Once again, tragedy has thrust a governor into the spotlight.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) on Tuesday became the leader of a state coping with the first major terrorist attack on American soil since Sept. 11, 2011. Patrick on Monday succinctly and pointedly brushed aside a question from a conspiracy theorist, held a press conference Tuesday announcing that there were no unexploded devices at the scene of the tragedy, and tweeted a picture of him meeting with Boston Marathon staff.

It’s been an excellent week for political dynasties.

George P. Bush, son of former Florida governor Jeb Bush, is running for land commissioner in the Sunshine State. It’s not exactly the most high profile of jobs, but it’s a statewide race (good practice!) and a solid political stepping stone.

It’s been an excellent week for political dynasties.

George P. Bush, son of former Florida governor Jeb Bush, is running for land commissioner in Texas. It’s not exactly the most high-profile of jobs, but it’s a statewide race (good practice!) and a solid political stepping stone.

There might be a Romney on the ticket in Michigan next year. While Mitt Romney's brother Scott has opted out of the race, the former Massachusetts governor's niece is interested.

"Maybe this is a time where we can bring a new voice and get a Republican senator from our state," Ronna Romney McDaniel, Scott Romney's daughter, told the Detroit News Tuesday night.

The news that Intrade, an oft-cited (and much maligned) prediction/gambling Web site, is no more got us to reminiscing about its role in the political game. Rachel Weiner's piece on Intrade -- what it did and what it failed to do -- which originally ran in October 2011 is below. Enjoy!

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and his wife Ann Romney will sit for an interview with "Fox News Sunday" next week, show host Chris Wallace said. It will be Romneys' first interview since the end of the 2012 presidential campaign.

Time in the 2016 Democratic presidential race is rightly understood as "BHD" and "AHD". As in, "Before Hillary's Decision" and "After Hillary's Decision."

That's because how the race plays out depends heavily on what the former New York Senator, First Lady and Secretary of State decides she wants to do with her political future.

Massachusetts state Rep. Dan Winslow (R) has decided to run for the Senate in Massachusetts, he said Thursday. He's the first Republican to officially throw his hat in the ring.

"I'm going to be 100 percent running for the U.S. Senate," Winslow, a former aide to then-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, told the Boston Globe. "This is a heavy lift. I'm going to give this race everything I've got."

Mitt Romney's political career is over, but it didn't take long for the Romney family to be a part of the political dialogue again.

Over the weekend, two Romneys were rumored as candidates for a recruiting hole in the Massachusetts Senate special election: Mitt's wife, Ann Romney, and their eldest son, Tagg Romney. Tagg took himself out of contention Monday afternoon and Ann seems uninterested at the moment.

Roll your eyes if you must -- and we get that some of you must -- but the 2016 campaign for president is already well underway.

Consider the following:

* New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) proposed -- and pushed to passage -- a significant tightening of the Empire State's gun laws this month, the first major legislative result in the wake of the shootings in Newtown, Connecticut late last year.