Updated, 10:27 a.m.

Good Tuesday morning and welcome back to the Starting Lineup. On the radar today: the NRSC courts a Mama Grizzly in Missouri; George Allen takes some friendly fire; the bipartisan White House summit; Pentagon releases "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" report; a federal judge rules against Republican Joe Miller in Alaska (again) and Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) heads to the White House.

Scouting Out Steelman: We noted Monday in the Starting Lineup that former Missouri Sen. Jim Talent (R) will wait until early 2011 to decide whether he will seek a rematch with Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) -- but that he is already sounding an awful lot like a candidate.

But Hotline On Call has learned there are new signs that Talent may not be the GOP's candidate of choice in the race. National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair John Cornyn (R-Texas) reached out to former Missouri Treasurer Sarah Steelman (R) about a Senate campaign before Thanksgiving, according to an NRSC source. In addition to encouraging her to run, Cornyn assured Steelman that the NRSC would stay neutral in a Republican primary between her and Talent.

The Cornyn-Steelman conversation is indicative of a few things. First, it shows that national Republicans aren't completely on board with Talent being their nominee. If the anti-Washington mood carries through to 2012, Talent's work as a lobbyist in 2001 won't help him. Second, the NRSC is showing a newfound interest in Steelman, a Tea Party favorite, who it shunned last year in favor of Roy Blunt. Steelman, who one GOP strategist called "Sarah Palin with an economics degree," could also neutralize Sen. Claire McCaskill's advantage winning over women voters.

The NRSC's courting of Steelman shows it has learned some lessons from last year's contentious primaries. While they worked hard to anoint establishment candidates in 2010 with little success, it now looks like they're working to court a Tea Party favorite early to avoid some of the primary messes (see: Florida, Kentucky, Delaware, Colorado, Nevada).

NRSC spokesman Brian Walsh said that both candidates would be strong contenders -- and that the NRSC isn't picking sides early.

"From the NRSC's perspective there are several potential candidates, including Jim Talent and Sarah Steelman, who could mount a winning campaign against Claire McCaskill," he said. "But any implication that we might side with one over another is incorrect because the nominee will ultimately be chosen by the voters of Missouri." http://bit.ly/gix92c

Virginia Brawl: Meanwhile, it looks like former Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) is taking friendly fire from a potential Republican rival in 2012 - a sign he doesn't have the Republican nomination locked up. Allen hasn't said he is running yet, but he is widely expected to get in the race.

On Monday, Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart (R) launched the opening salvo of what could be his primary challenge to Allen. Appearing on NewsChannel 8, Stewart said he is "very seriously considering" the Senate race and went on to whack Allen in no uncertain terms.

"Sen. Allen was a great governor of Virginia--he really was," Stewart said. "But his record in the United States Senate was mediocre. And I don't think most people in Virginia think of him as a great United States senator. They think of him as a great governor."

Yowza.

Hotline On Call reported earlier in November that Stewart was among those mentioned by Virginia Republicans as a potentially strong Senate candidate...if Allen didn't run. This is the first sign that Allen, who is the preferred candidate of the Virginia Republican establishment, could face a competitive path to the nomination. (Webb, it should be noted, has been unclear about whether he will seek re-election.) Check out the full clip here, via the Washington Post: http://wapo.st/hNc6zL

Summit-ville: The bipartisan summit at the White House has finally arrived, with Pres. Obama getting the jump on the meeting Monday with his proposed two-year pay freeze. Expect Republicans to press the White House on extending the Bush era tax cuts and across the board spending reductions. "If the president and Democratic leaders put forth a plan during the lame duck session to stop all of the tax hikes and cut spending, they can count on a positive response from Republicans," said one GOP leadership aide.

There may be some room for compromise; Obama's proposed pay freeze got rave reviews among Republicans on Monday.

In a Washington Post op-ed Tuesday, however, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and incoming House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) indicated that there are several areas where conflict is to be expected.

The Democrats' "focus for the brief post-election 'lame duck' session is on controversial items such as immigration, a repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell,' more spending and environmental regulations," they wrote. "Indeed, their actual legislative plan for the rest of the lame-duck session is to focus on anything but jobs." http://wapo.st/eex7Ts