CNN Poll: Perry still at top but Romney stronger vs. Obama  —  Washington (CNN) - Despite his performances in the two most recent Republican presidential debates, a new national survey indicates that Texas Gov. Rick Perry remains on top of the field in the race for the GOP nomination.

Obama mocks Perry, Republican debates  —  President Obama broadened his attack on Republicans Sunday night, firing an indirect shot at Texas Gov. Rick Perry and condemning audience members at recent Republican debates.  —  At a fundraiser in San Jose, Calif., Obama said that some in the audience might …

New gaffe: Obama confuses Jews with janitors  —  President Obama spoke to the Congressional Black Caucus awards banquet over the weekend.  —  Those folks will stick with him in 2012, of course.  —  But they've been somewhat miffed in recent months that the first post-partisan president …

Roger's Reality Show  —  First, Ailes dialed back the Tea Party talk.  Now he's turning the GOP race into a political X-Factor—and steering the election agenda one more time.  —  It was part political spectacle, part American Idol, part YouTube extravaganza, a pure Roger Ailes production …

Americans Express Historic Negativity Toward U.S. Government  —  Several long-term Gallup trends at or near historical lows  —  PRINCETON, NJ — A record-high 81% of Americans are dissatisfied with the way the country is being governed, adding to negativity that has been building over the past 10 years.

Cain nearly quit campaign before Florida straw poll, calls Obama a ‘liar’  —  ORLANDO, Fla. — Not everyone needs to go to Disney World to have fun in central Florida.  —  After one of Herman Cain's strongest showings yet at a Republican presidential debate Thursday, and two days …

Videos Show Police Using Pepper Spray at Protest on the Financial System  —  For a few moments on Saturday, the confrontations between the police and the protesters just south of Union Square in Manhattan seemed fairly typical.  People pushed, the police shoved and arrests were made …

Shutdown looms: Spotlight now on Senate after Boehner wrangled House GOP votes  —  With time running out, Congress returns Monday to try to pass a short-term funding measure to avert a government shutdown and avoid yet another market-rattling showdown over the federal budget.

Euro Zone Death Trip  —  Is it possible to be both terrified and bored?  That's how I feel about the negotiations now under way over how to respond to Europe's economic crisis, and I suspect other observers share the sentiment.  —  On one side, Europe's situation is really, really scary …

‘Outrageous’  —  A Rick Perry spokesman pushed back on President Obama's use of the Texas wildfires in a fundraising speech last night to criticize the GOP frontrunner as a climate-change critic.  —  “It's outrageous President Obama would use the burning of 1,500 homes, the worst fires in state history …

California Democratic Party among Solyndra's creditors  —  Out of the hundreds of out-of-work employees, vendors, investors and other creditors in the bankruptcy of government-backed solar-panel maker Solyndra LLC, one name stands out: the California Democratic Party.

Companies Get Gay-Rights Heat Over Christian Donations  —  The culture war over gay rights has entered the impersonal world of e-commerce.  —  A handful of advocates, armed with nothing more than their keyboards, have put many of the country's largest retailers, including Apple, Microsoft …

‘Firefly’ and Anti-Fascism Posters Get Professor Threatened with Criminal Charges on University of Wisconsin Campus  —  A professor has been censored twice, reported to the “threat assessment team,” and threatened with criminal charges because of satirical postings on his office door.

Mearsheimer responds to Goldberg's latest smear  —  Ever since John Mearsheimer and I began writing about the Israel lobby, some of our critics have leveled various personal charges against us.  These attacks rarely addressed the substance of what we wrote — a tacit concession that both facts …

Review: Ron Suskind's Confidence Men  —  When I first learned in 2009 that Ron Suskind's next book was going to be about the making of a economic policy in the Obama administration, I looked forward to it.  Previous books about the making of economic policy had degenerated into unseemly hagiography …

Cocaine ‘blow’ to economy  —  Here's another sign of the stalled economy — New Yorkers are ditching their coke habits.  —  Cocaine-related emergency-room admissions, overdoses and requests for rehab have declined since the economy started its 2008 decline, according to data obtained by The Post.

Revenge of the Jews, or of the economy?  —  The American Jewish Committee's annual survey of its constituents (and this is American Jewish adults, not voters) is out today, and shows the sort of dramatic drop in support for Barack Obama that you've seen in a range of polls.

The bogus ‘third party’ dodge  —  Calling for a third party is a quick and easy way to get yourself booked for a round of cable TV appearances.  But many of those calling for a third party are refusing to reckon with an inconvenient fact: One of the two parties already occupies …