Corzine is out-advertising/out-spending Christie by a big, big margin.

What are folks in the House and White House saying about a possible “out-out” compromise in the senate? They don’t seem to care much one way or another. They’re intent on muscling through the real thing.

Well, not Tea-baggers/Tea-Partiers maybe. But cut from the same Tea Party cloth. On Tuesday we got an email from TPM Reader CH telling us there were a bunch of anti-tax protestors around town wearing Uncle Sam suits ‘begging’ and holding a sign saying “$12 trillion in debt … Please Help.”

It struck CH as a little off since the Sam she saw had set up next to an apparently genuine homeless person begging for food. But it turns out they weren’t protestors exactly. They were actors paid by a right-wing outfit called the Employment Policies Institute. One Sam our reporter spoke to said he’d been hired by PR agency on EPI’s behalf.

The NRSC responds to GOP Senate candidate Marco Rubio’s rip on the national GOP as “shrill” and “lazy.”

Canada’s Tory Prime Minister Stephen Harper singing ‘A Little Help from My Friends’ with Yo-Yo Ma and orchestra.

Perhaps not so known nationally, the founder of the DC institution Ben’s Chilli Bowl, Ben Ali, died today.

WaPo, 10.9.09: “Health Industry Concerned About Reform Measures“

Having taken the read of some of the shrewder health care policy nerds, it seems that the Carper/Schumer Public Option ‘opt-out’ compromise may really be a winner in policy terms. As I tentatively argued this morning, it would seem to get you a sufficiently large and nationally based plan that would provide the negotiating leverage that is the key to a successful public option. And, again, assuming the plan worked as advertised in the ‘in’ states, there’d be growing political pressure for the hold out states to come on board.

That’s the policy side of the equation. For the political calculus, the ability for states to opt out would deflate some of the 10th Amendment/government take over/death panel freak show and give conservative Democrats enough breathing room to come on board. And a number of key conservative Dems as well as liberals seemed to warm to the idea.

Over the course of the day though it became clear that none of the key power centers — not the White House or the Dem leadership in either chamber — seemed at all interested. From some of the leadership sources we spoke to, the idea seemed to be: ‘Sure, interesting idea. And a lot of people are talking about it. But it’s just not on the radar for the leadership. So why are we talking about this?’ Read More

We’re hiring a new member of our publishing team who will work from our New York City office: Social Media & Publicity Associate. It’s a great job for someone who’s really into and gets TPM and who’s really into and gets social media. Is that you? If it is, we really want to hear from you.

Job description and instructions for applying under the fold. Read More

On many levels it makes a lot of sense, but did anyone see this coming?

Details on how the President learned of the award this morning here.

A TPM commenter wonders if this isn’t a bit premature:

Isn’t it a little soon for this? Maybe after he brokers an Israeli-Palestinian agreement or something like that.

It sounds like the, ‘boy is the world relieved you guys didn’t choose McCain’ award.