Durbin: Progressives Forced Our Hand On Public Option  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  Democratic leaders were forced to include a national public health insurance option as part of health care reform by progressive Democratic senators who refused to support anything less, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said on Monday.

The future of the GOP is outside the Beltway  —  Bien-pensant conservative elites and establishment-friendly Republican big shots yearn for a more moderate, temperate and sophisticated Republican Party.  It's not likely to happen.  And probably just as well.

U.S. official resigns over Afghan war  —  When Matthew Hoh joined the Foreign Service early this year, he was exactly the kind of smart civil-military hybrid the administration was looking for to help expand its development efforts in Afghanistan.  —  A former Marine Corps captain …

Nielsen: Fox News ratings up almost 10% since WH declared war  —  It's a nine-percent bump in the two weeks since Anita Dunn's whine heard 'round the world — in terms of overall audience.  Among the coveted 25-54 demographic?  A 14-percent bump.  Good work, Barry.

Biden's popularity plunges; lower than Cheney's  —  Vice President Joe Biden's favorable rating has fallen to 42 percent in a new Gallup poll, down from a high of 59 percent just after last year's election.  Biden's unfavorable rating in the new poll is 40 percent, up from 29 percent last November.

McDonnell has double-digit lead in Va. governor's race, Post poll says  —  Republican Robert F. McDonnell carries a double-digit lead over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds into the final week of the campaign for Virginia governor, according to a new Washington Post poll.

Ex-A.I.G. Chief Is Back, Luring Talent From Rescued Firm  —  Maurice R. Greenberg, who built the American International Group into an insurance behemoth with an impenetrable maze of on- and offshore companies, is at it again.  —  Even as he has been lambasting the government for its handling …

Popularity fleeting, former president tells seminar crowd  —  Former President George W. Bush told more than 11,000 people at the Fort Worth Convention Center that he was confident he made the right decisions as president, even if it hurt his popularity.  —  “Every single day I was honored …

J Street branch drops pro-Israel slogan  —  J Street's university arm has dropped the “pro-Israel” part of the left-wing US lobby's “pro-Israel, pro-peace” slogan to avoid alienating students.  —  That decision was part of the message conveyed to young activists who attended a special weekend program …

Climate chief Lord Stern: give up meat to save the planet  —  People will need to consider turning vegetarian if the world is to conquer climate change, according to a leading authority on global warming.  —  In an interview with The Times, Lord Stern of Brentford said …

CNN Poll: 6 in 10 back ‘cap and trade’  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - Six in 10 Americans support a “cap and trade” proposal to cut pollution, according to a new national poll.  —  Sixty percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey say they favor “cap and trade,” …

Grayson goes too far for colleagues  —  Republicans and Democrats slammed Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) for calling Linda Robertson, an adviser to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, a “K Street whore” in a month-old radio interview that circulated on Capitol Hill Monday night.  —  “There's no call for that language.

Dismal special election record hampers GOP's 2010 comeback  —  The GOP could lose its fifth of five big special elections in two years — a development that has Republicans asking why the irregular races continue to bedevil their party, even as it rebounds in other ways.