Observer Exclusive: Newsweek and Daily Beast to Merge  —  Newsweek and The Daily Beast will announce tomorrow morning that the two publications will merge, a source close to the deal tells The Observer.  —  It will be a 50-50 merger of the two companies.  The editorial staffs will combine under …

Many deficit commission staffers paid by outside groups  —  The leaders of President Obama's deficit commission sparked criticism from both sides of the political aisle Wednesday for proposing broad cuts to federal programs.  —  But the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform …

Should this ballot count?  —  Floyd Brown, the man responsible for the “Willie Horton” television ad that helped derail the Michael Dukakis presidential campaign in 1998, has signed up for the Joe Miller campaign.  —  Brown is here in Juneau today for the write-in ballot review and he has called …

2012 Contenders to Bet Against  —  I'm not quite sure whom I'd call the odds-on favorite to capture the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.  But I have a pretty good idea of who I'd bet against.  —  The table below compiles a number of statistics related to prospective G.O.P. candidates in 2012.

I Owe Bruce Bartlett an Apology  —  Back when Bush 43 was President, I was a huge fan of Bruce Bartlett.  I especially loved his book Impostor.  But when Bartlett broke with the Republicans back in 2008, it seemed to me that he had gone “from being inside the tent pissing out to being outside the tent pissing in.”

Some Muslims Attending Capitol Hill Prayer Group Have Terror Ties, Probe Reveals  —  An Al Qaeda leader, the head of a designated terror organization and a confessed jihadist-in-training are among a “Who's Who” of controversial figures who have participated in weekly prayer sessions …

Sarah Palin plans heartland tour  —  Sarah Palin — accompanied at times by family members — later this month will launch a nine-day, 16-stop signing tour for her new book, “America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith, and Flag.”  —  Among the destinations sure to get buzz: Des Moines and Spirit Lake, Iowa.

Glenn Beck's “monstrous” Soros accusations rile Holocaust survivors, Jewish groups  —  Fox news commentator Glenn Beck may have thought he had an easy target in the controversial financier George Soros - but he didn't reckon with Jews who care about Holocaust remembrance and don't take kindly …

Rep.-elect West says conservative talk radio host won't be his chief of staff  —  Rep.-elect Allen West (R-Fla.) announced Thursday that a controversial radio host would not serve as his chief of staff after all.  —  West said in a statement that Joyce Kaufman, the conservative radio talk show host …

Sources: Pelosi Says Obama Must Be ‘Perfect’ to Win Again  —  Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Democratic leaders Wednesday afternoon that President Barack Obama has to be “perfect” to win a second term, several senior Democratic aides told Roll Call.  —  Pelosi told leaders on a conference call …

Chris Christie's Star Turn Raises National Prospects, Nearly $9 Million for GOP … The unlikely emergence of Chris Christie proves once again that you can never tell who is going to take off in the public imagination.  The New Jersey governor not only rocked on the 2010 campaign trail …

Does This Google Veterans Day Logo Look Muslim to You?  —  Boy howdy, Google has done it now!  The company's special Veterans Day logo this year, you see, features a mysterious crescent shape.  And you know who loves crescent shapes?  The Muslims.  Yeah, some people are actually upset about this.

Mixed Reactions to Republican Midterm Win  —  Public Less Happy Than After 2006 and 1994 Elections  —  The public, voters and non-voters alike, has a subdued reaction to the Republican Party's midterm election victory.  Four years ago, the response to the Democrats regaining full control …

It's “Otb” Time: One-Term Barack  —  The wreckage of the Democratic Party is strewn just about everywhere.  President Obama's carefully constructed 2008 Electoral College breakthrough is now just broken, a long-ago memory of what might have been a lasting shift in partisan alignment.

How Joe Lieberman helped the Democrats lose the election  —  Since the election, there's been a lot of talk about what President Obama and the Democratic leadership could've done differently.  I offered six ideas here.  But there's been rather less discussion of what individual legislators could've done differently.

POLITICO, NBC News co-host first 2012 debate at Reagan Library  —  Former first lady Nancy Reagan announced plans Thursday to invite the leading Republican contenders to the first debate of the presidential primary season, to be held at her late husband's presidential library and co-hosted by POLITICO and NBC News.

Cindy McCain does video opposing DADT, accuses ‘our government’ of sending signal that bullying is okay - her hubbie is the lead defender of DADT  —  John McCain is leading the filibuster against the “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” “repeal” legislation in the Senate (it's not an actual repeal, but we'll leave that for another time).

Media Matters Pays $86,000 In Auction To Have Lunch With Murdoch  —  What's Your Reaction?  —  facebook Twitter stumble reddit del.ico.us  —  Amazing  —  Inspiring  —  Important  —  Weird  —  WASHINGTON — In one of the more clever moments of issue advocacy in recent memory …

Before Clinton meeting, Cantor's one-on-one with Bibi  —  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York this morning, following yet another bumpy few days in U.S.-Israeli relations.  —  While the Obama administration has been scrambling …