NPR Ends Analyst's Contract After Comments on Muslims  —  NPR has terminated its contract with Juan Williams, one of its senior news analysts, after he made comments about Muslims on the Fox News Channel.  —  NPR said in a statement that it gave Mr. Williams notice of his termination on Wednesday night.

Sestak Closes Gap In Pennsylvania Senate Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; But Voters Want Their Senator To Oppose Obama  —  The race for Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate seat is now a statistical dead heat with Republican Pat Toomey getting 48 percent of likely voters to 46 percent …

BREAKING: Ninth Circuit Stays DADT Injunction  —  A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has issued a temporary stay of U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips's Oct. 12 order in Log Cabin Republicans v. United States halting all enforcement of the military's “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy.

Climate Change Doubt Is Tea Party Article of Faith  —  JASPER, Ind. — At a candidate forum here last week, Representative Baron P. Hill, a threatened Democratic incumbent in a largely conservative southern Indiana district, was endeavoring to explain his unpopular vote for the House cap-and-trade energy bill.

It's not Ginni Thomas who deserves an apology  —  As a wife, I understand where Ginni Thomas is coming from.  —  In particular, as the wife of a husband who endured a far less bruising confirmation process and is now, as chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, far less the target of criticism, I feel her anger.

Majority says no ‘change’ under Obama, or change for the worse  —  A majority of voters in key battleground races say President Obama has either brought no change to Washington or has brought change for the worse.  —  In 10 competitive House districts, 41 percent of likely voters say Obama …

Obama's Approval Rating at New Low in Most Recent Quarter  —  His favorable rating and re-elect figures are also at new lows  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Barack Obama averaged 44.7% job approval during the seventh quarter of his presidency.  His average approval rating has declined each quarter since …

Coalition Routs Taliban in Southern Afghanistan  —  ARGHANDAB, Afghanistan — American and Afghan forces have been routing the Taliban in much of Kandahar Province in recent weeks, forcing many hardened fighters, faced with the buildup of American forces, to flee strongholds they have held for years …

ABC News Exclusive: Christine O'Donnell Stands Her Ground on First Amendment Statement, Blames Media for Distortions  —  The Delaware Senate Hopeful Regrets Her 'I'm Not a Witch' Ad, Says She'll Win in November  —  In an exclusive and far-ranging interview with ABC News …

Bob Guccione, Penthouse Founder, Dies at 79  —  Bob Guccione, who founded Penthouse magazine in the 1960s and built a pornographic media empire that broke taboos, outraged the guardians of taste and made billions before drowning in a slough of bad investments and Internet competition …

Majority of independent voters say Dem leadership is more left wing than they are  —  In another potentially troubling sign for Democratic candidates, three in five independent voters in key House districts say Congress's Democratic leadership is to the left of them on the political spectrum.

Niche Lawyers Spawned Housing Fracas  —  The paperwork mess muddying home foreclosures erupted last month.  But the legal strategy behind it traces to a lawyer's gambit in 2006 that has helped keep one couple in their home six years beyond their last mortgage payment.

John Roberts's America  —  COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — I wish Chief Justice John Roberts could spend a day and a night in the Rocky Mountains experiencing what his activist Supreme Court majority has dumped on the American voter in 2010.  —  The sludge flow from out-of-state, secretive political groups is unrelenting.

Citing Rep. Grayson's ‘gutter theatrics,’ GOP challenger refuses to debate  —  After Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) attacked his Republican challenger Dan Webster as “Taliban Dan” in a recent campaign ad, Webster is refusing to share the stage with him for a debate.

George Soros' “foreign” money  —  George Soros announced today that he was making his first-ever contribution to Media Matters, in the amount of $1 million.  Rush Limbaugh denounced this as “foreign money in American politics” and called Soros “a foreigner.”

Cindy Sheehan Goes Republican  —  After a fashion, anyway: She encourages Nancy Pelosi to debate her Republican opponent, John Dennis, and suggests that voters should take a look at him. … I talked to Dennis, who is happy with the quasi-endorsement — he, too, mentioned that he was backed by Gonzalez …

I hardly think my response is “black and white”  —  I mean, it's fairly reasonable to expect us to practice what we preach.  How is that an unreasonable demand?  And your differentiation between Russian and US policies is simplistic at best.  Torture in its various forms was systematic …

Democrats: McCain is violating campaign spending law bearing his name  —  The irony is hard to miss: Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the co-architect of one of the most sweeping campaign finance measures in U.S. history, was accused by Democrats on Wednesday of breaking that very law.

White House Dispatch: ‘Baby on Board’ in the Beast  —  Portland, Oregon (CNN) - The presidential limousine, known colloquially as ‘The Beast,’ carried what was probably one of its youngest passengers ever on Wednesday evening.  —  President Obama, who flew to Oregon as part …

Poll: Most Back Gays Serving Openly in Military  —  CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto.  —  With repeal of the military's “don't ask, don't tell” policy being hashed out in both Congress and the courts …

Bush defends bailout of financial firms  —  Former President George W. Bush said a decision to use taxpayer money to bolster the financial system in 2008 wasn't difficult and was needed to avoid an economic collapse.  —  “Depression, no depression,” Bush told about 2,000 people during …

Efforts to Prosecute Blackwater Are Collapsing  —  WASHINGTON — Nearly four years after the federal government began a string of investigations and criminal prosecutions against Blackwater Worldwide personnel accused of murder and other violent crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan …