Clarence Thomas's Wife Asks Anita Hill for Apology  —  WASHINGTON — Nearly 20 years after Anita Hill accused Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment during his contentious Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Justice Thomas's wife has called Ms. Hill, seeking an apology.

‘Obama Has Turned Out to Be an Utter Disaster’  —  Karl Rove was one of President George W. Bush's closest advisers.  SPIEGEL spoke with the political analyst about the widespread anger against Barack Obama and the prospects of Tea Party success in the coming midterm elections.

Secretive Republican Donors Are Planning Ahead  —  A secretive network of Republican donors is heading to the Palm Springs area for a long weekend in January, but it will not be to relax after a hard-fought election — it will be to plan for the next one.  —  Koch Industries …

Pelosi's Favorable Rating as Speaker Drops to 29%, a New Low  —  Nearly 6 in 10 independents now view her unfavorably  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's favorable rating is down seven percentage points since May to 29%, a new low for her since assuming the top congressional post.

Poll: Joe Sestak overtakes Pat Toomey  —  New U.S. Senate poll shows Democrat with three-point lead.  —  WASHINGTON — Joe Sestak has pulled ahead of Pat Toomey after trailing for months in their closely watched Pennsylvania U.S. Senate race, an independent poll confirms.

GOP in Lead in Final Lap  —  A vigorous post-Labor Day Democratic offensive has failed to diminish the resurgent Republicans' lead among likely voters, leaving the GOP poised for major gains in congressional elections two weeks away, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.

Britain Details Radical Cuts in Spending, Citing Debt  —  LONDON — Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer unveiled the country's steepest public spending cuts in decades on Wednesday, sharply reducing welfare benefits and eliminating almost half a million public sector jobs over the next four years …

Sold-Out Crowd Gives Former President Bush Three Standing Ovations During Speech  —  Former President George W. Bush pulled back the curtain of the Oval Office and gave East Texans a picture of what his job was like during the high and low points.  —  With trademark humor and conviction …

Rachel Maddow at Most Shameless: Claims GOP Congressman ‘Received Advance Notice’ of Oklahoma City Bombing  —  “Lean Forward,” MSNBC's new slogan suggests.  The better to stick a shiv in your opponent's back.  —  Ethics-averse Rachel Maddow did exactly that on her MSNBC show last night.

Making Ignorance Chic  —  Casanova's rule for seduction was to tell a beautiful woman she was intelligent and an intelligent woman she was beautiful.  —  The false choice between intellectualism and sexuality in women has persisted through the ages.  There was no more poignant victim of it than Marilyn Monroe.

Barney Frank gives $200K to his campaign  —  Longtime Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank has given his re-election campaign $200,000 as he faces his toughest race in years.  —  A campaign finance report filed Tuesday showed that Frank, the chairman of the powerful House Financial Services committee, lent himself the money Tuesday.

Palin: ‘Queen Bee’ of GOP ‘Mean Girls’ Has Message for Times' Dowd |  On the Record  —  This is a rush transcript from “On the Record,” Oct. 18, 2010.  This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.  —  GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Today the Tea Party Express launched …

Alexi Giannoulias to Mark Kirk: ‘Were you shot at?’  —  Democratic Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias challenged Republican Rep. Mark Kirk at three different points Tuesday night to explain whether he had been shot at in a plane when he was serving in Iraq.  —  “The question, Congressman …

Obama to appear on ‘The Daily Show’  —  President is set to tape appearance on Oct. 27  —  WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is taking his campaign message to “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart.  —  White House spokesman Dan Pfeiffer says Obama is taping an appearance on Oct. 27, just days before the Nov. 2 elections.

Is Obama Skipping Temple Over Headgear?  —  From Russell Goldman and Jake Tapper:  —  On an upcoming trip to India, President Obama will skip visiting one of the country's most sacred shrines out of fear that wearing the requisite headgear might make him appear Muslim, according to reports from the United States and India.

Ex-boss: “We were relieved” when Joe Miller left  —  Alaska GOP Senate candidate and Tea Partier Joe Miller, who is already under fire for breaking ethics rules while working as an attorney in 2008, had a rocky tenure at an earlier job at a top Anchorage law firm, his former supervisor tells Salon.

Wall Street Bailout Returns 8.2% Profit Beating Treasury Bonds  —  The U.S. government's bailout of financial firms through the Troubled Asset Relief Program provided taxpayers with higher returns than they could have made buying 30-year Treasury bonds — enough money to fund the Securities …

You Knew They'd Hit The Wrong Markey Eventually  —  UPDATE #2: Rep. Ed Markey (the Democrat from Massachusetts — the male Markey) chimes in with his own quote: … UPDATE: We've created this handy-dandy tool that allows you to quickly figure out which Markey you are trying to discuss …

Dems Cut Members Adrift  —  The Democratic Congressional Committee is spending millions of dollars in key districts around the country on late independent expenditures, demonstrating the districts Democrats believe can be saved from a national wave — and the members the party believes …

Most Americans Say U.S. Is Too Politically Correct  —  It may not be politically correct to say it, but most Americans think the country's gotten too PC and see that as a problem.  —  A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 57% of Adults believe America today has become …