Feeling Blue?  —  After the Democratic sweep of Congress, President Bush's approval reaches a new low.  But voters want Democrats to chart a moderate course.  —  Brendan Smialowski / Getty Images  —  Can They Work Together?  Pelosi has 34 percent approval ratings, slightly better than Bush's 31 percent

Not Going To Bite  —  My good friend John Hinderaker links to a CBS report about the latest entertainment coming from al-Qaeda this evening, as do some of our mutual friends in the conservative blogosphere, that hails the Democratic midterm victory as a "reasonable" move.

Democrats Win Bigger Share of Religious Vote  —  Parties Disagree on Why The Gap Has Narrowed  —  As the results of the midterm elections sank in this week, religious leaders across the ideological spectrum found something they could agree on: The "God gap" in American politics has narrowed substantially.

Alternative Minimum Tax Targeted  —  Democrats Seek Fix For Middle-Class Families  —  Democratic leaders this week vowed to make the alternative minimum tax a centerpiece of next year's budget debate, saying the levy threatens to unfairly increase tax bills for millions of middle-class families by the end of the decade.

Democrats, Engaging Bush, Vow Early Action on Iraq  —  Democrats sought on Friday to put their new political power to use in shaping the debate over Iraq, promising stepped-up Congressional oversight of the war and a resolution demanding a schedule for reducing the number of troops there.

Hamas Offers to End Rule if Aid Resumes  —  Hamas committed today to folding its eight-month government if that would restore the international assistance that was cut off after it won national elections earlier this year.  —  In a shrewd and dramatic speech, the Hamas prime minister …

Veterans Day: Remember  —  Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham, recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor  —  President Bush awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously this week to Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham for his heroism in Iraq.  Chuck Simmins has chronicled Cpl. Dunham from May 2004 through the present here.

John Conyers And The Muslim Caucus  —  Congress: The likely new chairman of the House Judiciary Committee says he's just fighting bigotry in leading a Democrat jihad to deny law enforcement key terror-fighting tools.  But he is in the pocket of Islamists.  —  John Conyers, son …

Health Care Strategies  —  Mark Kleiman observes that "since its reform under Bill Clinton" the Veterans' Administration health care system "now has the best medical-records system going and produces high-quality health care at a reasonable cost" and wonders if we couldn't …

House Democrats won't repeat GOP mistakes  —  On Wednesday, Nov. 9, 1994, after learning in the wee hours that morning that I was then a U.S. representative-elect, I had the opportunity at the Waverly Hotel to appear at a news conference with new Speaker-elect Newt Gingrich.

MYTH BUSTING....You're probably all a little tired of exit poll wonkery by now, but I want to follow up on my earlier post showing that the Democratic win was a broad-based victory, not one based on appealing to any particular demographic group.  Several demographic myths have turned out to be pretty hardy …

The Great Revulsion  —  I'm not feeling giddy as much as greatly relieved.  O.K., maybe a little giddy.  Give 'em hell, Harry and Nancy!  —  Here's what I wrote more than three years ago, in the introduction to my column collection "The Great Unraveling": "I have a vision — maybe just a hope …

Lawmakers Who Won't Be Missed  —  "Conrad, how can you live back there [in Washington] with all those niggers?"  When asked how he had responded, Sen. Burns is reported to have . . . said with a chuckle that he told the rancher that it was 'a hell of a challenge.' "