Did Sarah Palin overshadow Mitt Romney on the day he officially announced he would run for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination? While Romney was in New Hampshire, Palin visited Romney's hometown of Thursday and attacked the health care plan he supported as the governor of Massachusetts. Under Romney's plan, residents must purchase health insurance or face penalties.

“In my opinion, any mandate coming from government is not a good thing, obviously and I am not the only to say so, but obviously there will be more explanation coming from Gov. Romney for his support of government mandates,” Palin told reporters during a stop at the Bunker Hill monument along Boston's Freedom Trail.

The former Alaska governor is on the fifth day of her "One Nation" bus tour of historic sites along the East Coast. Palin has remained mum on whether she herself will run for the Republican presidential nomination, but has ignited speculation with planned stops in early primary voting states New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina.

A new national poll of possible Republican presidential nominees shows Romney and Palin ahead of the pack. Romney and Palin are tied for first with 16 percent each. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty finished third with 13 percent, while businessman Herman Cain was fourth with 12 percent. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, former House Speaker, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul tied for fifth with nine percent apiece.

The Public Policy Polling poll, which was released Thursday, is the first national poll to be conducted on the 2012 presidential race since Mike Huckabee and Donald Trump dropped out of the race.

Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert has taken to his own Twitter account to mock New York Rep. Anthony Weiner's non-denial of a Twitter scandal by posting his own "questionable" photos with the hashtag #ivebeenhacked. Weiner, who claimed his Twitter had been hacked, left many puzzled after he said Wednesday that he could not say with "certitude" whether lewd photos posted to his account over the weekend were of him. 

On Thursday, Colbert posted numerous photos with the line "I cannot say with certitude that this is not part of my body." Among the photo's Colbert is unsure about that could possibly be of his body: a tie, an elephant's trunk, part of a lemon and a balloon knot.

Former Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold (D), who lost his Senate seat in last November's election to Ron Johnson, said Thursday he will decide by Labor Day whether to run for the seat currently held by his longtime Senate colleague Herb Kohl (D).

“I am looking at it, but I feel I should take some time to think this through,” he said. “For me the question right now is whether it’s a good idea for me to go back into this sort of life.”

Feingold's name has also been floated as a possible challenger to Gov. Scott Walker in 2014, when the controversial governor's first term is up.