Michele Bachmann rally draws over 1,000 in Sarasota, but some prefer Rick Perry  —  SARASOTA — Hurricane Irene bypassed the state and spared Michele Bachmann's first campaign foray in Florida this weekend, but now she has to contend with Hurricane Perry.  —  Even as the Minnesota congresswoman …

Is Rick Perry dumb?  —  Another Texas governor who drops his “g's” and scorns elites is running for president and the whispers are the same: Lightweight, incurious, instinctual.  —  Strip away the euphemisms, and Rick Perry is confronting an unavoidable question: is he dumb - or just misunderestimated?

New CNN Poll: Perry sits atop GOP field  —  Washington (CNN) - A new national survey is further proof that Texas Gov. Rick Perry's entrance earlier this month into the race for the White House has dramatically altered the battle for the Republican presidential nomination.

Labor Economist to Fill Key Post  —  President Barack Obama on Monday plans to nominate Princeton University's Alan Krueger to be chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, a White House official said.  —  If confirmed by the Senate, Mr. Krueger, a labor economist …

Cantor: No Disaster Relief Funding For Hurricane Irene Without Budget Cuts  —  Despite the devastation caused by Hurricane Irene this weekend, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) today stood by his call that no more money be allocated for disaster relief unless it is offset by spending cuts elsewhere.

Joe McQuaid's Publisher's Notes  —  The waitresses at the Red Arrow Diner in Manchester weren't happy with the Mitt Romney picture they have on their wall of fame.  It's out of focus, they told him the other morning.  —  As he was about to leave, one of them grabbed him by the arm.

Dangerous White Stereotypes  —  ONE of the most noteworthy movies of the summer is “The Help.”  Set in Jackson, Miss., in the early 1960s, it focuses on the relationships between white upper-middle-class women and the black domestics who took care of them and their children.

Santorum: Gay community on ‘jihad’ against me for stance on marriage  —  Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum said the gay community has “gone out on a jihad” against him for his stance against gay marriage.  —  “So the gay community said, 'He's comparing gay sex to incest and polygamy …

American Theocracy Revisited  —  During George W. Bush's presidency, many liberal and secular Americans came to regard religious conservatives not merely as their political opponents, but as a kind of existential threat.  The religious right, they decided, wasn't a normal political movement.

Warren Jeffs In Coma, May Not Survive: Source  —  Warren Jeffs, the polygamous sect leader and convicted child rapist, is in a coma and may not survive, a source close to Jeffs tells ABC News.  —  Jeffs, 55, had been fasting for the past three days and became so weak that doctors …

Americans Rate Computer Industry Best, Federal Gov't Worst  —  Image of federal government is at an all-time low  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Americans view the computer industry the most positively and the federal government the least positively when asked to rate 25 business and industry sectors.

New Blue Nightmare: Clarence Thomas and the Amendment of Doom  —  Lord of the Rings aficionados know that the evil lord Sauron paid little attention to the danger posed by two hobbits slowly struggling across the mountains and deserts of Mordor until he suddenly realized that the ring …

Ugly?  You May Have a Case  —  Daniel S. Hamermesh, a professor of economics at the University of Texas, Austin, is the author of “Beauty Pays,” published this month.  —  BEING good-looking is useful in so many ways.  —  In addition to whatever personal pleasure it gives you …

Editorials: Dance of the duds  —  Miss him yet?  The candidates for his seat might make you.  —  The two candidates seeking to fill the Brooklyn-Queens congressional seat vacated by Anthony Weiner sat for interviews with the Daily News Editorial Board last week.  “Horribly dispiriting” is the capsule review of the sessions.

Teachers Get Little Say in a Book About Them  —  Can an education reform movement that demeans and trivializes teachers succeed?  It's hard to imagine, but that is what is going on in parts of America today.  —  In Steven Brill's new book celebrating the movement, “Class Warfare …

The City: Beijing  —  Ai Weiwei finds China's capital is a prison where people go mad.  —  Beijing is two cities.  One is of power and of money.  People don't care who their neighbors are; they don't trust you.  The other city is one of desperation.  I see people on public buses, and I see their eyes, and I see they hold no hope.

Administrators Ate My Tuition  —  Want to get college costs in line?  Start by cutting the overgrown management ranks.  —  No statistic about higher education commands more attention—and anxiety—among members of the public than the rising price of admission.

When the cost of victory is too high  —  Dick Cheney and Colin Powell are debating the run-up to the Iraq war in a messy public spat.  While the former vice president's memoir, “In My Time,” may be causing “heads to explode” all over Washington, most would probably agree that the world is a safer place with Saddam Hussein out of power.

One in four Democrats wants to dump Obama  —  A new poll by CNN and ORC International finds that 27 percent of Democrats would like to see their party nominate a candidate other than Barack Obama for president in 2012.  —  In response to the question, “Do you think the Democratic party …

Postal Service paying fewer workers to do nothing  —  The U.S. Postal Service, expecting $7 billion in losses this year amid slumping mail volume, is still paying thousands of its workers millions of dollars each year to do nothing.  —  But it's paying tens of millions of dollars less for …

Huntsman Corporation insider launches PAC  —  Is this the Huntsman family fund we've been waiting for?  —  Our colleagues at POLITICO Influence note today that a new independent expenditure committee, Our Destiny PAC, has been set up to support Jon Huntsman's presidential campaign.

How Irene Lived Up to the Hype  —  Do hurricanes receive too much media coverage?  Are they more or less newsworthy than airplane crashes?  The avian flu?  The iPhone 5?  Shark attacks?  The Dominique Strauss-Kahn case?  The Libyan civil war?  The royal wedding?  Global warming?  Anthony Weiner?

The Continuing Adventures Of Ron Paul, Cultural Conservative  —  If you described to me in loose terms a white southern Republican presidential candidate who's a strong social conservative nationalist, I wouldn't be even slightly surprised to learn that he also doesn't believe in evolution.