What search trends tell us about Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party  —  When we launched our Political Trendspotters Contest last week, we heard from a number of users who wanted us to explore the trends around the Occupy Wall Street movement.  After spending many days in the top 20 terms on Google Trends …

TRENDING: Tea party group to Bachmann: Quit the presidential race  —  (CNN) - A tea party group has a surprising and harsh urging for long-time tea party favorite Michele Bachmann: Quit the presidential race.  —  “It's time for Michele Bachmann to go,” reads the first line of a statement from American Majority President Ned Ryun.

Perry's right: Republicans drowning in debates  —  Everyone knows why Texas Gov. Rick Perry wants to skip some of the coming Republican presidential debates.  He's a lousy debater, and the biggest single factor in his fall from front-runner to back-in-the-pack has been his poor performance in a number of high-profile debates.

White House turns the screws on Congress over 9 percent approval  —  A number of White House officials, sensing momentum on their side, blasted Republicans in Congress and on the campaign trail, mocking recent measures and Congress's 9 percent approval rating.

‘Bundlers’ for Obama Have Active Ties to Lobbying  —  WASHINGTON — Despite a pledge not to take money from lobbyists, President Obama has relied on prominent supporters who are active in the lobbying industry to raise millions of dollars for his re-election bid.

Republicans Nationwide Are Similar in Composition to 2008  —  Remain more likely to be conservative, married, and religious  —  PRINCETON, NJ — The Republican Party in 2011 looks similar, demographically and ideologically, to the Republican Party that nominated John McCain in 2008.

Perry, Romney to be in state today  —  MANCHESTER — Texas Gov. Rick Perry will bring his “re-booted” presidential campaign, complete with a new organizational hierarchy and a new plan for an optional flat tax, to New Hampshire today, but he won't have the first primary state to himself.

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll — October 2011  —  The October health tracking poll finds a more negative overall public mood about the health reform law, driven largely by changes in support for the law among Democrats.  The poll also asked the public's impressions of the Massachusetts health …

The Path Not Taken  —  Financial markets are cheering the deal that emerged from Brussels early Thursday morning.  Indeed, relative to what could have happened — an acrimonious failure to agree on anything — the fact that European leaders agreed on something, however vague the details …

The devil is in the details and the data  —  For many analysts combing over the three-part deal to restore confidence in the eurozone, the most important things were not what was in the agreement - but what was left out.  —  On almost every major issue, particularly the second €130bn Greek bail …

House schedule too light, say Democrats  —  The House will retain its pattern of working two weeks in Washington followed by a week of district work under its 2012 legislative calendar, released Thursday by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.).  —  The schedule calls for more weeks …

Free FreeBieber.org!  Fight for the Future Faces Bogus Legal Threats  —  Americans have a long history of using parodies and satire in their political and social debates.  Whether it's the Daily Show, the Onion, or books like The Wind Done Gone, humor and poking fun can have a powerful political impact …

Will Mitch McConnell's stiff-arm keep West Virginia out of the Big 12?  —  The most volatile issue in the Senate right now may not be the super committee's fight over budget cuts or the continued bickering over President Obama's jobs plan.  —  It's a subject far more personal …

For liberals, income inequality is the new global warming  —  Liberals think there are lots of ideas that intelligent Americans just aren't supposed to challenge.  If they do, they'll be labeled “deniers,” intentionally raising a nasty comparison to Holocaust rejectionists.  It's politics at its absolute lowest.

U.S. economy grows nearly twice as fast in 3rd quarter  —  The U.S. economy grew at its fastest clip in a year during late summer as consumers and businesses shrugged off fears of a new recession, according to government data released Thursday that helped drive the stock market to its best day since August.

Bully's Brutal Assault of Gay Ohio High School Student Caught on Camera: VIDEO  —  A student at Union-Scioto High School in Chillicothe, Ohio was brutally beaten this week by another student for being gay.  Class members watched as the bully waited for the student to arrive in the classroom …

REPORT: House GOP's ‘Job Creating’ Spending Cuts Destroyed 370,000 Jobs  —  House Republicans took the government to the brink of shutdown last spring by demanding across-the-board budget cuts to many vital programs.  Instead of focusing on job creation, as Americans wanted them to …