The leader of the Federal Election Commission, the agency charged with regulating the way political money is raised and spent, says she has largely given up hope of reining in abuses in the 2016 presidential campaign, which could generate a record $10 billion in spending.

“The likelihood of the laws being enforced is slim,” Ann M. Ravel, the chairwoman, said in an interview. “I never want to give up, but I’m not under any illusions. People think the F.E.C. is dysfunctional. It’s worse than dysfunctional.”

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney called Sen. John McCain on Tuesday to discuss his interest in running for the presidency, the Arizona Republican said Tuesday.

“He told me that he’s seriously considering it, and we discussed issues and friendships and things like that,” Mr. McCain, the Republican Party’s 2008 presidential nominee, told reporters. “We had a long conversation. We’re very good friends.”

Mr. McCain said he was “open” to supporting Mr. Romney, who last week told a group of donors he was considering a run for the White House in 2016.

Mitt Romney is calling former aides, donors and supporters from his 2012 campaign as he weighs launching a third presidential bid, a senior Romney aide told Fox News -- as the former Massachusetts governor also considers speaking at a Republican Party summit this week in California.

The developments, which follow the 2012 GOP presidential nominee telling donors last week he's considering a 2016 bid, show him inching ever-closer to a decision.

The latest signs that Mitt Romney is likely to run for president in 2016 may come as welcome news to former aides and supporters, many of whom received phone calls from the former Massachusetts governor this weekend.

But the prospect of another Romney campaign failed to capture the hearts of social and fiscal conservatives gathered this week in the nation's capital to hammer out the policy agenda for the new Republican-controlled Congress.

“Mitt,” the documentary about Mitt Romney’s failed quest for the presidency, begins on Christmas Eve 2006, with Mr. Romney, his wife, Ann, and their five sons sitting in their Park City house, weighing the pros and cons of a Romney candidacy.

“I feel like if people really get to know who you are,” said Craig Romney, the youngest of the brood at 25 then, “it could be a successful campaign.”

President Barack Obama's closest advisers secretly considered replacing Vice President Joe Biden with Hillary Clinton in 2012, according to the New York Times.

Responding to questions about Hillary Clinton being considered to replace Joe Biden on the 2012 ticket, Jay Carney said that while the campaign may have tested that possibility, the President never considered giving his vice president the boot.

His infamous 47 percent remarks were taken out of context, Mitt Romney told The Washington Post's Dan Balz in an interview published Sunday.

Asked about the oft-cited quote that 47 percent of Americans can't be persuaded to take personal responsibility, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee said, "Actually, I didn't say that ...That's how it began to be perceived, and so I had to ultimately respond to the perception, because perception is reality."

No presidential campaign is perfect, Ann Romney admitted Thursday - even her husband's bid for the White House in 2012.

Speaking solo for the first time since November's election loss, Romney said on CBS she had no personal regrets from last year's effort, but conceded there were things everyone would have liked to do differently.

A new Census Bureau report provides more evidence that the changing demographics of the United States are having a deep impact at the voting booth.

The report on the 2012 election found that for the first time on record, black voters turned out to the presidential polls at a higher rate than whites. More than 66% of eligible blacks voted in the presidential contest that pit President Barack Obama against Republican nominee Mitt Romney. Only 64.1% of whites turned out to vote.