Reid announces opt-out public option  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced this afternoon that he plans to push ahead with a public health insurance option that includes an opt-out provision for states - even though he's currently short several votes for passage, according to people close to the situation.

CFG Poll: Hoffman Leading in NY-23  —  Hoffman Surges Into Lead in NY-23  —  New CFG Poll shows Hoffman 31.3%, Owens 27.0%, Scozzafava 19.7%  —  Washington - A poll released today by the Club for Growth shows Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman surging into the lead in the special election …

NOW President on President Obama's All-Male Athletic Outings: 'It's Troubling'  —  We asked Terry O'Neill, the new president of the National Organization for Women, what she thought of those Democratic women and others quietly complaining about a “boy's club” atmosphere at the White House …

McDonnell has double-digit lead in Va. governor's race, Post poll says  —  Republican Robert F. McDonnell carries a double-digit lead over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds into the final week of the campaign for Virginia governor, according to a new Washington Post poll.

RNC keeps racist pics on Facebook for nearly a week  —  Perhaps no one noticed.  Perhaps no one cared.  But hours after a liberal news forum brought attention to a series of days old controversial photos on the Republican National Committee's Facebook page, the photos were finally taken down.

CNN Drops to Last Place Among Cable News Networks  —  CNN, which invented the cable news network more than two decades ago, will hit a new competitive low with its prime-time programs in October, finishing fourth - and last - among the cable news networks with the audience that all the networks rely on for their advertising.

Anchors sink on ‘Jeopardy’  —  CNN should consider banning its anchors from appearing on “Celebrity Jeopardy” after the humiliating defeats of  —  Soledad O'Brien.  Wolf was blitzed last month, coming in last with minus-$4,600, behind comic  —  Andy Richter, a past winner who racked up $68,000 for charity.

PRESIDENT OBAMA TIES GEORGE W. BUSH ON GOLF  —  President Barack Obama has only been in office for just over nine months, but he's already hit the links as much as President Bush did in over two years.  —  CBS' Mark Knoller — an unofficial documentarian and statistician of all things White House-related …

New Jersey Poll Preview  —  Some folks thought it was a little odd when Chris Christie went on the air with negative ads against independent candidate Chris Daggett a few weeks ago but it seems to have been a good idea.  —  Two weeks ago Daggett's fav/unfav was 30/24.  Now it's 31/36.

AP IMPACT: Statisticians reject global cooling  —  WASHINGTON — Have you heard that the world is now cooling instead of warming?  You may have seen some news reports on the Internet or heard about it from a provocative new book.  —  Only one problem: It's not true, according to an analysis …

The Bench in Purgatory  —  The new Republican obstructionism on Obama's judicial nominees.  —  It's still early in President Obama's first term, but not too soon to conclude that the president's effort to “put the confirmation wars [for judges] behind us” is not going well.

Andy warns Rudy: Psst!  I'm running  —  Andrew Cuomo has secretly notified Rudy Giuliani that he will run for governor next year, The Post has learned.  —  The confidential message, conveyed through intermediaries, was delivered to Giuliani recently and is expected to play a central role …

After Reform Passes  —  So, how well will health reform work after it passes?  —  There's a part of me that can't believe I'm asking that question.  After all, serious health reform has long seemed like an impossible dream.  And it could yet go all wrong.

Top 25 Daily Newspapers in New FAS-FAX  —  NEW YORK Here are the top 25 newspapers in the country ranked by daily (Monday-Friday) circulation for the six months ending September 2009 from the Audit Bureau of Circulations.  The percent change compares the same six-month period ending September 2008.