It was the moment of greatest peril for then-Sen. Barack Obama's political career.  In the heat of the presidential campaign, videos surfaced of Obama's pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, angrily denouncing whites, the U.S. government and America itself.  Obama had once bragged of his closeness to Wright.

GOP leery of Tea Party Caucus  —  With the official formation of a congressional Tea Party Caucus, Rep. Michele Bachmann has thrust an existential question before House Republican leaders: Are you in or are you out?  —  Indiana's Mike Pence, chairman of the Republican Conference, was adamant.

Video Shows USDA Official Saying She Didn't Give ‘Full Force’ of Help to White Farmer  —  Shown here is USDA Georgia official Shirley Sherrod.  (YouTube)  —  Days after the NAACP clashed with Tea Party members over allegations of racism, a video has surfaced showing an Agriculture Department …

Stimulating Unemployment  —  If you can't create any jobs, pay people not to work.  —  Presidents typically invite Americans to appear at Rose Garden press conferences to trumpet their policy successes, but yesterday we saw what may have been a first.  President Obama introduced three Americans …

Democrats Jump Into Six-Point Lead on Generic Ballot  —  At the same time, Republican enthusiasm for voting in November surges  —  PRINCETON, NJ — In the same week the U.S. Senate passed a major financial reform bill touted as reining in Wall Street, Democrats pulled ahead of Republicans …

Crist Uses His Old Party as a New Foil  —  Senate Push Gains as Florida Governor Sets Himself Off Against State's GOP, With Some Firepower From Obama Camp  —  Gov. Crist has shored up some conservative positions, such as his support for gun rights, while shifting to the left on core issues like abortion, education and gay rights.

Six in 10 Workers Hold No Hope of Receiving Social Security  —  Americans aged 18 to 34 are least likely to believe they will ever see benefits  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Six in 10 Americans who have not yet retired believe they will get no Social Security benefits when they retire …

Gov. Manchin jumps into special election for Byrd seat  —  West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin (D) officially launched his campaign for Senate Tuesday after weeks of uncertainty over the succession process for the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D).  —  In an announcement years in the making …

Obama Sends Berwick Nomination to the Senate  —  President Barack Obama “sent the Senate his nomination of Donald Berwick as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Monday — a move that comes two weeks after Obama bypassed Congress to put his stalled nominee …

Who is Barack Obama?  —  On Sunday, both The Post and the New York Times assembled more than 20 savants and asked them, as the Times put it, “How Can Obama Rebound?”  Good question.  Not only do six out of 10 voters “lack faith in the president to make the right decisions for the country …

Race Card Fraud  —  Credit card fraud is a serious problem.  But race card fraud is an even bigger problem.  —  Playing the race card takes many forms.  Judge Charles Pickering, a federal judge in Mississippi who defended the civil rights of blacks for years and defied the Ku Klux Klan …

Ross Douthat's Fear of Opining.  —  Today's Ross Douthat offering has already prompted a thoughtful response from Adam, but I wanted to note the conservative NYT writer's inability to assess competing arguments.  First, from his opening statement: … The key fact that Douthat never returns …

Crist Looking Good  —  Thanks mostly to support from Democrats Charlie Crist is the leader in the Florida Senate race.  In the most likely match up against Kendrick Meek he gets 35% to 29% for Marco Rubio and 17% for Meek.  His lead expands with Jeff Greene as the Democratic nominee.

Altered BP photo comes into question  —  Apparently BP is no more adept at doctoring photos than it is at plugging deep-sea oil leaks.  —  A blogger has noticed that the oil giant altered a photograph of its Houston crisis room, cutting and pasting three underwater images into a wall …

Times loses almost 90% of online readership  —  Less than three weeks after the Times paywall went up, data shows a massive decline in web traffic  —  The registration page for thetimes.co.uk - 25.6% of users sign up and proceed to the Times site  —  The Times has lost almost 90% …

Amazon says Kindle books are outselling hardcovers  —  Amazon.com said Monday that growth in sales of its Kindle digital reader accelerated every month in the second quarter and that it's selling more electronic books than hardcover editions.  —  The pace of Kindle sales also has tripled since …

Opposing view on the Supreme Court: A big-government vision  —  After carefully reviewing Elena Kagan's record and testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, I must oppose her nomination.  —  OUR VIEW: Kagan deserves bipartisan backing, but won't get it