In NY-23, Conservatives Win  —  The race has now been called for Democrat Bill Owens.  —  This is a huge win for conservatives.  —  “Whaaaa. . . ?” you say.  —  There are two big victories at work in New York's 23rd Congressional District.  —  First, the GOP now must recognize …

Gubernatorial contests serve as warning to Democrats  —  Off-year elections can be notoriously unreliable as predictors of the future, but as a window on how the political landscape may have changed in the year since President Obama won the White House, Tuesday's Republican victories in Virginia …

Maine Voters Repeal Law Allowing Gay Marriage  —  In a stinging setback for the national gay-rights movement, Maine voters narrowly decided to repeal the state's new law allowing same-sex marriage.  —  With 87 percent of precincts reporting early this morning, 53 percent of voters had approved the repeal …

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.

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 …

Extreme unintended irony from a WH official  —  An Obama aide anonymously accuses Anthony Weiner of being a coward and not “manning-up.”  —  From Ben Smith's Politico article on the surprisingly narrow victory by Michael Bloomberg in the New York mayoral race:

Where in the World Was Keith Olbermann?  —  MSNBC boasted that on election night they would present a “special live edition of Countdown” at 10:00 pm.  But with bad news for the Democrats in Virginia and New Jersey, a funny thing happened on the way to the bonus Hour of Spin.  Keith wasn't there!

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.

Secret copyright treaty leaks.  It's bad.  Very bad.  —  The internet chapter of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a secret copyright treaty whose text Obama's administration refused to disclose due to “national security” concerns, has leaked.  It's bad.  It says:

Italian court convicts 23 Americans in CIA rendition case  —  MILAN — An Italian court on Wednesday convicted 22 CIA operatives and a U.S. Air Force colonel of orchestrating the kidnapping of a Muslim cleric in Milan in 2003 and flying him to Egypt, where he said he was later tortured.

Democrats feeling angst over 2010  —  Vulnerable House and Senate Democrats want their leaders to skip the party's controversial legislative agenda for next year to help save their seats in Congress.  —  In the run-up to the 2010 midterm elections, they don't want to be forced to vote on climate change …

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.

Dud, Baby, Dud: The Lesson of Doug Hoffman  —  “I believe America is turning the page to a new dawn.”  ~ Doug Hoffman, Concession Speech  —  Doug Hoffman lost his election last night.  He was supported by a plurality of talk radio entertainers, and a majority of former half-term governors of Alaska, but it wasn't enough.

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.

Congress Shifts Left  —  I've been feeling sick and wasn't up for waiting for the NY-23 returns.  But now that we're in we know that the CA-10 vacancy created by Ellen Tauscher becoming an Undersecretary of State has resulted in a moderate Democrat being replaced by a progressive Democratic …

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.

Gaza inscribes “Goldstone” on national scarf  —  South African Judge Richard Goldstone's name may spark anger for some in Israel, but in Gaza the name is synonymous with heroism and to prove it, it is being sewn onto souvenir Palestinian headscarves in honor of his war inquiry into Israel's deadly assault of the strip.

‘Very, very close to zero’ GOPers will vote for House health bill  —  Republicans will overwhelmingly reject the Democrats' healthcare reform measure when it is reaches the House floor, according to a key lawmaker.  —  Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who serves as deputy GOP whip …