Education of a President  —  On a busy afternoon in the West Wing late last month, President Barack Obama seemed relaxed and unhurried as he sat down in a newly reupholstered brown leather chair in the Oval Office.  He had just returned from the East Room, where he signed the Small Business Jobs Act …

Exclusive: Chamber Receives At Least $885,000 From Over 80 Foreign Companies In Disclosed Donations Alone  —  Last week, ThinkProgress published an exclusive story about the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's foreign fundraising operation.  We noted the Chamber raises money from foreign-owned businesses for its 501 …

Christine at the ‘Frat House’  —  Voters get their best look yet at Tea Party star Christine O'Donnell in tonight's Senate debate.  Rebecca Dana talks to her neighbors about her burning ambition, feuds, and the Christian rocker she lives with.  —  Before Tea Party darling Christine O'Donnell came …

Anti-Obama billboard raises eyebrows  —  Caricatures are racist and homophobic, local Dems say  —  A Grand Junction billboard depicting President Barack Obama as a terrorist, a gangster, a Mexican bandit and a gay man is getting national attention.  —  The billboard, erected along …

Rove-backed group raised $13M since attacks from Obama  —  The GOP-aligned American Crossroads said Wednesday it has raised over $13 million since coming under attack from President Obama.  —  The group and its campaign affiliate, Crossroads GPS, said it had easily surpassed …

Great uncertainty still lies before us  —  For months, the narrative has been imprinted on our brains: Weighed down by an economy that still feels mired in recession and a president whose popularity is sagging as a result, Democrats face electoral Armageddon in November.

GOP governor hopeful Carl Paladino cashed in on Buffalo gay clubs Cobalt, Buddies II  —  Carl Paladino says kids shouldn't be “brainwashed” into thinking it's okay to be gay or be taken to a “disgusting” gay pride parade.  —  But he had no problem when his son, William, ran Cobalt …

Cell Phones and Election Polls: An Update  —  The latest estimates of telephone coverage by the National Center for Health Statistics found that a quarter of U.S. households have only a cell phone and cannot be reached by a landline telephone.  Cell-only adults are demographically …

The enormous mortgage-bond scandal  —  You thought the foreclosure mess was bad?  You're right about that.  But it gets so much worse once you start adding in a whole bunch of parallel messes in the world of mortgage bonds.  For instance, as Tracy Alloway says, mortgage-bond documentation generally …

Raese Mangles Ethnic Names, Calls Justice Sotomayor ‘Sarah Manorgan’  —  In an interview touting his plan to repeal the minimum wage, West Virginia GOP Senate candidate John Raese also slipped up by calling the man he wants to replace, Senator Carte Goodwin, by the wrong first name.

Michelle Rhee to announce resignation as D.C. schools chancellor on Wednesday  —  D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee will announce Wednesday that she is resigning at the end of this month, bringing an abrupt end to a tenure that drew national acclaim but that also became a central issue …

Exclusive: Court Document Details Congressman's Past Spousal Abuse  —  Ohio Democrat Congressman Charlie Wilson was first elected to Congress in the Democrat wave year of 2006.  Prior to that, he had been a long-time member of the Ohio state legislature, first elected to the Ohio House in 1996 and the Ohio Senate in 2004.

Dem's hippie ad: ‘Does not support Pelosi...voted with GOP 65% of the time’  —  As Democrats in conservative districts scramble to distance themselves from the national Democratic leadership, Georgia Rep. Jim Marshall outdoes the rest with what's a cultural attack ad aimed at contrasting him with Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

WH's Jarrett: Dead Gay Bully Victim  —  Made ‘Lifestyle Choice’  —  The last time I heard anyone use the obnoxious phrase “lifestyle choice” to describe a gay person's sexual orientation was during the Bill Clinton presidency when the gays were accused of wanting “special rights.”

White House Meeting for Black Journalists Doesn't Stay Off-The-Record for Long  —  The White House is usually quite good at keeping a muzzle on the media after one of its off-the-record sessions with President Obama and senior members of his administration.  —  But not this week.

Linda Norgrove: Navy Seal faces disciplinary action  —  Guardian learns commando hurled explosive device during rescue as he had not seen UK aid worker taking cover nearby  —  Startling details of the daring rescue mission that ended in the death of the British aid worker Linda Norgrove …

Dudley Says He “Was a Minority”; Black Lawmaker Disagrees  —  When Republican gubernatorial nominee Chris Dudley addressed the Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs' monthly “Coffee & Issues” breakfast on Sept. 24, he reprised a comment he'd made at an earlier interview with the Urban League of Portland.

Public Employees and Elections: A Conflict of Interest?  —  None of my family and friends is allowed to appear on Wheel of Fortune.  Same goes for my kids' teachers or the guys who rotate my tires.  If there's not a real conflict of interest, there is, at least, the appearance of one.

POLL: Majority of voters say they want a viable third party in American politics  —  A majority of likely voters think a viable third party would be good for American politics, according to a new poll of likely voters in 10 key open House districts.  —  Those voters are split, however …

Ex-Car Czar Said to Settle With S.E.C. in Pension Case  —  Steven Rattner, the former car czar, has agreed to a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over kickback claims involving the New York State pension fund, a person with knowledge of the negotiation said Wednesday.

GOP Congressional Candidate Walberg Suggests Using Impeachment To Get Obama's Birth Certificate  —  As ThinkProgress previously noted, Tim Walberg — a former GOP congressman and current Republican nominee for the House of Representatives from Michigan's seventh congressional district …

Just Admit it, Newspapers: You're Scared of Muslims  —  As Radley Balko noted in yesterday's Morning Links, the Washington Post and other newspapers pulled Wiley Miller's syndicated “Non Sequitur” cartoon from their comics pages two Sundays back, because Miller pulled a familiar-to-Reason-readers …

Majorities in U.S. View Gov't as Too Intrusive and Powerful  —  Independents largely side with Republicans in denouncing big government  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Record- or near-record-high percentages of Americans are critical of the size and scope of government, as measured by four Gallup trend questions updated in September.

JPMorgan exits electronic mortgage tracking system  —  NEW YORK - JPMorgan Chase's CEO says the bank has stopped using the electronic mortgage tracking system used by major financial institutions.  —  Lawyers have argued in court proceedings that the system is unable to accurately prove ownership of mortgages.