Massachusetts: ‘Bottom has fallen out’ of Coakley's polls; Dems prepare to explain defeat, protect Obama  —  Here in Massachusetts, as well as in Washington, a growing sense of gloom is setting in among Democrats about the fortunes of Democratic Senate candidate Martha Coakley.

A Trade Center image in DSCC spot  —  A new ad from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee uses an unlikely symbol of Wall Street greed: the World Trade Center.  —  The image in the attack on Scott Brown for his alleged closeness to Wall Street pictures the Trade Center and the destroyed Marriott Hotel on its western side.

Cynicism on the excise tax  —  “Unions get a special two-year exclusion from the [excise] tax,” comments Megan McArdle.  “Presumably, the unions plan to go back and get their exclusion extended every few years.”  Tyler Cowen agrees with her, commenting that this will “increase the rate of unionization …

The Underlying Tragedy  —  On Oct. 17, 1989, a major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 struck the Bay Area in Northern California.  Sixty-three people were killed.  This week, a major earthquake, also measuring a magnitude of 7.0, struck near Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

What Karl Rove got wrong on the U.S. deficit  —  For its Topic A feature last Sunday, The Post invited a panel of political operatives to offer their advice to the Democratic Party on strategy for 2010 [Sunday Opinion, Jan. 10].  Improbably, one of the operatives asked was Karl Rove …

1/15: Dems Duke It Out for U.S. Senate Race In NY State...Gillibrand Leads Ford  —  Since news surfaced that former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford Jr. is thinking about challenging fellow Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand for U.S. Senate in New York, politicos statewide and nationally have been in a frenzy.

Testing the Waters: Santorum Makes It Official — By: Kathryn Jean Lopez  —  In a letter that went in the mail yesterday to his PAC, the America's Foundation, Rick Santorum talks about his concerns about Barack Obama's first year of “Change we can't afford.”

Pentagon Report on Fort Hood Shooting Details Failures  —  WASHINGTON — The military's defenses against threats from inside its own ranks are outdated and ineffective, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said on Monday as he described the findings of an Army review of the Nov. 5 shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas.

One year out: President Obama's fall  —  What went wrong?  A year ago, he was king of the world.  Now President Obama's approval rating, according to CBS, has dropped to 46 percent — and his disapproval rating is the highest ever recorded by Gallup at the beginning of an (elected) president's second year.

‘Very angry’ Dem sounds alarm  —  Democrats moved closer to a final deal on health care reform Thursday — and for some vulnerable members, the end can't come soon enough.  —  In an emotional talk with other Democrats on the Ways and Means Committee this week, North Dakota Rep. Earl Pomeroy …

Bankers Without a Clue  —  The official Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission — the group that aims to hold a modern version of the Pecora hearings of the 1930s, whose investigations set the stage for New Deal bank regulation — began taking testimony on Wednesday.

Rush ‘meant’ what he said about Haiti  —  Rush Limbaugh is not backing down from his claim that President Barack Obama is trying to score political points off the earthquake in Haiti.  —  Challenged by a caller during his show Thursday, Limbaugh said: “If I said it, I meant to say it …

The Four-Month Supermajority  —  In the final stretch of the Massachusetts special election for Senate, Republican candidate Scott Brown has focused on “restoring balance” to Washington.  He'll be the “41st vote” to filibuster legislation; the Democrats' hold on 60 votes has let liberals run the country into the ground.