If only red/purple state Dems vote against health care reform, the GOP will cut them some slack in 2010.

For all the obvious reasons the Stupak amendment to the House health care reform bill has catalyzed both sides of the abortion debate. But when you start to look at the practical impact of the amendment on access to abortion, things start to get fuzzy. Brian Beutler has run the numbers and talked to experts to try to bring this issue into focus. Here’s his report.

Even though the NY-23 race showed that an intra-GOP grudge match could hand a seat to the Democrats, conservative support continues to coalesce around former House Speaker Marco Rubio in the GOP primary in Florida for U.S. Senate against Gov. Charlie Crist. In the latest development, Rubio has been tapped as the keynote speaker at next year’s Conservative Political Action Conference, a plum invite for him and a strong statement from the party’s right wing that the purge continues.

This morning I suggested everyone read James Gordon Meek’s piece in today’s New York Daily News about his encounter with Obama at Arlington yesterday. Meek is a DC reporter for the NYDN but he was at Arlington visiting a friend’s grave.

Meek went on MSNBC today to discuss what happened. Definitely worth your watching. See the video after the jump. Read More

Jon Stewart to Michael Steele: White Republicans aren’t afraid of you because you’re black — they’re afraid of you because of the stupid sh*t you say on TV.

After a week of upheaval at the conservative daily, the paper has announced the resignation of John Solomon as executive editor, effective last Friday.

The announcement came in a terse one-sentence email from the paper’s outside PR firm: “Effective November 6, 2009, John Solomon has resigned his position as the Executive Editor of The Washington Times.”

When you go back over all the crazy-old-man stuff Lou Dobbs has said just recently, you come away actually a little less put out by him and a lot more put out that CNN had him on the air for so long:

TPM Reader JP had to do a double take when he saw this article title in the Christian Science Monitor: “Irish priest kidnapped in Philippines released by MILF“

Lanny Davis resigns as Wash Times columnist in wake of Solomon resignation.

According to NBC, Greg Craig is out as White House Counsel and Bob Bauer is in. All to be announced tomorrow, according to NBC.