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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

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.

The Importance of Being Earnest  —  Howard Fineman thinks Barack Obama is spending too much time on Olympia Snowe.  He also says: … Why would you say someone is earnest “despite” a habit of quoting Longfellow?  That seems like a very earnest thing to do.  And are earnest people really generally likable?