power in the House, both in process and rule, to concentrate power in party leadership of both parties, frankly, but in the Democratic Party leadership to such a degree that an individual member has far less power than they did 30, 40, 50 years ago."

That setup, Ocasio-Cortez continued, winds up driving "the really talented members of Congress that do come along" to run for statewide office or pursue other avenues altogether. Read more at The Intercept. Tim O'Donnell

Twitter is set to crack down on misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines as the first doses begin to go out in the United States.

The social media company said Wednesday that beginning next week, it will be expanding its COVID-19 misinformation policy and "may require people to remove Tweets which advance harmful false or misleading narratives about COVID-19 vaccinations."

This, Twitter said, could include posts "that invoke a deliberate conspiracy" about vaccines, debunked claims about the effects of receiving a vaccine, or false claims that "vaccinations are unnecessary" because "COVID-19 is not real or not serious."

Additionally, starting early next year, Twitter said it may label tweets that "advance unsubstantiated rumors, disputed claims, as well as incomplete or out-of-context information about vaccines." The site previously removed tweets with false or misleading misinformation about "preventative measures, treatments, or other precautions to mitigate" COVID-19, among other false claims.

This move comes after Facebook announced earlier this month that it would be removing false claims about COVID-19 vaccines "that have been debunked by public health experts" both on Facebook and Instagram. On Monday, the first American health care workers began to receive Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine, and a second vaccine could potentially be authorized by the Food and Drug Administration by the end of this week. Twitter said it's updated policy will start being enforced on Dec. 21. Brendan Morrow

Texas is at it again.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton — the leader of the lawsuit that attempted to reverse the 2020 election results — announced Wednesday he was leading coalition of Republican attorneys general in an antitrust lawsuit against Google. The suit, one of several antitrust actions taken against the tech giant, alleges Google has broken the law as it moved to secure its grasp on online advertising technology.

Google makes most of its money from advertising, including selling billions of ad spots on websites across the internet. And because Google had such a big hand in that market to begin with, it has been able to manipulate ad pricing to make more money and secure an even bigger hold on the market, the suit claims. "If the free market were a baseball game, Google positioned itself as the pitcher, the batter and the umpire," Paxton said in a video announcing the suit.

As Politico reported Tuesday, a group of bipartisan attorneys general are also planning to launch an antitrust lawsuit against Google, perhaps as soon as Thursday. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, a Democrat, and Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson, a Republican, will reportedly lead the complain alleging Google redesigned its search engine in a way that hurt rivals. The Department of Justice meanwhile launched an antitrust suit against Google in October, alleging its partnership with Apple was just another attempt to secure its monopoly.

Beyond Paxton's ill-fated election lawsuit, he's also facing allegations of bribery and corruption and may be hoping for a pardon from President Trump. Kathryn Krawczyk

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called off a planned holiday party as he heads into quarantine due to a COVID-19 exposure.

The State Department said Wednesday that Pompeo was "identified as having come into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID," CNBC reports. He tested negative for COVID-19 but will now follow CDC guidelines and quarantine, the department said.

Pompeo has also now canceled his final major holiday party of the year, The Washington Post reports. The State Department reportedly told staff that the party that was set for Wednesday has been canceled, while foreign embassies were told it was postponed "due to unforeseen circumstances." Pompeo skipped a Cabinet meeting with President Trump on Wednesday due to the COVID-19 exposure, as well.

The secretary of state had faced criticism for holding a series of indoor holiday parties despite COVID-19 cases surging in the U.S., although the Post reported this week that only a few dozen people attended an indoor party he hosted on Tuesday, despite more than 900 guests being invited. It wasn't clear, the Post says, whether Wednesday's party was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns or due to the low attendance on Tuesday. Brendan Morrow

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told reporters Wednesday that U.S. officials "are engaged in active negotiations" with Pfizer to purchase more of the company's COVID-19 vaccines, per Politico. The comment seemingly backs up an earlier report from The New York Times, in which anonymous sources familiar with the matter said the same thing.

The Trump administration this summer reportedly turned down an offer to expand on the initial order to buy more than 100 million vaccine doses, and Pfizer went on to strike agreements with other governments, including the European Union. That raised some questions stateside, though it seems the administration was hedging its bets since several other vaccine candidates have appeared promising, as well.

The shot developed by Pfizer and BioNTech was the first rolled out in the U.S., however, and there is widespread confidence in its efficacy and safety, so it seems the White House is working to enhance its supply after all. Read more at Politico. Tim O'Donnell

President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday introduced former South Bend, Indiana, mayor and 2020 candidate Pete Buttigieg as his pick to lead the Department of Transportation. And while Buttigieg acknowledged there's no way he'll beat out Amtrak Joe as the "biggest train enthusiast" in the administration, he did announce that he'll center railroads, climate change, and union jobs if he's confirmed for the job.

Buttigieg, the youngest candidate in the 2020 primary field, had reportedly been clamoring for a big spot in the Biden administration. And on Wednesday, Biden laid out an expansive role for him. "When I think of climate change, I think about jobs, good paying union jobs" focused on repairing and building new roads, bridges, and ports that make it "faster and cleaner" to transport American people and goods, Biden said. Buttigieg similarly promised to lead an infrastructural revolution, so the joke of a never-achieved "infrastructure week" becomes "associated with results."

Those promises are reminiscent of the Green New Deal, which proposes creating thousands of jobs to steer the U.S. into a clean energy economy, though Biden has explicitly said he doesn't back the package.

Buttigieg isn't exactly who climate activists would've liked to see lead the DOT, though Buttigieg's emphasis on climate change is giving some of them hope. Kathryn Krawczyk