Cornyn: ‘We Will Not Spend Money in a Contested Primary’  —  ABC News' Rick Klein reports:  —  With Republicans grappling with the fallout of an intra-party battle that may have cost them a House seat, the head of the Senate Republican campaign effort is making a pledge that may ease …

Letter to Reid on healthcare from former Surgeon General Koop shuts Senate  —  A letter about healthcare reform to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) from former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop triggered a security scare that briefly shut down much of the Senate on Wednesday.

How Gay Marriage Lost In Maine  —  Mainers, and national observers, have woken up this morning asking how the Yes on 1 coalition won this fight.  Through most of the lead up to this vote, observers (including myself) felt that it would be extremely close, potentially to a recount, and that the No on 1 folks had the early advantage.

Prejean Sex Tape Triggers Settlement  —  Carrie Prejean demanded more than a million dollars during her settlement negotiations with Miss California USA Pageant officials — that is, until the lawyer for the Pageant showed Carrie an XXX home video of her handiwork.

Bachmann aide no longer taking care of business  —  The aide who helped turn Rep. Michele Bachmann into a controversial mainstay of cable news has informed colleagues that she's quitting - just as the firebrand Republican congresswoman prepares for her biggest media moment yet.

AP Sources: AARP to endorse House health care bill  —  WASHINGTON — Officials are telling The Associated Press that AARP_the seniors' lobby_will endorse the health care overhaul bill that House Democrats are preparing to take to the floor.  —  Officials with knowledge of the group's decision told …

Yesterday's Overwhelming Historic Republican Victory Makes Democratic Health Care Reform Just A Bit Easier  —  Most of the commentary about last night's elections has centered around Republican pickups in the New Jersey and Virginia statehouses.  But what's gone largely unnoticed …

Axelrod to ABC News on Voters' Economic Anxiety: “There is a Heavy Burden That Falls on the Governing Party.  That's Just Something You Accept.  That's Part of the Deal”  —  This afternoon we spoke with White House senior adviser David Axelrod about the election results.

Panel goes AWOL in GOP earmark war  —  On Nov. 19, 2008, House GOP leaders John Boehner and Eric Cantor created a select committee on earmark reform to bring “meaningful change to the process by which Washington spends taxpayers' hard-earned money.”  —  Nearly a year later …

Paul leads Grayson in Senate race poll  —  Bowling Green eye surgeon Rand Paul has a slight lead over Secretary of State Trey Grayson in their race to win next May's Republican primary election for the U.S. Senate, according to a new poll.  —  Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo holds …

Obama Watched HBO Special About Himself Instead of Election Results  —  UPDATE: Fox News misreported Gibbs' press gaggle comments.  He did not claim President watched HBO special on election night.  —  During the 10AM ET hour of America's Newsroom on Fox News Channel …

ELEMENTARY EPIDEMIC: 11 Uncovered Videos Show School Children Performing Praises to Obama  —  Big Hollywood has already posted a couple disturbing videos of young school children singing/speaking praises to President Obama, but when eleven more dropped in our email box it came as quite a shock.

STIMULUS WATCH: Salary raise counted as saved job  —  WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's economic recovery program saved 935 jobs at the Southwest Georgia Community Action Council, an impressive success story for the stimulus plan.  Trouble is, only 508 people work there.

Obama Uses Malia's Test Scores as a Teaching Example  —  MADISON, Wisconsin - President Obama marked the first anniversary of his election on Wednesday by calling on states to toughen their education standards - and wound up calling on parents to toughen theirs, too, as he confessed …

Can Prosecutors Be Sued By People They Framed? … text sizeAAA  —  Do prosecutors have total immunity from lawsuits for anything they do, including framing someone for murder?  That is the question the justices of the Supreme Court face Wednesday.  —  On one side of the case being argued …

Why I'm running for Senate  —  Our most pressing problems today are too few jobs for Americans and too much spending in Washington.  —  CANDIDATE FOR U.S. SENATE FROM CALIFORNIA  —  Recommend  —  Admittedly, I have not always been engaged in the electoral process, and I should have been.

Who Are You Calling a Narcissist, Rush?  —  I had a four-hour dinner once with Rush Limbaugh at the “21” Club in Manhattan, back in the days when I was still writing profiles as a “reporterette,” to use a Limbaugh coinage.  —  He was charming, in a shy, awkward, lonely-guy way.  Not a man of the people.

Axelrod: NY-23 Is A Reminder For Blue Dogs  —  Senior White House adviser David Axelrod just made an appearance on MSNBC, and, as host Andrea Mitchell asked him about the elections last night (which, by the way, are being cast by some as an “awful day” for President Obama) and their implications …

Conservatives Rework Rhetoric After NY-23 Loss  —  Tea Partiers Say GOP Loss Enough for Conservative Victory  —  Saranac Lake, N.Y. - Jim Kelly walked into the lounge of the Hotel Saranac, his red tie undone and flapping against his shirt.  He sighed.  He plopped into a chair.

Bachmann Watch  —  We've spent the day trying to get a handle on just what Michele Bachmann (R-MN) has in mind with her boffo Capitol Hill Tea Party event tomorrow, whether she's going to get the crowd riled up and just send them in or actually lead the protestors into the offices.

North and South in the Republican Party  —  One of my commenters has some thoughts on NY-23: … This resonates with me, because my mom's from Western New York.  I remember once noting that until I was in college, I hadn't known any Republicans, to which my mother blinked, and replied “You knew your grandparents.”

Manchester's New GOP Mayor Hears from 2012 Hopefuls  —  If you have your eye on the White House, it's never too early to tune your ear to New Hampshire.  —  ABC News' Teddy Davis reports on which Republicans are already working Granite State phones:  —  If you want to know who is well organized …

V: Tea Party TV  —  I didn't watch much television as a kid.  But when the miniseries “V” came out in 1983, when I was eleven years old, it was event television for the entire family.  The sci-fi series used an alien invasion of Earth under friendly guise as a metaphor for fascism.

Pancho  —  Barone studiously avoids mention of the increase in the “D” House delegation despite the best efforts of Palin, Bachmann, Limbaugh, Malkin, etc., in NY Congressional District 23.  —  Michael Bloomberg nearly lost his mayoral seat in NYC despite outspending his Democratic opponent 5-1.

Obama's brother speaks out for first time  —  GUANGZHOU, China — The mixed-race son of a brilliant but troubled Kenyan academic and a white American woman writes an emotionally wrenching book about his search for identity and self.  —  This is not the familiar story of President Obama.