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 …

THE HILL POLL: Republicans are up in 8 of 10 open House districts  —  Republicans are winning eight out of 10 competitive open House seats surveyed in a groundbreaking new poll by The Hill.  —  Taken on top of 11 GOP leads out of 12 freshman Democratic districts polled last week …

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 …

GOP Groups Launch Massive Ad Blitz  —  Alliance Spends $50 Million on Competitive House Races Where Democrats Have More Money Now  —  An alliance of Republican groups is launching a $50 million advertising blitz this week in a final push to help the GOP win a majority in the House …

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 …

Robert Gibbs, hypocritical transparency crusader  —  The controversy over Chamber of Commerce election funding raises a very real and important issue: the genuine threat posed to our political system by unknown funders who can pour massive amounts of money into negative ads while hiding who they are.

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 …

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 …

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 …

Wage cuts hurt, but they may be the only way to get Americans back to work  —  Last week, General Motors and the United Auto Workers announced agreement on a new two-tier wage structure that would allow the automaker to produce its next-generation subcompact car in Michigan rather than in South Korea.

The Christine O'Donnell fascination, examined  —  Tonight's Delaware Senate debate between marketing consultant Christine O'Donnell (R) and New Castle County Executive Chris Coons (D) will be carried live on CNN and co-moderated by the network's lead anchor Wolf Blitzer.

Obama's related to Palin  —  NEW YORK - President Barack Obama has family ties to none other than Sarah Palin, according to the genealogists at Ancestry.com, a discovery the family history site made when looking for connections between political foes.  —  And that's not all …

Raese, missile defense, and ‘lasers in the sky’  —  From NBC's Shawna Thomas and Carrie Dann  —  INWOOD W.V.— West Virginia Republican candidate John Raese on Tuesday outlined his focus on national defense by calling for an extensive laser-based missile defense system.  —  A very extensive one.

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 …

Sink continues to lead  —  Alex Sink continues to lead the Florida Governor's race by a 46-41 margin over Rick Scott.  —  The big story in this race is the independents.  In most states across the country Republicans are dominating with them but the intense unpopularity of Scott is making this contest an exception to that rule.

Preserving Retail Mix  —  Lydia DePillis reports on efforts to further constrain the quantity of bars and restaurants allowed to open in the District of Columbia: … In my view, the whole conversation around retail mix in this city (and most likely other cities around the country) …

Rand Paul's college letters: Asked whether gov't should combat discrimination, worshipped Ayn Rand  —  I've obtained several letters and Op eds that Rand Paul wrote to his school newspaper in the early 1980s, and they provide a glimpse into Paul's budding libertarian mind as he grappled with his early hostility towards government.

Truth Lies Here  —  How can Americans talk to one another—let alone engage in political debate—when the Web allows every side to invent its own facts?  —  THIS PAST AUGUST, the left-leaning San Francisco-based Web site AlterNet posted a remarkable scoop: members of a group calling itself …

MAINE: Nazi symbols spray-painted on Jewish Republican candidate's signs  —  Media Blackout!  —  From Eric Dondero:  —  Symbols of the National Socialist Party (NAZIs) such as the ones in the photo to the left, were recently spray-painted on signs of a Jewish Republican candidate for Maine State Senate.

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.

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 …

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.

Obama's outsized ego  —  Obama's arrogance problem isn't a matter of psychology but of strategy.  —  “That's all right, all of you know who I am,” President Obama joked last week when the presidential seal fell off his podium during a speech in Pittsburgh.

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.