Will alleged inappropriate behavior sink Cain?

"Over the past couple of days, the former pizza CEO's high-flying insurgent campaign has been thrown on the defensive by the revelation of sexual harassment allegations made against him in the 1990s. Cain's account of the incident has changed multiple times, leading to accusations of a half-baked cover-up. Now political observers are not only debating whether Cain's unorthodox candidacy will be damaged by the story; they're also asking if his handling of it has taken a potentially bad situation and made it worse." - CNN

• Cain accuser got a year’s salary in severance Say - New York Times
• Attorney for Cain accuser: Cain is lying - CNN
• Herman Cain's wife in talks for TV interview - USA Today
• Herman Cain and the decline of black conservatism - Fredrick Robinson for CNN

It isn't sinking his fundraising...

"Instead of hurting the charismatic candidate’s candidacy, Cain said that on Monday, the day the allegations surfaced, Cain said that 'online we had one of our highest fundraising days in the campaign.' 'I believe [the allegations have] backfired on those that are trying to put a cloud over my campaign.' A campaign aide put the figure at $250,000." - Washington Post

Cain and Romney tied in Florida poll

"Herman Cain is statistically tied for first place with Mitt Romney among registered Republicans in the key early voting state of Florida, according to a Suffolk University/WSVN-TV poll released Tuesday evening. ... The poll shows that the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO remains a favorite in Florida a month after he won the state’s straw poll – the event that marked the beginning of the 'Cain surge' and Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s fall. Mr. Cain took second place with 24% support, behind Mr. Romney who took 25%. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich came in third with 11% and Mr. Perry placed fourth with 9%. Some 20% of Sunshine State Republicans said they were still undecided." - WSJ

• Michele Bachmann is at 1% - The Hill
• "Whoever wins the 2012 Republican presidential nomination can carry Florida if he adds Sen. Marco Rubio as his running mate, according to a new poll by Suffolk University in Massachusetts." - Palm Beach Post

2012 update:

• "Texas Gov. Rick Perry stands at a now-or-never moment for his presidential campaign, teetering between second-tier status and emerging as the prime alternative to former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in the nomination fight." - Washington Post
• Perry wasn't drunk at speech, says host - The Hill
• Poll: Texans don't give Rick Perry credit for economy - USA Today
• As polls slip, Perry gets first blast of super-PAC ads - New York Times
• Mitt Romney hit for past emissions stance - Politico
• Pro-Obama outside group targets Romney in digital campaign - CNN
• Bachmann takes stand on ethanol subsidies - USA Today
• Jon Huntsman seeks to break up oil "monopoly" - Politico
• The Pawlenty surge would never have come - Nate Silver

Obama uses executive orders as a political tool

"President Barack Obama is crafting his own laws of political physics these days, insisting that inaction by a divided Congress requires White House action in order to get something done. A campaign labeled 'We Can't Wait' pushes unilateral directives and programs from the White House as the only way to push ahead on the president's agenda when a do-nothing Congress fails to act. 'There is inaction. There is a lack of action,' White House Press Secretary Jay Carney explained to reporters this week when asked about a series of executive orders and actions the president has taken or is planning. 'So there is a need to move, because we can move.'" - CNN

• Obama gets a bump in new Quinnipiac poll - National Journal

New Poll: Only a third of voters thinks their member of Congress deserves re-election

"One of the immutable laws of American politics has been that while voters typically loathe Congress, they tend to tolerate their own lawmaker. Now, with ratings for that institution in the root cellar and approval of individual lawmakers heading there, members of Congress and analysts are beginning to wonder if that law could be repealed next year. According to a New York Times/CBS News poll in September, only 33 percent of registered voters believe their own member deserves to be re-elected, and a mere 6 percent said the same about most members of Congress, both the lowest figures since The Times started asking this question in the early 1990s." - New York Times

Deficit supercommittee hearing urged to compromise, but Republicans still focused on healthcare, not interested in new taxes

"A co-chairman of President Obama’s fiscal commission told members of a powerful Congressional panel on deficit reduction Tuesday that he feared they would fail, and he said the consequences of such failure could be calamitous. Four experts on fiscal policy — two Democrats and two Republicans — told the panel that Congress should reduce the budget deficit by adopting spending cuts and increases in tax revenues. One co-chairman of the president’s fiscal commission, Erskine B. Bowles, said he had great respect for each member of the committee, but added, 'I am worried you’re going to fail — fail the country.' ... After the hearing ended, Representative Jeb Hensarling, Republican of Texas and co-chairman of the select committee, sounded as skeptical as ever about Democrats’ demands for additional tax revenues." - New York Times

• Bowles, Simpson urge supercommittee to pursue grand bargain - LA Times
• Supercommittee’s secrecy disappoints some Republican House freshmen - Washington Post
• Leon Panetta: Don’t gut our defenses - Politico

House Republicans pass "In God We Trust" bill

"The Republican sponsor of a resolution reaffirming that 'In God We Trust' is the national motto of the U.S. said his legislation is needed because President Obama and other public officials often forget that designation. 'Unfortunately, there are a number of public officials who forget what the national motto is, whether intentionally or unintentionally,' Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) said in late Tuesday afternoon debate in the House. 'There are those who become confused as to whether or not it can still be placed on our buildings, whether it can be placed in our school classrooms.'" - The Hill

• See which Congressmen voted against "In God We Trust" - Fox News
• "After preaching for weeks about the urgency of Washington taking action to create jobs, lawmakers decided to put their mammon where their mouths are." - Dana Milbank for the Washington Post

Parties spar over voter ID laws

"Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) rejected these arguments and said the scandal involving the now-defunct Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), in which the group admitted to fraudulently registering hundreds of thousands of voters, should count as widespread fraud. ... 'I think there's massive evidence of widespread voter registration fraud, and from that flowed fraudulent votes as well,' he said." - The Hill

Harry Reid says Republicans are "led like puppets"

"Republicans who have refused to consider any tax increases are 'being led like puppets' by anti-tax activist Grover Norquist, Senate Majority Harry Reid charged on Tuesday. ... Reid’s diatribe came in response to Republicans’ rejection of Democratic jobs bills because they would be paid for with a surtax on millionaires. Republicans filibustered President Barack Obama’s $447 billion jobs package over objections that it included the tax, and they’re blocking Reid’s efforts to bring individual pieces of the package to the floor for the same reason." - Politico

Jobs panel member whose solar firm won loan guarantees raises conflict of interest concerns - Fox News

Reagan statue unveiled at Washington-area airport

"A nine-foot-tall bronze statue of President Ronald Reagan was unveiled Tuesday at the Arlington, Va., airport bearing his name. Former Sen. Bob Dole and his wife, ex-Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole, who were both close to Reagan, were on hand for the unveiling of the statue in front of the airport’s Terminal A... The $900,000 statue is one of four privately funded statues endorsed by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and placed on the centennial of his birth." - Politico

Hillary Clinton's mother dies at 92 - Politico

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