Barack Obama considered former Defense Secretary Robert Gates as his running mate in 2008, Stars and Stripes reports.

Gates says in his new memoir, Duty, that he received a call from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) in 2008 about the position, and answered several questions about his public stance on abortion and a few other issues.

Writes Gates: “It took a lot of willpower for me to keep from bursting out laughing. I couldn’t figure out if he was serious, if it was just idle flattery, or if he was delusional … I never told anyone, in part because I didn’t think they would believe me.”

Rep. George Miller (D-CA) is stepping down at the end of this year after four decades in Congress, Politico reports.

“Miller’s decision is a personal loss for Pelosi and is sure to be seen as a blow to Democrats. But Miller said his retirement has everything to do with having reached the 40-year mark in Congress and is no reflection on his party’s chances of regaining power in the House in November.”

Roll Call: “California’s 11th District is safe Democratic territory. President Barack Obama won here by a 38-point margin in 2012.”

The Washington Post compiles a list of people whom Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is a “great admirer.”

Donald Trump told Fox News there’s a 50-50 chance he’ll run for governor of New York.

Said Trump: “A group of people, a great group, a big group of people, over 50 just came in to my office and I was very honored by it. As you know, the state of New York is doing very, very poorly. Tremendous unemployment. Tremendous. And the highest taxes in the United States. So, they are talking to me. And I have given them certain ideas and certain parameters. And we will see what happens. But certainly it’s something I’m considering and I will make a decision pretty much by the end of the month or early February.”

“I’m not even sure if she still lives in the state.”

— Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK), in a Huffington Post interview, saying he has “no worry or fear” of Sarah Palin challenging him in the U.S. Senate race, adding, “I’m not sure she even knows what’s going on.”

New documents released to the Wall Street Journal “indicate that meetings arranged between top commissioners to Gov. Chris Christie and Jersey City mayor Steve Fulop were abruptly canceled without reason last year–providing evidence of Mr. Fulop’s claim that he was cut off after he decided not to endorse the governor.”

“The documents don’t indicate why the meetings were scrapped, but Mr. Fulop has said that he was punished for declining to endorse the governor. Mr. Christie attended the Democrat’s inauguration in Jersey City in July, and Mr. Fulop’s advisers had considered endorsing Mr. Christie, but ultimately didn’t.”

Jeff Zeleny: “It’s another buckle-your-seatbelt kind of week for Gov. Chris Christie. The around-the-clock analysis of his political future shows little sign of easing”

Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) “is facing heat back at home for using taxpayer dollars to pay for staff lunches while criticizing school-lunch programs for poor students,” The Hill reports.

“Kingston, who’s running for the Senate, stirred controversy in December for suggesting there ‘should be no such thing as a free lunch’ for poor children who receive federally-funded lunches at school, suggesting they ‘sweep the floor in the cafeteria’ in exchange for the food.”

Now, WSAV has found that Kingston’s staff “spent $4,200 of taxpayer money on free lunches in the last three years and $4,300 from outside groups, not counting expenses incurred on international trips.”