Top Items:
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
WEAK KNEES KEEP SHAKING.... In Tuesday's congressional races, voters sent two more House Democrats to Congress, expanding an already-large Democratic majority on the Hill. In 2008, the electorate made a House Democratic majority bigger, and in 2009, Dems went five for five in special elections, making that majority bigger still.
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The Politico:
‘We got walloped’ — Two big questions loom in the wake of the 2009 elections. The first is whether Barack Obama learned anything new about American voters. The second is whether American voters will soon learn something new about Obama. — For a president who likes always …
Discussion:
CNN, James Pethokoukis, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, Wake up America, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Commentary, Taylor Marsh and The Note
Larry J. Sabato / Sabato's Crystal Ball:
Sabato's Fun Facts—Election '09 — The following “fun facts” are presented as instant analysis of the November 3 election for the Crystal Ball's readers, straight from the mouth of U.Va. Center for Politics Director Larry J. Sabato, with the editorial assistance of Isaac Wood:
Adam Nagourney / New York Times:
Energized G.O.P. Looks to Avoid Party Feud — WASHINGTON — Republicans emerged from Tuesday's elections energized by victories in Virginia and New Jersey, but their leaders immediately began maneuvering to avoid a prolonged battle with conservative activists over what the party stands for and how to regain power.
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Washington Post, Washington Monthly, The Caucus, Blogs and Stories, msnbc.com, American Power, MoJo Blog Posts, The Note and The Page
Washington Post:
Democrats debate Obama agenda's impact on Democratic Party — Democrats on Capitol Hill began a nervous debate Wednesday about the course President Obama has set for their party, with some questioning whether they should emphasize job creation over some of the more ambitious items on the president's agenda.
Discussion:
FiveThirtyEight, Suburban Guerrilla, Swampland, Associated Press, msnbc.com and The Politico
David S. Broder / Washington Post:
Election defeats may spell midterm disaster for Democrats
Election defeats may spell midterm disaster for Democrats
Discussion:
Boston Globe, Firedoglake, Bloomberg, Commentary, Capitol Briefing, Bark Bark Woof Woof and PostPartisan
Ruy Teixeira / New York Times:
Relax, Democrats — TO hear Republicans tell it …
Relax, Democrats — TO hear Republicans tell it …
Discussion:
Democratic Strategist
Daniel Libit / The Politico:
Bachmann calls for ‘scare’ tactics — In a conference call Wednesday night with bloggers and activists for the advocacy group Americans for Prosperity, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) called on protesters to “scare” members of Congress into killing the proposed health care reform bill.
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Michelle Malkin:
Battling Pelosicare; Update: Thousands descend on D.C., “You work for us!” — Scroll for updates... Protest signs at the Capitol — House Republicans are holding a 12-hour live online telecast today starting at 1pm Eastern to expose the perils and pitfalls of Pelosicare — and to spotlight the GOP alternative.
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
NOTE THE DATE.... Today, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) hopes to lead a small army of right-wing activists around Capitol Hill, in the hopes of derailing health care reform. But let's not lose sight of the context here — Bachmann has already referred to anti-reform activists as “insurgents” and “freedom fighters.”
Discussion:
Capitol Briefing, Firedoglake, Prescriptions, Raw Story, Minneapolis Star Tribune and TPMDC
Mike Allen / The Politico:
Sen. Snowe: Tuesday's results ‘certainly gives pause on how you approach’ health reform - Yanks are world champs — BIRTHDAYS: Autumn Hanna VandeHei, the hottest and smartest wife-mother-friend (boot tip: Jimmy) ... Sloan Rappaport big 4-0 birthday (hat tip: Margaret and Freddie) …
Patricia Murphy / Politics Daily:
Michele Bachmann's Capitol House Call: ‘Get Your Hands Off My Health Care!’
Michele Bachmann's Capitol House Call: ‘Get Your Hands Off My Health Care!’
Mike Soraghan / The Hill:
Pelosi: ‘We will’ have the votes to pass healthcare bill by Saturday
Pelosi: ‘We will’ have the votes to pass healthcare bill by Saturday
Discussion:
The Swamp
Evan McMorris-Santoro / TPMDC:
Michele Bachmann, Tea Partiers Prepare For Last Stand On Health Care
Michele Bachmann, Tea Partiers Prepare For Last Stand On Health Care
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Lance Mannion, The Impolitic, First Draft, The Plum Line, skippy the bush kangaroo and The Politico
Ezra Klein:
Congressional Budget Office Thrashes Republican Health-Care Plan — Republicans are learning an unpleasant lesson this morning: The only thing worse than having no health-care reform plan is releasing a bad one, getting thrashed by CBO and making the House Democrats look good in comparison.
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Susan Ferrechio / Washington Examiner:
CBO: Republican health plan would reduce premiums, cut deficit — The Congressional Budget Office Wednesday night released its cost analysis of the Republican health care plan and found that it would reduce health care premiums and cut the deficit by $68 billion over ten years.
Douglas Elmendorf / Director's Blog:
A Preliminary Analysis of a Substitute Amendment to H.R. 3962 …
A Preliminary Analysis of a Substitute Amendment to H.R. 3962 …
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Huckabee, Romney, Palin See Most Republican Support for '12 — Huckabee, Romney viewed as most qualified of possible Republican presidential candidates — PRINCETON, NJ — Looking ahead to the 2012 presidential election, 71% of Republicans say they would seriously consider voting for Mike Huckabee.
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, Politics Daily, The Hill, New York Magazine, Hot Dish Politics, The Page and Real Clear Politics
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Alexander Mooney / CNN:
Crist says he never backed stimulus measure — (CNN) - Florida Gov. Charlie Crist tells CNN he never endorsed President Obama's $787 billion stimulus measure, in what appears to be the latest effort by the Florida Republican to distance himself from the president as he seeks his party's Senate nomination.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Note, Think Progress, Glenn Thrush's Blog and The Atlantic Politics Channel
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Sam Dolnick / City Room:
Kerik Pleads Guilty in Corruption Case — Bernard B. Kerik, a former New York police commissioner, pleaded guilty to eight felonies in a Federal District Court in White Plains on Thursday morning. Mr. Kerik, who will be sentenced in February, faces 27 to 33 months in prison.
Discussion:
TalkLeft, New York Times, BBC, Associated Press, Raw Story, Taegan Goddard's …, TPMMuckraker, Talking Points Memo and Runnin' Scared
Reuters:
IAEA found nothing serious at Iran site: ElBaradei — VIENNA (Reuters) - U.N. inspectors found “nothing to be worried about” in a first look at a previously secret uranium enrichment site in Iran last month, the International Atomic Energy chief said in remarks published Thursday.
Discussion:
Truthdig
Bureau of Labor Statistics:
Productivity and Costs, Third Quarter 2009, Preliminary — Transmission of material in this release is embargoed until USDL-09-1330 8:30 a.m. (EST) Thursday, November 5, 2009 — • www.bls.gov/lpc Media contact: (202) 691-5902 Nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased …
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, Associated Press, The Greenroom, Blog entry, DailyFinance and The Glittering Eye
Nicholas D. Kristof / New York Times:
Unhealthy America — The moment of truth for health care is at hand, and the distortion that perhaps gets the most traction is this: … That self-aggrandizing delusion may be the single greatest myth in the health care debate. In fact, America's health care system is worse than Slov—er, oops, more on that later.
Faiz Shakir / Think Progress:
Right-wing protesters at GOP rally display prominent sign tying health care to the Holocaust. — ThinkProgress' Lee Fang snapped this photograph of a prominent sign being displayed at today's GOP anti-health care rally. It's unclear whether this sign is one of the many being handed …
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
NYC Population By Borough — I forget what I was trying to prove when I started working on this chart yesterday morning, but late yesterday afternoon I realized there was a 90 percent finished visual display of data on my computer so I figured I might as well finish it:
Discussion:
Megan McArdle
The Note:
Protesters Arrested at Lieberman's Office — ABC's Z. Byron Wolf reports: — It is protest day, for the Left and the Right, on Capitol Hill. — First out of the gate - 8 Protesters backing a universal health care system briefly occupied Sen. Joe Lieberman's office this morning.
Discussion:
New Haven Independent, TPM LiveWire, Gawker, Nice Deb, Talking Points Memo, MoJo Blog Posts, The Powers That Be and Wonkette
New York Times:
The Vote for Mayor, Block by Block — Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg won re-election Tuesday, but voters were less enthusiastic about him than the last time he ran in 2005. The mayor did well in high-income white areas of Manhattan and Queens, and also in election districts dominated by immigrants, like Flushing and Brighton Beach.
Paul Thompson / Daily Mail:
Michelle Obama to star with Nigella Lawson as she becomes first presidential wife to appear on a reality show — Michelle Obama is to be the first presidential wife to appear on a reality TV series. — The First Lady will make a guest appearance on ‘Iron Chef America’ which features British cook Nigella Lawson as a judge.
Mark Silva / The Swamp:
McCain: ‘Past angry’ on Afghanistan — Republican Sen. John McCain, who has been urging the White House to support a significant new troop deployment in Afghanistan, says he is “past being a bit angry.” — “I'm disappointed that we haven't made a decision,” McCain (R-Ariz.), said in an appearance on FOX & Friends this morning.
Discussion:
The Politico