O'Donnell questions separation of church, state  —  WILMINGTON, Del. — Republican Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell of Delaware on Tuesday questioned whether the U.S. Constitution calls for a separation of church and state, appearing to disagree or not know that the First Amendment bars the government from establishing religion.

From Obama, the Tax Cut Nobody Heard Of  —  HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — What if a president cut Americans' income taxes by $116 billion and nobody noticed?  —  It is not a rhetorical question.  At Pig Pickin' and Politickin', a barbecue-fed rally organized here last week by a Republican women's club …

99 Dem House seats in danger  —  With two weeks remaining until Election Day, the political map has expanded to put Democrats on the run across the country - with 99 Democratic-held House seats now in play, according to a POLITICO analysis, and Republicans well in reach of retaking the House.

Pennsylvania Senate tied  —  You can put Pennsylvania Senate back in the toss up category.  Joe Sestak leads Pat Toomey 46-45 in our newest poll of the race, erasing the 9 point deficit he had in an August PPP survey.  —  Toomey's support has remained stagnant over the last 2 months …

Just Coming Right Out & Saying It  —  There are a lot of subterranean efforts afoot around the country right now to suppress the vote of various racial minorities.  But a group styling itself Latinos for Reform is taking a more straightforward approach: they're running ads in Nevada asking Latino voters simply not to vote.

U.S. Senate endorsement: John Raese  —  The nation is on the wrong track, and changing the Senate is essential  —  WEST Virginians must soon choose who will represent them in the U.S. Senate for the next two years.  The issue in the race is how Democrats have used their 59-41 majority …

That Sinking Feeling  —  Barack Obama seems to think he's done a pretty terrific job as president, but maybe he hasn't trumpeted his accomplishments effectively enough.  —  He told The Times's Peter Baker, in an interview for the Sunday magazine, “Given how much stuff was coming at us …

Albany Governor Debate Verges on Farce  —  The moderators' questions were frequently ignored.  The candidates barely looked at one another.  One wore black gloves and spoke of himself repeatedly in the third person.  And Andrew M. Cuomo, the Democratic candidate and the race's front-runner, at times struggled to suppress laughter.

Aqua Buddha prank victim: Jack Conway ad is “over the top,” but accurate, raises legit questions  —  Dem Jack Conway's new ad hammering Rand Paul over his college excesses is accurate on the facts, and it's legit to raise questions about his past views as a way of probing whether his current posture …

Rich professors doth protest too much  —  President Barack Obama plans to raise taxes on “the rich,” and he defines rich as those making more than $250,000 a year.  Two professors at prestigious universities have started brush fires on the Web during the past couple of weeks by taking issue and offering themselves as examples.

National Debt Up $3 Trillion on Obama's Watch  —  New numbers posted today on the Treasury Department website show the National Debt has increased by more than $3 trillion since President Obama took office.  —  The National Debt stood at $10.626 trillion the day Mr. Obama was inaugurated.

Helpless Liberals Watch as Obama Switches from Messiah to Demon  —  BEGIN TRANSCRIPT  —  RUSH: I don't care where you look today, folks.  Everywhere in the State-Controlled Media, this election is being reported as a Democrat disaster.  Anywhere from 55 to 70, maybe 80 seats in the House …

Citing health care law, Boeing pares employee plan  —  WASHINGTON - Aerospace giant Boeing is joining the list of companies that say the new health care law could have a potential downside for their workers.  —  In a letter mailed to employees late last week, the company cited the overhaul …

Crazy “Rent Is Too Damn High” Candidate Steals the Show at NY Gov. Debate  —  We told you that tonight's New York gubernatorial debate—with seven participants!—would be crazy, but we could have never anticipated this level of it: watch as Jimmy McMillan, of the “Rent Is Too Damn High” party, uh... introduces himself.

Gregg: Repeal not best tactic on healthcare law  —  A top Senate Republican suggested Monday night that the party's prevailing strategies to curtail the new healthcare law might not be good ideas.  —  Sen. Judd Gregg (N.H.), the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee …

GOP targets Harry Reid for living at the Ritz  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) Washington address has emerged as an issue in his race against Republican Sharron Angle.  —  The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) went up with its first TV ad in Nevada on Tuesday …

Obama the snob  —  After a series of ineffective public messages — leaving the political landscape dotted with dry rhetorical wells — President Obama has hit upon a closing argument.  —  “Part of the reason that our politics seems so tough right now,” he recently told a group of Democratic donors …

Lawsuit: CPS pushing Democrats  —  Three van loads of Hughes High students were taken last week - during school hours - to vote and given sample ballots only for Democratic candidates and then taken for ice cream, a Monday lawsuit alleges.  —  The complaint was made by Thomas Brinkman Jr. …

Ick-arus Syndrome  —  Do poor ratings for ‘Parker Spitzer’ mean viewers have yet to forgive the former governor?  —  “Struggling cable news net CNN has fallen to another 10-year low in terms of ratings,” MediaBuyerPlanner reported last week. … This isn't the way it was supposed to happen.

Why does Obama keep telling reporters there are ‘no shovel-ready projects’?  —  Perhaps I should've written this post before interviewing Jared Bernstein, the vice president's chief economist, on the same subject.  But if you read that interview closely, you'll see a White House that doesn't exactly …

Don't Follow the Money  —  Over the past few months, there's been a torrent of commentary about political donations and campaign spending.  This lavish coverage is based on the premise that campaign spending has an important influence on elections.  —  I can see why media consultants …

How the Media Blew the Midterms  —  Even top journalists were blindsided by Christine O'Donnell, don't get the Tea Party, and feel Obama's getting short shrift.  Howard Kurtz on what the mainstream press got wrong.  —  The media narrative by now is set in concrete: The voters are teed off …

Confusion was the word of the day on MSNBC's “Morning Joe” this morning when the panel questioned why so many women have been drawn to the Tea Party movement.  —  Co-host Mika Brzezinski, The New York Times' Sam Tanenhaus, CBS's Lesley Stahl, columnist Mike Barnicle, and Newsweek's Jon Meacham …

Troops chafe at restrictive rules of engagement, talks with Taliban  —  KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — To the U.S. Army soldiers and Marines serving here, some things seem so obviously true that they are beyond debate.  Among those perceived truths: Tthe restrictive rules of engagement …