What Did I Tell You About Her?  —  Christine O'Donnell's first TV ad of the general election campaign:  —  The American Spectator, July 27: … With a smile like that, she's awfully hard to hate.  The Castle campaign tried to demonize her and it backfired.  Maybe Baldy the Tax-Hiking Wanker will have better luck.

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.

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” …

The wreck of the Jim Oberstar?  —  In “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” Gordon Lightfoot refers to “the gales of November” on Lake Superior.  In Minnesota the shores of Lake Superior lie within the Eighth Congressional District.  According to a poll conducted by Public Opinion Strategies …

Mondale to Obama: Ditch the ‘idiot boards’  —  Former Vice President Walter Mondale suggested in an interview today President Obama stop relying on “idiot boards” — teleprompters, that is — to deliver his message to the American people.  —  “He uses these idiot boards to read speeches in television …

With Tagline, MSNBC Embraces a Political Identity  —  MSNBC, once the also-ran but now the No. 2 cable news channel, has a new tagline that embraces its progressive political identity.  —  The tagline, “Lean Forward,” will be publicly announced Tuesday, opening a planned …

Glenn Beck: Can abortion be a kindness?  —  Audio Available:  —  GLENN: The first thing I want to play for you, though, however, is an interview from an environmentalist who is on the BBC yesterday and she's talking about the compassionate thing today.  She believes the compassionate that abortion is compassionate.

Frank's Own Battle Erodes Help for Fellow Democrats  —  It's the kind of political year in which even Rep. Barney Frank is being forced to break a sweat.  —  The Massachusetts Democrat, one of Congress's most well-known members, usually wins re-election by steamrolling his opponents.

Obama: Fiscal Situation “Untenable”  —  You don't say, Mr. President. … Keen government observers and other Jane's Addiction fans know what's coming next: The big “but”: … A-ha.  Because nothing says “competitive edge” like “doubling spending while failing to improve results.”

Inside The Shadow GOP  —  A network of independent Republican allies represent the leading edge of the new world of campaign finance.  —  by Peter H. Stone, Center for Public Integrity  —  For many powerful GOP operatives and allied fundraisers, the luncheon last April felt like one part reunion …

Sen. Murkowski Asks Alaska Stations Not to Air Tea Party Ads  —  JUNEAU, Alaska — U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski's campaign is warning Alaska broadcasters not to air ads by a national tea party group that the campaign says are “littered with lies and intentional mischaracterizations” about her and her write-in campaign.

Midwest Democrats rip Senate foes  —  Three Midwestern Democrats launched biting ads against GOP Senate candidates Tuesday, targeting the Republicans with variations on this message: My opponent is an unethical insider who just can't be trusted.  —  Indiana Rep. Brad Ellsworth …

Hacker infiltration ends D.C. online voting trial  —  Last week, the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics opened a new Internet-based voting system for a weeklong test period, inviting computer experts from all corners to prod its vulnerabilities in the spirit of “give it your best shot.”

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 …

Rail Service Expansion Imperiled at State Level  —  Republicans running for governor in a handful of states could block, or significantly delay, one of President Obama's signature initiatives: his plan to expand the passenger rail system and to develop the nation's first bullet-train service.

Federal judge charged with buying drugs from stripper  —  A longtime federal judge was freed on a $50,000 bond Monday after his arrest on federal charges that he bought cocaine and other illegal drugs while involved in a sexual relationship with an exotic dancer for the past several months.

U.S. Military Orders Less Dependence on Fossil Fuels  —  With insurgents increasingly attacking the American fuel supply convoys that lumber across the Khyber Pass into Afghanistan, the military is pushing aggressively to develop, test and deploy renewable energy to decrease its need to transport fossil fuels.

Elections are likely to trim number of women in Congress  —  GLENWOOD, Ark. — Blanche Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1992, a time when women gained so much ground in the House and Senate that it was dubbed the “Year of the Woman.”  —  Now, the Arkansas senator, who faces Republican John Boozman …

Wanted: More Fraud, Abuse in Government Spending  —  A new government report says the stimulus was virtually free of waste, fraud, and abuse.  This is supposed to be good news.  I'm not so sure.  —  The report, which Vice President Joe Biden officially delivered to the president on Friday …

Who's Got West Wing Juice?  Look to Flickr  —  Pete Rouse has a lot of work to do if he wants to match the influence that Rahm Emanuel had as President Obama's chief of staff.  —  That's the conclusion from a highly unscientific survey of the White House Flicker feed …

Cuccinelli reissues global warming subpoena to U-Va.  —  Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has sent a new civil subpoena to the University of Virginia, renewing a demand for documents related to a work of a former university climate scientist that was stymied when a judge blocked his previous request in August.

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.

National Review Writers Defend County Whose Subscription-Only Firefighters Watched Home Burn Down  —  As ThinkProgress reported earlier this morning, South Fulton firefighters from Obion, Tennessee, last week stood by and watched as a family's home burned down because their services were available …

How to Keep Your Seat 101: Don't mention that you're a Democrat  —  With voters in an anti-incumbent mood and a national headwind against their party, some freshman Democrats are touting themselves as unaffiliated outsiders — and it may help them win reelection.