Elections Directory USA

AP - Senate hopeful Christine O'Donnell says she has the endorsement of Sarah Palin.

AP - Rahm Emanuel's expected departure as President Barack Obama's chief of staff may be just the start of wholesale personnel changes at the White House after what's predicted to be a devastating midterm election for Democrats.

Reuters - Democrats in Congress are distancing themselves from President Barack Obama's push to let taxes rise for the wealthiest Americans, fearing it will further harm them in November's mid-term elections.

AP - Sen. Russ Feingold calls himself the underdog in his re-election bid against a Republican challenger no one had heard of six months ago but who, like other GOP newcomers this year, is tapping his own fortune to start a political career at the top.

AP - A business owned by the family of South Carolina Republican gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley has been penalized for failing to pay taxes three times since 2003, according to records obtained by The Associated Press.

The Upshot - With the state in a budget crisis and Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger one of the most unpopular politicians in the country, California would seem to be friendly territory for Democrats in 2010 -- especially when you consider that the party has a significant edge in state voter registration. But California's two leading Democratic candidates — [...]

AP - The Democrats are going to lose this fall if voters render judgment on the nation's sputtering economy. That's not the forecast of some political analyst or the wishful thinking of a Republican leader. It's the blunt acknowledgment from President Barack Obama himself.

AP - Former President Bill Clinton is the unwitting star of a new TV ad in the California governor's race in which he is shown criticizing the record of fellow Democrat Jerry Brown.

AP - Wisconsin election officials and the U.S. Department of Justice have reached an agreement on how the state will comply with a new law designed to ensure all military and overseas voters have their ballots counted.

AP - President Barack Obama implored a Florida minister to call off his Quran-burning "stunt," saying it would jeopardize U.S. troops abroad.

AP - Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle's conservative views on illegal immigration and her limited outreach to Hispanics have done little to endear her to Nevada's largest minority group.

The Upshot - With less than two months to go before Election Day, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele is focusing his energies on trying to elect Republicans in … Guam? The embattled RNC chair has spent the last several days on a campaign tour that's distinctly unusual -- at least by the standards of how predecessors have [...]

Reuters - President Barack Obama stood firm on Thursday in opposition to a Republican push to extend Bush-era tax cuts for the rich but stopped short of threatening to veto such a measure if passed by Congress.

AP - The Democrat says Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is a Republican. The Republican says Crist is trying to appeal to Democrats. Crist, pursuing a Senate seat as an independent, says he cuts things right down the middle.

AP - President Barack Obama is sending best wishes to Muslims worldwide as they celebrate Eid-al-Fitr (ayd ahl-FIH'-tur), which marks the end of the holy month of fasting and prayer known as Ramadan (RAH'-mah-dahn).

AP - President Barack Obama is coming to a swing state near you this fall.

AP - President Barack Obama plans to award a posthumous Medal of Honor to an Army staff sergeant from Pennsylvania who gave his life to save the lives of his teammates and 15 Afghanistan National Army soldiers.

AP - President Barack Obama is condemning a suicide bombing that killed at least 17 people in southern Russia.

AFP - US President Barack Obama gets better marks for his wartime leadership than his stewardship of the sluggish economic recovery, a new opinion poll found Thursday.

Reuters - President Barack Obama said his hard-nosed chief of staff Rahm Emanuel would make a terrific mayor of Chicago but expects him to wait until after the November congressional elections to decide whether to run.