CNN/Time Poll: Blunt up 53-40 percent over Carnahan  —  (CNN) - Rep. Roy Blunt holds a double digit lead over Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan in the state's Senate battle, according to a new poll.  —  A CNN/Time/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Wednesday indicates …

Understanding and Misunderstanding the ‘Enthusiasm Gap’  —  I was an early adopter of the term “enthusiasm gap” in the context of this year's elections, having first applied it in August 2009 — a summer of town-hall protests and Tea Party rallies — to describe polling numbers for Democrats …

TWS Exclusive: Todd Palin Responds to Miller Flap  —  Yesterday, the anti-Palin blog Mudflats leaked an email that Todd Palin had sent to several people, in which he complained about something Alaska Republican senatorial candidate Joe Miller had (not) said about Sarah Palin's qualifications for the presidency.

POLL: Republicans lead widely, Dems in danger but race for the House tight  —  In a poll of 12 hotly contested races that could decide who controls the House in the 112th Congress, Republican challengers are beating freshman Democrats in 11 — and in the last one, the race is tied.

Judge Bars Major Witness From Civilian Terrorism Trial  —  Minutes before a major terrorism trial was about to begin, a federal judge barred prosecutors in Manhattan on Wednesday from using a key witness.  —  The government had acknowledged it learned about the witness from the defendant …

The .ly domain space to be considered unsafe  —  I would like to warn current and future owners of .ly domains of a concerning incident regarding the deletion of one of our prime domains ‘vb.ly’ by NIC.ly (the domain registry and controlling body for the Libyan domain space '.ly').  —  In short:

Latest poll on Delaware Senate, House races shows Democrats with commanding leads despite Tea Party Republican Effort  —  CONTACT: Andrea Boyle, University of Delaware media relations, 302-831-1421, aboyle@udel.edu  —  Newark, DE - Newark, DE - Four weeks before Election Day 2010 …

At Flagging Tribune, Tales of a Bankrupt Culture  —  In January 2008, soon after the venerable Tribune Company was sold for $8.2 billion, Randy Michaels, a new top executive, ran into several other senior colleagues at the InterContinental Hotel next to the Tribune Tower in Chicago.

The Tea-Partiers: Christianists, Not Libertarians  —  A survey shows that the Tea Partiers are mostly socially conservative.  Well: duh. … They are the hardest of the hardest core and the notion that they care about actually cutting spending as a key priority when none …

Apple Making Verizon-Ready iPhone by Year End  —  Apple Inc. plans to begin mass producing a new iPhone by the end of 2010 that would allow Verizon Wireless to sell the smartphone early next year, said people briefed by Apple.  —  The new iPhone would be similar in design to the iPhone 4 currently sold …

STUDENTS GET NAKED FOR HEALTH CARE  —  We all know that sex sells and the folks at Campus Progress are using that to their advantage in a new video promoting youth involvement in the upcoming midterm elections.  —  “Back off my Coverage!” features college students bemoaning their lack …

EX-CNN anchor Rick Sanchez releases statement, says comments “never intended to suggest any sort of narrow mindedness.”  —  Former CNN anchor Rick Sanchez just released a statement saying his comments from last week were not intended to be “narrow-minded” and “should not have been made.”

Voter Disgust Isn't Only About Issues  —  KEANSBURG, N.J. — If you tune in to any of this week's candidate debates around the country, or watch any of the ads that are beginning to dominate the airwaves, you will hear that next month's midterm elections are about all the things you probably thought …

Ohio Attorney General Sues GMAC, Seeks $25,000 per False Affidavit  —  This is big news.  I just got off a conference call with Richard Cordray, the Attorney General for the state of Ohio.  He has filed a lawsuit in Lucas County (Toledo) Common Pleas Court against GMAC Mortgage …

Romney Deathwatch, Continued  —  Politico has a good piece today on a subject I've been banging on for a while — the mortal blowinflicted upon Mitt Romney's presidential hopes by the health care debate.  In 2008, a system consisting of a regulated individual markets, an individual mandate …

Clinton laughs off VP rumors  —  (CNN) - Hours after White House press secretary Robert Gibbs poured cold water on the notion Hillary Clinton may take the VP slot ahead of the 2012 election, the secretary of state followed suit.  —  “I don't believe what I read,” Clinton said laughing during …

Panel commissioned by Barney Frank recommends nearly $1T in defense cuts  —  A panel commissioned by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) is recommending nearly $1 trillion in cuts to the Pentagon's budget during the next 10 years.  —  The Sustainable Defense Task Force, a commission of scholars …

U.S. Chamber broadens attack on Think Progress, alleges Soros-funded plot to silence business  —  With Dems seizing on Think Progress' allegations that U.S. Chamber of Commerce attack ads may be partly funded with foreign cash, the Chamber sends over its most detailed response yet to the charges …

Memo Hints at Name Change for MSNBC.com  —  NBC Universal and Microsoft, the parents of MSNBC.com, are holding high-level talks about a name change, something that could be a risky endeavor for the second most popular news Web site in the United States.  —  The two parents have determined …

MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell: Michael Steele is dancing for his GOP ‘master’ UPDATED  —  I don't believe in reading racial tea leaves just for political gain, but what was Lawrence O'Donnell thinking?  Here's how he described RNC Chairman Michael Steele on his MSNBC program tonight:

Democrats Look to Cultivate Pot Vote in 2012  —  Party Considers Legalization Efforts in Swing States Amid Signs California Measure Is Exciting Young, Liberal Voters  —  Democratic strategists are studying a California marijuana-legalization initiative to see if similar ballot measures could energize young …

Health vote haunts anti-abortion Democrats  —  On a chilly January morning in Erie, Pa., members of the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List stood outside Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper's office to thank her for opposing a health care bill that didn't include stringent abortion restrictions.

Do Jews Really Control the Media? … Like This Story … - In 2008, Ross Douthat Said the GOP Needed To Change To Win.  What Does He Say Now?  - Finally, the Feds May Crack Down on Loathsome, Predatory Payday Lenders- The Beauty and Horror of the Shiloh Battlefield- The Weird Chinese City …

Obama To Get Out of Dodge After the Election  —  More evidence Obama knows there will be a Democrat bloodbath at the polls: he has changed his schedule and is flying away for 12 whole days, just two days after election, and is going to the other side of the world.

Spaghetti Tacos: Silly Enough for Young Eaters  —  IT started as a gag: spaghetti tacos.  —  On an episode of the hit Nickelodeon series “iCarly,” the lead character's eccentric older brother, Spencer, makes dinner one night.  Glimpsed on screen, the dish consists of red-sauce-coated pasta stuffed into hard taco shells.

A diplomatic imbroglio: Ambassadors denied entry to White House party  —  From Elise Labott, CNN State Department Producer  —  Washington (CNN) — The White House has another party protocol problem on its hands after as many as 30 diplomats were stopped at the White House gate and not allowed …

‘Fairly Bad’ or ‘Very Bad’ Economic Assumptions  —  Don't look to Jan Hatzius, the highly respected chief economist at Goldman Sachs, for a pep talk on the near-term state of the economy.  As he writes in a client note today: … Yikes.  He says the “fairly bad” situation is more likely …