Paul Krugman, New York Times
Next week, President Obama is scheduled to propose new measures to boost the economy. I hope they're bold and substantive, since the Republicans will oppose him regardless — if he came out for motherhood, the G.O.P. would declare motherhood un-American. So he should put them on the spot for standing in the way of real action.But let’s put politics aside and talk about what we’ve actually learned about economic policy over the past 20 months.

Politico - Republicans will have no women in Senate leadership after Murkowski loss.

Cynthia Tucker - WASHINGTON -- Glenn Beck is a talented huckster, a shrewd survivor who may be in the middle of another self-reinvention. This time, he seems bent on remaking himself as one of the oldest of the stock all-American characters: the Elmer Gantry-like preacher-performer.

In every country, the elections are proven to be tense times where politicians do their best to persuade people to gain their trust and their votes as well. Who wouldn’t want to gain a seat in the government of one of the most powerful and influential nations of the world? But perhaps the most popular method for campaigning is through the use of ads. While campaign ads are practically legal and normal, there have been reports of an overall increase in the usage of ads in a negative way.

Several politicians and political groups have used attack ads to challenge their counterparts and even ruin their reputations. Figures show that candidates for state and federal office had spent over $395 million for ads compared to $286 on the year 2006. The intriguing fact is that more than half ads are offensive or negative. Political parties have increased the usage of negative ads while spending $150 million for it.

Evan Tracey, president of CMAG who tracks political ads, said that figures clearly indicate the need for political groups and their allies to quickly define their opponents and stage an engaged electorate. Candidates who do not follow this kind of strategy will most likely lose the election. This is alarming news indicating the sudden rise of negative ads to easily gain a seat and power in government.

Murkowski, the daughter of a former Alaska governor and senator, was targeted by campaign ads that were funded by the tea party movement in behalf of her challenger, lawyer Joe Miller. The Tea Party reportedly spent about $ 590,000 for the ads with about $ 400,000 during the final two weeks of the campaign period. The ads showed that Murkowski was liberal Washington insider who was not fully commited to opposing Pres. Obama’s proposed health care reform bill. Because Murkowski refused to respond to the ads, she now trails Miller in votes.

In the Florida race, Rick Scott and Bill McCollum spent over $70 million for their campaign ads alone. Scott, the one who built the giant Columbia/HCA hospital chain in the 1990s, financed his own campaign, airing ads that directly targeted McCollum’s stinking record. Not long after, McCollum and his allies fought back citing Scott’s forced resignation from his hospital chain especially during a time where there the company faced a Medicare fraud investigation. Eventually, Scott won the race but not without a tough fight.

Though not all aspiring politicians have resulted into head-butting politics, it is still an alarming fact that most of them would prefer such tactics. The recent campaign period have shown the importance of uncovering the liabilities of your opponents and be able to gain a significant edge over them. With the tightening of the race, we will be expecting for political ads to come with some of them doing some direct attacks.

Democrats say Republicans are the "Party of No." Now, with the midterm elections fast approaching, GOP leaders in the House are preparing to unveil their agenda. The plan will draw comparisons to Newt Gingrich's 1994 "Contract with America" manifesto.

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Politico - Some Republicans who pushed for invasion of Iraq support the tone struck by the president.

CQPolitics.com - Sen. John McCain's victory in the Aug. 24 Arizona Republican primary was fueled partly by transfers of $7.5 million from his 2008 presidential campaign compliance fund -- an account GOP Congressional strategists are now eyeing as they look to finance a growing list of competitive midterm races.

Sen. John McCain's victory in the Aug. 24 Arizona Republican primary was fueled partly by transfers of $7.5 million from his 2008 presidential campaign compliance fund -- an account GOP Congressional strategists are now eyeing as they look to finance a growing list of competitive midterm races.

CQPolitics.com - Congressional Democrats aren't convinced that their fortunes have turned for the worse this August, despite a recent poll suggesting that Republicans have opened up a double-digit lead in a generic ballot matchup.

The panel recommended the House ethics committee look into whether Republicans John Campbell of California and Tom Price of Georgia and Democrat Joseph Crowley of New York allowed political contributions to improperly influence their voting on the financial overhaul bill.

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AFP - In a fresh blow to President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies, a new opinion poll shows his Republican critics have an unprecedented 10-point edge just over two months before key elections.

We have intercepted an interoffice memo between RNC and the Hall of Just Us. It reveals the Republicans' Six-Point Plan for Regaining Power!

The plan for Election 2010 traces its roots to the Southern Strategy.

Case in point, Step 4...

4. Unleash WHITE RAGE! Direct Rage at the government.

See the details of the full plan here...

We have intercepted an interoffice memo between RNC and the Hall of Just Us. It reveals the Republicans' Six-Point Plan for Regaining Power!

The plan for Election 2010 traces its roots to the Southern Strategy.

Case in point, Step 4...

4. Unleash WHITE RAGE! Direct Rage at the government.

See the details of the full plan here...

The Atlantic Wire - It's safe to say, things don't look good for Democrats this November. With a new Gallup poll giving Republicans a "whopping" 10-point lead on the generic ballot, the question pundits are asking now is: how did Democrats become so unpopular?

(NewsMax) - 'NEWS FLASH - NOT ALL TEA PARTIERS ARE REPUBLICANS!' Dale Robertson - Founder TeaParty/TeaParty.org The tea party movement will revolutionize the GOP -- and the nation's political landscape...

Republicans and Tea Party activists say “The Tea Party” is a fake party controlled by Democrats aimed at drawing away votes from GOP candidates. They don’t want it on the ballot.

The Upshot - Republicans hold a 10-point lead over Democrats in Gallup's most recent generic congressional survey, the Republicans' largest margin over Democrats in six decades of this particular Gallup poll. Registered voters expressed a preference for a generic Republican over a generic Democrat for Congress 51 percent to 41 percent. This is the fifth week in a [...]

CQPolitics.com - NEW LENOX, Ill. -- Republicans throughout Illinois and in Washington, D.C., introduce House candidate Adam Kinzinger as one of their top recruits. But the boyish 32-year-old has a way to go in introducing himself to voters in order to unseat Democratic Rep. Debbie Halvorson here in this swing district.

AP - Democrats' House campaign committee is starting its first advertising blitz of the fall election cycle Tuesday with a TV spot hammering Wisconsin GOP candidate Sean Duffy, one of several Republicans who are threatening to wrest an open Democratic seat.

The Newsroom - President Obama today sought to refocus the White House's efforts to shore up the U.S. economy, with a pledge to extend tax cuts for Americans earning less than $200,000 per year. The president remained silent about the fate of Bush-era tax cuts to wealthier Americans, while also issuing a plea to Republicans to reach across the partisan aisle to ease passage of a small-business jobs bill he argues is crucial to the nation's recovery.

Albert Hunt, Bloomberg
Forget conventional wisdom: Republicans have a real shot at taking control of the Senate, as well as the House, in the U.S. midterm elections."This is going to be a massive election like 1974, except it will happen to the Democrats this time," says Bill McInturff, a leading Republican pollster, alluding to the Democratic landslide more than three-and-a-half decades ago. "The Senate is in play."

Russ Smith, Splice Today
Great piece. Although sometimes I feel a little twang of sympathy for the President as his weaknesses are punished by right-wing media grotesques like Beck and Hannity, I cant help but recall the beatings that Republicans have endured for the past eight years. If you dish it you have to be able to take it and I think this is something that the left is having to come to terms with. "The dissolution of the nearly unanimous smugness that was ubiquitous from the moment it was obvious Barack Obama would win the 2008 election"-perfectI'm a little surprised Russ that you have so...