Keith Olbermann contributed to three Democrats  —  MSNBC host Keith Olbermann made campaign contributions to two Arizona members of Congress and failed Kentucky Senate candidate Jack Conway ahead of Tuesday's election — a potential violation of NBC ethics policies.

Rasmussen Polls Were Biased and Inaccurate; Quinnipiac, SurveyUSA Performed Strongly  —  Every election cycle has its winners and losers: not just the among the candidates, but also the pollsters.  —  On Tuesday, polls conducted by the firm Rasmussen Reports — which released more than 100 surveys …

Tea Party Flexes Muscle With Republicans  —  WASHINGTON — The incoming leadership of the new House Republican majority hardly had a chance to relish its dismantling of the Democrats before the Tea Party came calling in the form of Representative Michele Bachmann.

Sen. Patty Murray wins fourth term  —  Democrat Patty Murray has won a fourth term to the U.S. Senate.  Her Republican challenger, Dino Rossi, conceded the race Thursday evening after new vote totals showed Murray widening her lead.  —  Sen. Patty Murray has won a fourth term …

U.S. Added Jobs Last Month for First Time Since May  —  The United States economy added 151,000 jobs in October, a welcome change after four months of job losses but still not enough to make a dent in unemployment.  —  Private companies have been slowly growing their payrolls throughout 2010 …

Obama: “Leadership Isn't Just Legislation”  —  Tells Steve Kroft About His Administration's Failure In His First 1-on1 Interview Since The Midterm Elections  —  (CBS) President Obama tells “60 Minutes” correspondent Steve Kroft that one of the reasons the electorate has become disenchanted …

A return to the norm  —  For all the turmoil, the spectacle, the churning - for all the old bulls slain and fuzzy-cheeked freshmen born - the great Republican wave of 2010 is simply a return to the norm.  The tide had gone out; the tide came back.  A center-right country restores …

EPA official who pushed CO2 regulation resigns  —  In the wake of historic midterm losses, people wondered whether Barack Obama would be willing or even able to execute a shift to the center and work with Republicans in the House to find areas of common ground on policy …

Can The GOP Really Wait Until Next Year To Shut Down The Government?  —  Those who think the Republicans in the House and Senate have several months to get organized are seriously misreading the political tea leaves.  —  Even though the smaller Senate GOP minority and House Republican majority …

The Focus Hocus-Pocus  —  Democrats, declared Evan Bayh in an Op-Ed article on Wednesday in The Times, “overreached by focusing on health care rather than job creation during a severe recession.”  Many others have been saying the same thing: the notion that the Obama administration erred …

ABC News Exclusive: Nancy Pelosi Seriously Considers Staying as Democratic Leader  —  In the Wake of Tuesday's Shellacking, the Current Speaker May Remain in Congress and in Leadership  —  In the wake of Tuesday's shellacking, outgoing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-CA …

Sarah Palin Complains About Invasion Of Her Privacy On First Episode Of Her Reality Show (VIDEO)  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? … WASHINGTON — The first episode of Sarah Palin's new show, “Sarah Palin's Alaska,” has been placed online and it starts with what is now a familiar lament …

Howard Dean's surprise presidential announcement  —  Howard Dean is not running for president.  —  A spokeswoman for the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee says that Dean 100% supports President Obama in 2012 and “has repeatedly said so publicly.”

No, Obama's not taking 34 Navy ships to India with him  —  I'm relieved to say that we didn't bite on this one, notwithstanding Drudge's touting of it today.  I did, though, link in Headlines the stories about his trip allegedly costing $200 million(!!!) per day and his team booking every room in a five-star hotel in Mumbai.

The Empire Strikes Back  —  The GOP picks up six Senate seats.  Let the recriminations begin!  —  Incumbent Democrat Michael Bennet has been called the winner of Colorado's Senate race, which puts the Republican gain at six seats, assuming Sen. Patty Murray of Washington holds on to her lead over Republican Dino Rossi.

Conservative Recount Alert!  — Etheridge Asks for Recount  —  Dear Supporters, Election night, after the ten counties in my district had reported their votes, I led Bob Etheridge by 2,100 votes.  (That number is crucial because under North Carolina law Congressman Etheridge is not entitled …

What the Next Speaker Must Do  —  Secrecy, arrogance, and the abuse of power have shattered the bonds of trust between the people and their elected leaders.  Repairing that trust requires sweeping change, beginning with an end to earmarks.  —  I grew up in a small house on a hill in Cincinnati, Ohio, with 11 brothers and sisters.

Clinton rules out a presidential run through 2016  —  (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ruled out running for president in 2012 or 2016 on Friday, saying the United States should be ready for a woman president but it would not be her.  —  In interviews in New Zealand …

Two ways to respond to the foreclosure crisis  —  Let's discuss two different policy designs for how to fight the worst parts of the ongoing foreclosure crisis, one successful and one not.  We'll then discuss a great new report from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition that details …

Midwest at Dusk  —  If Balzac were alive today, he would plant himself in that region of America that starts in central New York and Pennsylvania and then stretches out through Ohio and Indiana before spreading out to include Wisconsin and Arkansas.  He'd plant himself in the working-class families in this area.

Thousands of Democrats to be jobless in Washington  —  The Great Shellacking of 2010 will throw more than 2,000 Democratic congressional staffers out of their jobs.  And it will send thousands of gleeful Republican staffer wannabes into overdrive to get those resumes up to the Hill to fill those vacancies.

Murkowski acts like victor; questions linger  —  WRITE-INS: Valid votes are yet to be determined, counted.  —  Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski is acting as though she already has pulled off an improbable victory after her write-in candidacy, enthusiastically thanking supporters and telling them they've made history.

How QE works  —  Gawker's John Cook asks me a question about how the Fed's quantitative easing is supposed to work: … John has a few of the details wrong, but at heart he's absolutely right.  The way that QE works is that the Fed will publish a schedule of how many Treasury bonds it intends to buy and when.