Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) on Sunday called the specter of a government shutdown because Congress can't agree to another short-term spending bill "embarrassing" and blamed tea party-affiliated Republicans for the stalemate. 
 
 "Yes, it is embarrassing," Warner said on CNN's "State of the Union." "The Senate is saying, 'Why should we build schools in Iraq on the credit card but expect that rebuilding schools in Joplin, Mo., at this moment in time have to be paid for in a way that's never been in any of the previous disaster assistance that we've done before.'" 
 
 Asked in more explicit terms if the tea party is to blame for the crisis, Warner said: "There is a group, and I do believe it is more centered in the House, in terms of some of these tea party Republicans, who say on every issue, 'We're going to make this a make-or-break.'" 
 
 Appearing on the same program, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) blamed Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) for holding up the bill. 
 
 Reid, Alexander said, "manufactured a crisis all week about disaster aid when there is no crisis." 
 
 "Everybody knows we're going to favor every single penny of disaster relief that the president declared and FEMA certifies," Alexander said. "The House settled for a bill that does that, and the Senate should have approved it." ||||| Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, who considered a White House run himself, says fellow Republicans should forgive Texas Gov. Rick Perry's uneven debate performances as the GOP presidential campaign goes forward. 
 
 "It's way too early to know, or to issue, to pronounce last rites over one performance," Daniels said on CNN's "State of the Union." "There's still many of these [debates], too many maybe. ... I'd cut him some slack and give him a little time." 
 
 Daniels, who is making a round of interviews to push his new book, "Keeping the Republic," also offered some unsolicited praise for Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) for his work earlier this year with the Gang of Six senators who were working to cut spending from the federal budget. 
 
 "It's very encouraging, by the way, to hear a guy like Sen. Warner speak to it as clearly as he just did," Daniels said. "I wish he were president." ||||| Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus mocked President Barack Obama's 2008 election slogan Sunday, arguing it won't pass the smell test with voters in 2012. 
 
 "It sounds like the new slogan is no longer 'hope and change'," Priebus said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "It's, 'Hey, it could've been worse'. Great bumper sticker, Debbie. I hope it works for you." 
 
 Priebus was speaking to his counterpart at the Democratic National Committee, Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who was with him in the joint interview. 
 
 An aggressive Priebus also said Wasserman Schultz's talking points had already been proved false, referring to the recent GOP victory in New York's special House election. 
 
 "This has already been tested in a Democratic district. These talking points have been tested, and they're losing. They're imploding," he said during their animated exchange.
– Mitch Daniels has some advice for those who are writing Rick Perry's political eulogy: Hold your horses. "It's way too early to know, or to issue, to pronounce last rites over one performance," Daniels said today. "There's still many of these (debates), too many maybe. ... I'd cut him some slack and give him a little time." Politico notes that Daniels also had kind words for Democrat Sen. Mark Warner's work on the Gang of Six, saying, "It's very encouraging, by the way, to hear a guy like Sen. Warner speak to it as clearly as he just did. I wish he were president." More fun on your Sunday dial, as per Politico: Michael Bloomberg on President Obama's 2012 chances: "He would be a credible, formidable candidate. You're going to have a real horse race no matter who the Republican nominee is." Reince Priebus to Debbie Wasserman Schultz on 2012: "It sounds like the new slogan is no longer 'hope and change.' It's, 'Hey, it could've been worse.' Great bumper sticker Debbie, I hope it works for you." David Plouffe on a White House shakeup: "I don't expect that." Obama is "confident in his team, in the direction we've laid out here." Warner on Congress' standoff over a short-term spending bill: "It is embarrassing. The Senate is saying, 'Why should we build schools in Iraq on the credit card but expect that rebuilding schools in Joplin, Mo.,'" will be paid for. Warner blames "a group, more centered in the House, in terms of some of these Tea Party Republicans, who say on every issue, 'We're going to make this a make-or-break.'" Lindsey Graham on Pakistan: "We need to put Pakistan on notice. We're going to have to put all options on the table. including defending our troops. It's now a time of choosing, so I hope they choose wisely."