Obama plans combative turn  —  President Barack Obama plans a combative response if, as White House aides fear, Democrats lose Tuesday's special Senate election in Massachusetts, close advisers say.  —  “This is not a moment that causes the president or anybody who works for him to express any doubt …

After the Massachusetts special election  —  I don't know who will win today's special election in Massachusetts.  But I do know what should happen — and what can happen — after the votes are counted and the winner is seated: Democrats should pass health-care reform.

FBI broke law for years in phone record searches  —  The FBI illegally collected more than 2,000 U.S. telephone call records between 2002 and 2006 by invoking terrorism emergencies that did not exist or simply persuading phone companies to provide records, according to internal bureau memos and interviews.

Poll: Most Don't Want Sarah Palin to Run for President  —  Posted by Kevin Hechtkopf A new CBS News poll finds that a large majority of Americans say they do not want former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to run for president.  —  Specifically, 71 percent say they do not want the former …

Who's To Blame?  —  I am mostly living far from Massachusetts these days, but I've marinated in its politics for 25 years, and seen my share of reactionaries voted into office.  The idea that the state's undecideds are breaking for Brown because of some generalized economic anger that Obama failed …

A Looming Landslide For Brown  —  Democrats can stop hoping at this point.  —  I can see no alternative scenario but a huge - staggeringly huge - victory for the FNC/RNC machine tomorrow.  They crafted a strategy of total oppositionism to anything Obama proposed a year ago.

From Depression To Rage  —  We have heard a lot from those furious that Obama has not solved all our problems overnight, how they feel that this country has somehow been taken away from them, how they feel a disconnect from the president.  But maybe it's time for a different kind of rage …

US accused of ‘occupying’ Haiti as troops flood in  —  France accused the US of “occupying” Haiti on Monday as thousands of American troops flooded into the country to take charge of aid efforts and security.  —  The French minister in charge of humanitarian relief called on the UN to …

National Parties Look to Boost Voter Turnout  —  Close Race for Senate Galvanizes Supporters  —  NORTH ANDOVER, Mass.—The fight for a Massachusetts U.S. Senate seat, and with it President Barack Obama's domestic agenda, is coming down to one essential challenge: maximizing turnout of core supporters.

Book review of ‘Game Change’ by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin  —  Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime  —  Harper.  448 pp.  $27.99  —  During elections, people make judgments about who should hold office.  They also make judgments about the journalists who cover the campaigns.