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 …

Debt Plan Ideas Draw Scorn of Liberals and Tea Party  —  WASHINGTON — By putting deep spending cuts and substantial tax increases on the table, President Obama's bipartisan debt-reduction commission has exposed fissures in both parties, underscoring the volatile nature and long odds …

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 …

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 …

Clinton Offers Netanyahu Security Pledge  —  U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel's security requirements will be fully taken into account in any future peace deal with the Palestinians.  —  Clinton and the visiting Israeli …

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.”

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 …

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).

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 Anti-Semitic Attacks  —  The Fox host's stunning two-day tirade against George Soros is a new low on American television.  Michelle Goldberg on the roots of his hatred—and the Anti-Defamation League's shameful silence.  —  Anti-Semitism, like all ideologies, tells a story about the world.

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 …

Bobby Jindal hammers Barack Obama in new book  —  NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal uses a new book to portray President Obama as disconnected from the Gulf oil spill, charging that he was more focused on the political aftermath than the actual impact of the crisis.

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 …

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.

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.