Independent Nation gives you the day’s 5 essential reads for independents and centrists:
1. “Will the Second-Term Quicksand Swallow Barack Obama?” at The Daily Beast.Presidencies are not fine wines, and rarely improve with age, writes John Avlon.
2. “Team of Rivals,” at The Daily Beast.With staggering amounts of recovery aid on the line, will the Christie-Cuomo bromance hold? David Freedlander reports.
3. “A Morning-After Constitutional,” at The Economist.Will congressmen and women who fought off dark money move to regulate it?
4. “Bring on the Fiscal Cliff,” at The Daily Beast.Bring it on, says Megan McArdle.
5. “What Karl Rove Got Right,” at Businessweek.Will the Republicans crawl back to Rove? Maybe they should.
Send stories for the Independent Rundown to matt.deluca@newsweekdailybeast.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DeLucaMattS.