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 …

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.

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.

Christopher Coates takes the stand  —  Former Department of Justice voting rights section chief Christopher Coates testified this morning before the Civil Rights Commission regarding the department's disposition of the case against the New Black Panther Party.

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 …

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 …

Zucker Announces Departure From NBC  —  Jeff Zucker, the chief executive of NBC Universal, told the company's employees in an e-mail Friday morning that he would step down from his position upon the completion of the takeover of NBC by Comcast.  —  The fate of Mr. Zucker …

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.

Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) — CNN President Jim Walton announced a major shakeup of CNN management Friday, replacing the head of CNN/US with a long-time CNN executive known for his business turn-around skills.  —  HLN head Ken Jautz takes over as executive vice president of CNN/US …

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.

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 …

Politically savvy Senators wanted middle class tax cut vote  —  Here's a depressing postscript to yesterday's decision by Senate Dems to postpone the vote on extending the middle class tax cuts: The most politically savvy Senators, the ones who are most involved in the politics of holding the Senate …

Visigoths at the gate?  —  When facing a tsunami, what do you do?  Pray, and tell yourself stories.  I am not privy to the Democrats' private prayers, but I do hear the stories they're telling themselves.  The new meme is that there's a civil war raging in the Republican Party.

Obama team uses flimflammery to inflate job numbers  —  Are you a financial adviser?  You may not know it, but you've got a green job.  Are you a wholesale buyer?  You've got a green job, too.  Or maybe you're a newspaper reporter.  You, too, have a green job — at least according to the Obama administration.

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 …

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.

November is Coming  —  Where do you stand?  —  Normally at RedState we post a brief description of any videos we post.  But this one ... you just have to watch it.  —  November.  It's coming.  —  Video created and produced by Ben Howe.

Loretta Sanchez: ‘The Vietnamese’ are after my seat  —  California Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez is attracting national criticism for saying during a recent Spanish-language interview that “the Vietnamese” are trying to wrestle away her seat.  —  “The Vietnamese and the Republicans are …

The Message It Will Send  —  TPM Reader VF: … A somewhat different take from TPM Reader BF: … Democratic - United States Congress - Politics - Parties - Barack Obama

GOP Senate Nominee John Raese: ‘I Made My Money The Old-Fashioned Way: I Inherited It’  —  Following the death of Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) this summer, a special election was called to serve out the remainder of his term in the Senate.  The November contest will pit Gov. Joe Manchin (D) against perennial candidate John Raese (R).