Divided We Fail  —  Barring a huge upset, Republicans will take control of at least one house of Congress next week.  How worried should we be by that prospect?  —  Not very, say some pundits.  After all, the last time Republicans controlled Congress while a Democrat lived in the White House …

Suspicious packages ‘contain explosive material,’ Obama says  —  For more coverage visit CNN affiliates WPVI and WABC.  Are you there?  Send pictures and video.  —  (CNN) — Suspicious packages found in at least two locations abroad that were bound for the United States …

Why is Assange still alive?  —  I'd like to ask a simple question: Why isn't Julian Assange dead?  —  In case you didn't know, Assange is the Australian computer programmer behind WikiLeaks, a massive — and massively successful — effort to disclose secret or classified information.

Angle poll data improve  —  Reid countering with huge effort to get out his voters  —  Positioned to pull off the biggest upset in the nation, GOP challenger Sharron Angle heads into Election Day leading Democratic incumbent Sen. Harry Reid by 4 percentage points, says a new poll for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and 8NewsNow.

Ohio McDonald's employees get voting instructions with their paychecks  —  If you work for this Canton, Ohio McDonald's franchise, you'd better be voting Republican if you know what's good for you.  —  Via ThinkProgress: … The “right people” are John Kasich, Rob Portman, and Jim Renacci for this franchisee.

Chris Coons camp: Gawker post about Christine O'Donnell ‘cowardly’  —  Delaware Democrat Chris Coons on Friday denounced as “cowardly” an anonymous Gawker post from a man claiming a drunken encounter with Republican Christine O'Donnell  —  “The Gawker item is despicable …

Swamping Murkowski  —  The latest from Alaska's procedural wars:  —  Just hours before the final deadline, more than 100 Alaskans came out Thursday to file as write-in candidates in an effort to thwart Sen. Lisa Murkowski's bid to retain her Senate seat.  —  At the urging of a local talk radio host …

Poll Shows Americans Don't Know GDP Grew With Tax Cuts and Bailout Profits  —  The Obama administration cut taxes for middle-class Americans, expects to make a profit on the hundreds of billions of dollars spent to rescue Wall Street banks and has overseen an economy that has grown for the past four quarters.

Crist Would Caucus With Democrats, Advisor Says  —  Florida Gov. Charlie Crist would caucus with Senate Democrats if he wins Florida's three-way U.S. Senate contest on Tuesday, a close advisor told Washington Wire Friday.  —  That's a big “if.”  Mr. Crist is trailing Republican candidate Marco Rubio in most polls.

Alabama Supreme Court Justice Compares DADT Judge To Al-Qaeda  —  Justice Tom Parker (center) poses with the leaders of two hate groups  —  Alabama Supreme Court Justice Tom Parker, a disciple of disgraced former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, released a campaign ad comparing the judge …

Pelosi, Among Others, Could Exit if Dems Lose House  —  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrives for a press conference on Capitol Hill to discuss Democratic accomplishments during the past congressional session  —  As Nancy Pelosi goes, so might a generation of her colleagues.

Senator David Vitter refuses to say if he broke law  —  Louisiana Democrats are seizing on Republican Sen. David Vitter's repeated refusals during a debate to say whether he broke the law in connection with a prostitution ring in Washington, D.C.  —  The state Democratic Party on Friday launched …

Farewell to ‘Precinct Reporting’  —  For as long as anyone can remember, television networks and the Associated Press have reported votes on election night by saying, “With x percent of precincts reporting ...” But, this method of reporting election results is about to go the way of the VCR.

Tea Party or No, Palin's Popularity Still Lags  —  Sarah Palin's interest in the presidency is not being reciprocated by most Americans: Two-thirds of registered voters in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll say she's unqualified for the job, and more than half continue to rate her unfavorably overall.

GOP Insurgents May Disrupt Leaders' Plans and Go Rogue  —  DLHawthorne  —  I wish ‘gridlock’ was all it is, but I am afraid that the vast majority of people (left, right, and fringe) do not understand that we are rapidly approaching the threshold of political collapse.

4-Year-Old Can Be Sued, Judge Rules in Bike Case  —  Citing cases dating back as far as 1928, a judge has ruled that a young girl accused of running down an elderly woman while racing a bicycle with training wheels on a Manhattan sidewalk two years ago can be sued for negligence.

Woman Receives Death Threats Days After Beck Targets Her On His Show  —  The League of Women Voters has filed complaints with police in Evanston, IL and the FBI saying that one of their officials has been targeted by death threats relating to a candidatess debate she moderated last week.

Most troops wouldn't oppose serving with gays  —  A majority of active-duty and reserve service members surveyed by the Defense Department would not object to serving and living alongside openly gay troops, according to multiple people familiar with the findings.

Report: Justice Department tried to hide officials involvement in dismissing voter-intimidation lawsuit  —  The Justice Department has tried to hide the involvement of high-level political officials in the dismissal of a controversial voter-intimidation lawsuit against members of the New Black Panther Party …

Attack Ads, Circa 1800  —  Have this year's negative political ads really “taken dirty to a whole new level, as CNN's Anderson Cooper frets?  Is a “return to civility...a relic of a bygone era,” as President Barack Obama laments?  —  Er, not exactly.  —  If anonymous political speech …