Downhill With the G.O.P.  —  Once upon a time, a Latin American political party promised to help motorists save money on gasoline.  How?  By building highways that ran only downhill.  —  I've always liked that story, but the truth is that the party received hardly any votes.

Liberal blogger directly confronts David Axelrod, accuses White House of “hippie punching”  —  Top Obama adviser David Axelrod got an earful of the liberal blogosphere's anger at the White House moments ago, when a blogger on a conference call directly called out Axelrod over White House criticism …

Colbert appearance causes mixed feelings  —  Comedian Stephen Colbert's scheduled appearance on Capitol Hill Friday elicited mixed reactions from lawmakers, with some grateful for his participation and others incensed he had been invited in the first place.  —  The star of Comedy Central's …

Liberal media goes on attack against GOP's Boehner  —  Tweet  —  The heat is on Republican leader John Boehner.  —  Liberal media outlets are trying to smear the highest-ranking Republican in the House just weeks before the midterm elections with a deal-breaking scandal before he has a chance …

Hidden Under Tax-Exempt Cloak, Political Dollars Flow  —  Alaskans grew suspicious two years ago when a national organization called Americans for Job Security showed up and spent $1.6 million pushing a referendum to restrict development of a gold and copper mine at the headwaters of Bristol Bay.

SENATE POLL: Senate race in dead heat between Reid, Angle  —  Race remains knotted with six weeks until election  —  U.S. Sen. Harry Reid and GOP challenger Sharron Angle tied with 43 percent of the vote in a new poll that suggests most Nevadans won't gamble on half a dozen other little known contenders.

Now He's Lost Margaret Carlson  —  Obama's problem goes far deeper than his insolent style.  —  If he's lost Margaret Carlson, he's lost Middle America.  Sorry if you disagree, but somehow, to our mind, that joke just never gets old.  Carlson, a fixture at Time magazine before jumping …

U. of Ill. denies William Ayers emeritus status  —  URBANA, Ill. — The University of Illinois on Thursday denied 1960s radical William Ayers emeritus faculty status after trustees Chairman Christopher Kennedy noted Ayers dedicated a book to, among others, the man who killed Kennedy's father, Robert F. Kennedy.

Iconography of the Pledge  —  The visual iconography of the Pledge to America is fascinating.  It's full of photos of what I think are Republican members of Congress meeting with real Americans to better understand their problems and their burning desire for large deficit-financed tax cuts for rich people.

Morning Jay: Goodbye to the Clinton Majority, Those Lucky Dems, and More!  —  1. Goodbye To The Clinton Majority?  Recently, Franklin & Marshall College put out a poll of Pennsylvania's 8th Congressional District, in the Philadelphia suburbs, that shows incumbent Democrat Patrick Murphy …

An appeal to Yale alumni  —  A group of Yale alumni has put together an insurgent campaign on behalf of Michael Horowitz ('64L) for the next election of an Alumni Fellow to the Yale Corporation.  The Yale alumni group has come together on the shared conviction that Horowitz's election …

Who Stands for Standing?  —  The legal doctrine of “standing,” as in standing to sue, doesn't usually get people's juices flowing — even people like newspaper editors who (take my word for this) tend to regard the topic as dry and technical, more suitable for courthouse geeks than general readers.

Volcker Spares No One in Broad Critique  —  Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker scrapped a prepared speech he had planned to deliver at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago on Thursday, and instead delivered a blistering, off-the-cuff critique leveled at nearly every corner of the financial system.

White House official visits UM  —  Sometimes, if you show up to your political science class, you can get your questions about domestic policy answered in person by a White House official.  —  Public Leadership Seminar- Political Science 391-is the only course in Missoula currently taught …

Chrysler Auto Workers Busted  —  Jefferson North Plant in Detroit  —  myFOXDetroit.com Staff - We're all rooting for the auto industry to come back stronger than ever.  It affects every one of us here in metro Detroit and across the country because it's so important to our economy.

Senate Republicans launch $1 million ad buy in West Virginia  —  1. The National Republican Senatorial Committee will launch ads in the West Virginia Senate race today, a seven-figure expenditure that strongly suggests the party thinks they can pull off an upset in the Mountain State.

Obama's Forgotten Base  —  This article appeared in the October 11, 2010 edition of The Nation.  —  Recommended by 1  —  There are precious few certainties in politics, but this fall we are faced with one of them: the Democrats will lose seats in the midterm elections.

Speech Hostile to Gays Constitutionally Unprotected, Speech Hostile to Whites Constitutionally Protected?  —  James E. Graves, Jr., a Mississippi Supreme Court Justice, has been nominated to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.  The Senate Judiciary Committee will be considering …

Christie faces off against heckler  —  (CNN) - New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie got tough with a heckler Wednesday during a Los Angeles town hall meeting with California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman.  —  Whitman, a Republican and the former CEO of eBay, was finishing her remarks …

We'll run on our record  —  Congressional Democrats on Thursday declared they would run on their legislative record this fall, rejecting former President Clinton's advice to counter a new Republican policy agenda with one of their own.  —  The Democrats' decision to run on what they have accomplished …

The Responsibility Deficit  —  One of the oddities of the current moment is that the country wants a radical change in government but not a radical change in policy.  —  On the one hand, voters are completely disgusted with Washington.  On the other hand, they have not changed their fundamental views on the issues.