On the right, hateful words are fired like bullets  —  I still ride a bike.  I do 12 miles, several days a week, and as I do so I listen to music — the Pandora service on my iPhone.  I have created a station that plays folk rock.  Lately, it has repeatedly played the Neil Young song “Ohio” …

NFL asks Feingold to take down ad  —  The National Football League has asked the Russ Feingold campaign to take down a newly released ad that uses footage from NFL games.  —  NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told the Journal Sentinel that the league did not license the footage used in the ad.

Democrats gain in poll but GOP still leads as midterm elections near  —  Less than a month before the midterm elections, the political landscape remains strongly tilted toward Republicans, although Democrats have made modest improvements with voters since their late-summer low point, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Joe Miller's wife took unemployment benefits after working for him  —  U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miller confirmed Monday night that his wife — once hired to work as a part-time clerk for the same Alaska court in which he was serving as a U.S. magistrate judge — went on unemployment after she left the job.

Fox News Polls: GOP Poised to Gain or Hold Senate Seats in Key States  —  Democrats have a mountain to climb in West Virginia.  —  The latest Fox News battleground state surveys of five key states shows Republicans in good position to gain two seats and hold two seats left open by GOP retirements.

Howard Kurtz Joins The Daily Beast  — trending topics - INNOVATORS SUMMIT - GET AMERICA BACK TO WORK - ELECTION ORACLE - FACEBOOK MOVIE - FASHION WEEK  —  Media and investigative reporter Howard Kurtz joins The Daily Beast as Washington Bureau Chief.  —  The Daily Beast turns two tomorrow …

The output gap in two graphs  —  Neil Irwin (with graphics help from Alicia Parlapiano) has a series of interactive graphs explaining both what's wrong with the economy and how long it will take to fit itself at different rates of growth.  I've copied one of the first atop this post, and this comes from Neil's introduction:

Campaign watchdogs want IRS to probe Rove's American Crossroads  —  Two campaign finance watchdogs have asked the IRS to investigate a conservative group backed by Karl Rove.  —  Democracy 21 and the Campaign Legal Center argue Crossroads GPS, a conservative group spending heavily …

Hoffman drops out  —  A reader forwards this email from the NRCC about Doug Hoffman pulling out of the race in NY-23, which is hard to see as anything but a massive headache for Democratic Rep. Bill Owen and a major gain for Republican Matt Doheny:

Missouri Tea Partiers, Joe The Plumber Join Movement Against ‘Radical’ Anti-Puppy Mill Legislation  —  Dog bites man or man bites dog?  —  A conservative group in Missouri is picking up the backing of the Tea Party and Joe The Plumber in its quest to stop the Humane Society of the United States …

Bachmann foe: She isn't doing ‘@#%!’  —  So long, Minnesota Nice.  —  Rep. Michele Bachmann's Democratic opponent is going off color with a new ad using an expletive to describe her service to the district.  —  In a web-only 30-second video posted Monday, Democrat Tarryl Clark accused Bachman …

Exclusive: Foreign-Funded ‘U.S.’ Chamber Of Commerce Running Partisan Attack Ads  —  The largest attack campaign against Democrats this fall is being waged by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a trade association organized as a 501(c)(6) that can raise and spend unlimited funds without ever disclosing any of its donors.

Ways of Looking at Bank Profits  —  Annie Lowrey reports on yesterday's conference on financial regulation implementation: … I think some of this interest in financial sector profitability is a bit misguided, but since people want to lay down markers in this regard I think it's worth trying …

Latinos and the 2010 Elections: Strong Support for Democrats; Weak Voter Motivation  —  In a year when support for Democratic candidates has eroded, the party's standing among one key voting group-Latinos-appears as strong as ever.  Two-thirds (65%) of Latino registered voters say they plan …

When Titans Clash  —  Another day, another software patent verdict: … Of course Apple doesn't like this verdict, but it's important to understand that the real victim here isn't Apple but hypothetical future Apple competitors who now will only be able to include “cover flow” functionality if they pay a ransom to David Gelertner.

New MCall/Muhlenberg poll: Toomey up by 7  —  The two Republicans running for statewide office in Pennsylvania maintain their solid leads exactly four weeks before Election Day, according to a new Morning Call/Muhlenberg College released Tuesday.  —  Among likely Pennsylvania voters …

Shultz to Obama: 'You're out of your mind'  —  Former secretary of state blasts Afghan withdrawal date  —  Reagan-era Secretary of State George Shultz blasted President Obama Monday night for his scheduled July 2011 date to begin withdrawing U.S. forces from Afghanistan.

TRENDING: Obama-Clinton ticket ‘on the table’  —  (CNN) - Some called a Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton pairing the “Dream Ticket” in 2008.  It didn't happen.  —  But what about 2012?  —  “It's on the table,” veteran Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward told CNN's John King in an interview for John King …

Why Christine O'Donnell's New Ad Might Work  —  It begins with the candidate, to camera, announcing to voters that she, Christine O'Donnell, is not a witch.  One's temptation at this point would be to stop right here and begin to laugh like a hyena at a comedy show featuring the Dave Chappelle of hyenas.

The Bill Gates Income Tax  —  If Washington's most famous billionaires are really worried about their state's finances, they'd write personal checks to the government and leave everyone else alone.  —  Framed on a wall in my office is a personal letter to me from Bill Gates the elder.

That's Where the Money Is  —  It's beyond astonishing to me that John Boehner has a real chance to be speaker of the House of Representatives.  —  I've always thought of Mr. Boehner as one of the especially sleazy figures in a capital seething with sleaze.

The Soft Side  —  By now everyone has an image of Rahm Emanuel.  He's the profanity-spewing political street-fighter.  He's the guy who once sent a dead fish to a political opponent.  This past week, “Saturday Night Live” spoofed him as an abrasive pit bull.

Mormon Prophesy Behind Glenn Beck's Message  —  What's Your Reaction:  —  In one of his first appearances on Fox News, Glenn Beck sent a coded message to the nation's six million Mormons — or at least those Mormons who believe in what the Latter-day Saints call “the White Horse Prophecy.”

GOP Rep. Cao ‘Hurt’ After Obama Endorses Dem, Warns of Opponent's Ethics History  —  Republican Rep. Joseph Cao — in an act of either selfless concern or political expediency — says he “must” warn President Obama that the Democratic candidate he's endorsed in the race has a history of ethical problems.