POLL: Voters more likely to see Democrats as dominated by extremists  —  Likely voters in battleground districts see extremists as having a more dominant influence over the Democratic Party than they do over the GOP.  —  This result comes from The Hill 2010 Midterm Election Poll …

Why Christine O'Donnell Could Be More Dangerous Than Sarah Palin  —  Because she has the idiot bravado of the talk show regular.  —  I write this 2/3rds of the way into her “debate” with Chris Coons in Newark, Delaware.  Sarah Palin was wounded by Katie Couric and Charlie Gibson …

Whitney is ‘Whitey’ on some ballots  —  SPRINGFIELD — The last name of Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney is misspelled as “Whitey” on electronic-voting machines in nearly two dozen wards — about half in predominantly African-American areas — and election officials said Wednesday …

Judge allows states' healthcare suit to proceed  —  (Reuters) - U.S. states can proceed with their lawsuit seeking to overturn President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare reform law, a Florida judge ruled on Thursday.  —  U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson had already indicated at a hearing …

Since Dick Cheney shot him, Harry Whittington's aim has been to move on  —  AUSTIN — Nearly five years on, Harry Whittington still speaks with a slight flutter in his voice — a “warble,” he calls it, inadvertently choosing a bird metaphor.  His easy East Texas drawl changed forever …

Why Can't NPR Staff Go To ‘Rally To Restore Sanity’ Or ‘March To Keep Fear Alive’?  —  The answer is they can - if they are assigned to cover the events.  —  But news staff and others covered by NPR's ethics policy should not go.  —  We've received enormous attention from media …

Why don't the markets care about the foreclosure crisis?  —  The foreclosure mess really looks pretty bad.  Here's one vision of the worst-case, bad-case and even not-so-bad scenarios.  They're all grim.  Here's a “doomsday scenario.”  The words “TARP” and “two” are getting thrown around a lot …

Why the Reid-Angle debate matters so much  —  Debates, like newspaper endorsements, tend to be a slightly overrated commodity in politics.  —  Typically, debates are mundane affairs watched closely by small groups of partisans on each side — factors that virtually ensure they are not …

Unexpected Turns for Suit Over 'Don't Ask' Rule  —  The timing could not have been worse.  Just as the Log Cabin Republicans' lawsuit challenging “don't ask, don't tell” was finally racing out of judicial limbo in 2009, the group was in disarray.  —  The prominent gay and lesbian conservative organization …

Bankers Ignored Signs of Trouble on Foreclosures  —  At JPMorgan Chase & Company, they were derided as “Burger King kids” — walk-in hires who were so inexperienced they barely knew what a mortgage was.  —  At Citigroup and GMAC, dotting the i's and crossing the t's on home foreclosures …

Murkowski backers worry about spoilers  —  As Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) makes her write-in bid for Senate official, filing paperwork with state elections officials Wednesday, she faces a new concern—some backers worry that opponents are searching for a way to torpedo her campaign …

Pamela Geller and the bloggers of hate  —  My site gave Geller her ‘break’ on the web.  These days, I work hard to stop such extremists drowning out the moderate majority  —  If you happened to read the Sunday New York Times last weekend, you might have seen Anne Barnard and Alan Feuer's profile …

After O'Reilly's Rants About How ‘Muslims Killed Us On 9/11!’  Goldberg And Behar Storm Off Set  —  This morning, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly appeared on The View and chatted with the hosts about a variety of the day's issues.  At one point, the discussion turned to the topic of Park 51 …

Few signs at tea party rally expressed racially charged anti-Obama themes  —  A new analysis of political signs displayed at a tea party rally in Washington last month reveals that the vast majority of activists expressed narrow concerns about the government's economic and spending policies …

Capitalism Saved the Miners  —  The profit = innovation dynamic was everywhere at the mine rescue site.  —  It needs to be said.  The rescue of the Chilean miners is a smashing victory for free-market capitalism.  —  Amid the boundless human joy of the miners' liberation, it may seem churlish to make such a claim.

Blumenthal Opens Up Double-Digit Lead In Senate Race, Quinnipiac University Connecticut Poll Finds; Independent Voters Shift Back To Democrat  —  Reversing a months-long decline in his lead in the Connecticut U.S. Senate race, Democratic State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has opened up a 54 …

Mystery shiny objects floating over Manhattan spark UFO frenzy  —  A mysterious shiny object floating high over Manhattan's West Side set off a flurry of reports and wild speculation Wednesday that a UFO was flying over the city.  —  Police and the FAA said they began getting flooded …

Early Voting Off to a Fast Start in Democratic Areas of Ohio  —  What's Your Reaction:  —  Ohioans have been casting their ballots for the 2010 midterm elections since Sept. 28.  Voters in other states have also begun casting their ballots.  By and large, these ballots are dribbling in …

Yes, voters do care about secret cash funding elections!  —  It has become an article of faith among certain Beltway inside-game commentators that there's no way the Dem attack on secret money funding elections could ever have a prayer of working.  Surely the issue is too esoteric …

Gov. Barbour helps RGA rake in $31 million  —  There was a reason the Republican Governors Association delayed the release of its fundraising numbers — they were still counting the checks.  —  The committee announced Thursday it had raised a whopping $31 million in the third quarter.

Lower- and Middle-Income Spending Lowest Since January '08  —  Overall self-reported spending matches lowest level seen since tracking began in January 2008  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Lower- and middle-income Americans' self-reported average daily spending in stores, restaurants, gas stations …

India's richest man Mukesh Ambani moves into £630m home  —  The richest man in India, Mukesh Ambani, has moved into his new home in Mumbai which is 27 storeys high and worth £630m.  —  Ambani, his wife and three children have moved into the building which is named Antilia, after a mythical Island.

Islam and the West  —  There need not be a basic conflict — but we should resist their aggressions.  —  It is certainly time that the West considered systematically whether it has irreconcilable differences with Islam.  The belligerence of many Islamic spokesmen and the unassimilable quality …