EXCLUSIVE: Democratic donors rewarded with W.H. perks  —  Offered access to bowling alley, movie theater  —  During his first nine months in office, President Obama has quietly rewarded scores of top Democratic donors with VIP access to the White House, private briefings with administration advisers …

Defections have Dems ISO Plan B  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's appeals for party unity landed with a thud Tuesday with the very group he needs for his public-option push to pay off: centrists who hold the key to health reform.  —  And not just any centrists but one who makes liberals see red …

Brother of Afghan Leader Is Said to Be on C.I.A. Payroll  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of the Afghan president and a suspected player in the country's booming illegal opium trade, gets regular payments from the Central Intelligence Agency, and has for much of the past eight years …

CNN Poll: 7 in 10 say Palin not qualified to be president  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - More than seven in 10 Americans think Sarah Palin is not qualified to be president, according to a new national poll.  —  Seventy-one percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey …

On Healthcare, Americans Trust Obama More Than Congress  —  By 48% to 37%, more trust the Democrats than the Republicans in Congress  —  PRINCETON, NJ — As Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid tries to advance a healthcare reform bill onto the Senate floor, just under half of Americans, 48% …

Did Schwarzenegger drop 4-letter bomb in veto?  —  Phillip Matier,Andrew Ross, Chronicle Columnists  —  (10-27) 19:19 PDT SACRAMENTO — Did Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office use a coded veto message to send the f-bomb to Tom Ammiano, soon after the San Francisco assemblyman made news by telling the governor to “kiss my gay ass”?

Pew Political IQ Poll: Republicans Consistently More Knowledgeable  —  You likely won't see this poll result elsewhere, so I thought I'd highlight it here.  This is a Pew Political IQ test conducted over the phone with 1,002 adults from Oct. 1-4.  They were asked 12 questions …

The Most Important Number in Politics Today  —  That's the percentage of voters in a new Quinnipiac poll that agree with the sentiment that independent candidate Chris Daggett has “no chance” of winning the New Jersey governor's race next Tuesday.  —  What that number indicates …

Cheney backs Hutchison  —  How much more fun could the Texas governor's race get?  —  The latest from AP:  —  Former Vice President Dick Cheney will throw his support behind U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's campaign for Texas governor.  —  Hutchison's campaign confirmed Wednesday …

Obama Is Right About Fox News  —  Journalism has a special, hallowed place for stories of its practitioners' persecution.  There is no higher claim to journalistic integrity than going to jail to protect a source.  And the Newseum in Washington, D.C., establishes the profession's legitimacy …

News gets worse for the MSM  —  There have been a lot of bad days recently for what's come to be known as the mainstream media — or MSM — but Monday was one of the worst.  —  New circulation figures showed that big city papers had lost as much as a quarter of their circulation in the past six months.

To find right PR guru, Beck looked to his left  —  A few weeks after Sept. 11, 2001, Glenn Beck, a young Tampa-based disc jockey eager to break into conservative talk radio, called his new Manhattan agent, George Hiltzik, to help arrange a visit to Ground Zero.

Election 2009: Virginia Governor Election  —  Virginia Governor: McDonnell Stretches Lead To 13  —  Republican Robert F. McDonnell has now opened a 13-point lead over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds with less than a week to go in the race for governor of Virginia.

Obama appoints Hagel to intelligence post  —  President Barack Obama has appointed former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel (Neb.) to serve as a co-chairman of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board.  —  During his time in the Senate, Hagel was highly critical of the Bush administration's approach to the Iraq war.

Times Buyout Package Reveals More than Expected  —  Just over a week ago, every person in the Times newsroom was sent out a buyout package via UPS Next Day Air.  If 100 staffers don't raise their hands by Dec. 7, there will be layoffs.  —  We got our hands on one of the thickish brown envelopes that went to employees' homes.

Palin: Levi Johnston ‘Mean-Spirited,’ ‘Malicious,’ Selling ‘Body for Money’  —  ABC News' Rick Klein reports: Former Gov. Sarah Palin is blasting away at the father of her grandson, issuing a blistering statement today that impugns Levi Johnston's motives in continuing to speak out against the Palin family …

BAYH ENDORSES MCCONNELL LINE ON CLOTURE.... Democrats and other supporters of health care reform have a very simple message for center-right Dems who oppose fixing the system: just let the Senate vote.  —  The issue, of course, is cloture.  Reform proponents don't need 60 senators to pass a bill …

Krauthammer: Obama attacks on Bush “disgusting”  —  When does a President stop blaming his predecessor and start taking responsibility for his own actions?  To be fair, that has been an eternal question in the American context, but it does seem as though Barack Obama has a crutch that he refuses to put aside.

Palin created company while in office  —  A small mystery in Sarah Palin's personal financial disclosure: In April, while still governor, she founded what she describes as a “marketing” business, called “Pie Spy.”  —  Palin lists herself as the owner of the limited liability corporation …