Most support public option for health insurance, poll finds  —  Americans still divided on overall packages  —  A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that support for a government-run health-care plan to compete with private insurers has rebounded from its summertime lows and wins clear majority support from the public.

Obama: Afghan runoff ‘important step’  —  For weeks now, the White House has added a caveat to nearly every public discussion of deliberations underway about the way forward in Afghanistan:  —  The United States must have an effective “partner” in the government of Afghanistan as it sets a new strategy for an eight-year-old war.

Scozzafava Calls the Cops  —  Lowville, N.Y.  —  Tonight, Dede Scozzafava, the Republican candidate for the November 3 special election in the 23rd congressional district, spoke to about 100 Republicans at the Lewis County GOP dinner at the Elks Lodge 1605.

Obama's dumb war with Fox News  —  There's only one thing dumber than picking a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel — picking a fight with people who don't even have to buy ink.  The Obama administration's war on Fox News is dumb on multiple levels.

Christie May Have Gotten Improper Aid  —  When news broke in August that the former United States attorney, Christopher J. Christie, had lent $46,000 to a top aide in the federal prosecutor's office, he said he was merely helping a friend in need.  He also said the aide, Michele Brown …

Rights Watchdog, Lost in the Mideast  —  AS the founder of Human Rights Watch, its active chairman for 20 years and now founding chairman emeritus, I must do something that I never anticipated: I must publicly join the group's critics.  Human Rights Watch had as its original mission …

Financial Giants Donating Little to Obama Party  —  WASHINGTON — The Wall Street giants that received a financial lifeline from Washington may have no compunction about paying big bonuses to their dealmakers and traders.  But their willingness to deliver “thank you” gifts to President Obama …

DeMint watches out for all of us  —  Recently your newspaper published a letter from state Rep. Bakari Sellers attacking U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint and his opposition to congressional earmarks.  —  There is a saying that the Jews who are wealthy got that way not by watching dollars …

Justice concludes black voters need Democratic Party  —  U.S. blocks N.C. city's nonpartisan vote  —  Voters in this small city decided overwhelmingly last year to do away with the party affiliation of candidates in local elections, but the Obama administration recently overruled the electorate …

‘You Have Atomic Bombs, but We Have Suicide Bombers.’  —  A NERVOUS-LOOKING Pakistani soldier pointed a rocket-propelled grenade at our pickup truck in late January.  The Taliban guard beside me loaded his rifle and ordered me to put a scarf over  —  my face.

Reid offers doctors a deal  —  The White House and Democratic leaders are offering doctors a deal: They'll freeze cuts in Medicare payments to doctors in exchange for doctors' support of healthcare reform.  —  At a meeting on Capitol Hill last week with nearly a dozen doctors groups …

Reid plan: ‘Vaporize’ 2010 GOP opponent  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is prepared to run a sharply negative campaign if that's what it takes to win reelection next year, with a top adviser predicting that the Nevada Democrat will “vaporize” his Republican challengers with attack ads.

Maryland scientist arrested for attempted espionage for Israel  —  The FBI has arrested a former senior NASA space scientist who worked in the George H.W. Bush White House space office for attempted espionage for Israel, the Justice Department announced today.

Biden says he first said no to being VP  —  (CNN) - It was an oft-repeated anecdote on the 2008 campaign trail: then-Sen. Joe Biden accepted the request to be the No. 2 on the Democratic presidential ticket at a Delaware dentist office as his wife was undergoing a root canal.

At rescued banks, perks keep rolling  —  Bosses benefit after bailout Fringe compensation rose 4 percent last year  —  NEW YORK — Even as the nation's biggest financial firms were struggling and the federal government was spending hundreds of billions of dollars to save many of them …

GET TO KNOW A CONGRESSMAN  —  Gregg Harper says at the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus, ‘we hunt liberal, tree-hugging Democrats, although it does seem like a waste of good ammunition.’ |  Why do you think the majority of congressional representatives are lawyers, like yourself?

Employers Hold Off on Hiring  —  Companies across the economy are holding off on hiring even as the profit outlook improves, amid economic uncertainty and their own success at raising productivity in rough waters.  —  Hiring always lags behind in economic recoveries, but the outlook this time is worse, many economists say.