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 …

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”?

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% …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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 …