Take 2

Actor Kal Penn, better known as Kumar from the “Harold & Kumar” movies is back at the White House, ABC News reports. He left this summer to film another H&K movie.

The actor, whose real name is Kalpen Modi, began his duties on Monday as the associate director in the Office of Public Engagement. He served in a similar role prior to heading off to the movie set.

Who knew he had time to write another book?

President Obama’s children’s book, “Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters” has been released.

The 31-page book, featuring illustrations of his daughters and his dog Bo, begins: “Have I told you lately how wonderful you are? How the sound of your feet running from afar brings dancing rhythms to my day?”

Proceeds from the book, which has a suggested retail price of $17.99, will be donated to a scholarship fund for children of fallen and disabled soldiers.

Notable quotable

“Hey have you heard that President Obama’s picture book for kids comes out tomorrow? That’s when you know things have changed right? When Bush writes a 500-page memoir and Obama hands in a coloring book” — Jimmy Fallon

No tea (conspiracy) for me

Bristol Palin is knocking down claims that there is a conspiracy by Tea Party activists to keep her on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.” She has consistently received low scores throughout the show and yet remains in the top four.

Bristol Palin was quick to dismiss the notion that she’s only there because of her mother’s supporters. In an interview with E! News, she said “Think about all the people who hate my mom!”

I’ll have what the POTUS is having

CNN’s Eatocracy blog takes a look at just how first class the food is aboard Air Force One — complete with pictures and a critique from senior photojournalist Mark Walz.

Who knew there was an Air Force One tobasco sauce?

Picture you need to see

From Getty Images: Members of the U.S. Park Police arrest gay rights activist and former Army Lt. Dan Choi, who handcuffed himself to the fence of the White House during a protest Monday.

The protesters are calling on the Obama administration and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to keep their promise on repealing ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ — the law banning gays and lesbians from openly serving in the military.

Headline of the day

“The Economy of the Aging Sex Kitten”

Late-night laughs

Conan O’Brien: “Recent reports suggest that passages from former President George W. Bush’s new book may have been lifted from other books … Yes especially the parts about Dumbledore and Voldemort.”

Jon Stewart: “[Cindy McCain is] against what ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ does but she’s for ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’ No wonder they have so many houses! They need them to keep all their different beliefs in them.”

Jimmy Kimmell: “Sarah Palin’s reality show premiered last night on TLC. Huge ratings — 5 million viewers. It was the biggest premiere in the history of that network. If you didn’t see it, it’s basically ‘Jon and Kate’ plus about four meets ‘The Deadliest Catch’”

Political Circus: Kumar’s back

I’m not just a pretty face!

Check out Politico‘s “10 Crushworthy New Reps” featuring Hansen Clarke, Colleen Hanabusa, Adam Kinzinger and Kristi Noem.

Kinzinger, described by many Hill staffers as “the new hottie on the block,” gets this glowing endorsement from writer Karin Tanabe:

“Why he’s crushworthy: He’s heroic. He won the U.S. Air Force Airman’s Medal for saving a woman’s life in 2007. Plus, we’ll say it: He’s handsome. A pilot and an Iraq war veteran, Kinzinger, in aviators and a flight suit, conjures up memories of Tom Cruise in ‘Top Gun’ — which isn’t a bad thing!”

As for GOP rising star Noem from South Dakota? “She’s more than pretty. Noem isn’t just a strikingly attractive woman, she’s a strikingly attractive woman who can run a farm.”

‘A happy wife is happy life’

Republican Sen. John McCain’s wife, Cindy — a staunch supporter of gay rights — is featured in an ad for the NOH8 campaign championing the repeal of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

“Our political and religious leaders tell LGBT youth that they have no future,” she said in the ad, which features other celebrities. “They can’t serve our country openly.”

Her ad, though, could cause some issues at home. After all, her husband has signaled he is against repealing the law, which bars openly gay men and women from serving in the military.

From the Twitterverse

What’s in a name, you ask? McCain’s daughter Meghan has the answer.

@McCainBlogette: ” ‘Peter Sellers’ was my secret service nickname and has been my pseudonym at hotels for YEARS (whenever a crazy person threatening my family)”

The next South Beach Diet?

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, and his wife are planning to write a vegan diet book called “The Cleveland Diet.”

It will detail Kucinich’s “evolution from eating a traditional meat-and-potatoes diet to eating no animal products,” according to the article.

Headline of the day

Gawker: “White House Undecided On Whether To Let Republicans Walk All Over Them”

Mama Grizzly’s Alaska, or the other way around?

Sarah Palin’s new reality show, “Sarah Palin’s Alaska,” premieres this Sunday on The Learning Channel. But it’s already being panned — especially by New York Daily News columnist David Hinckley.

“Whether you think Palin is America’s breath of fresh air or a lightweight opportunist, there can be no argument this show is way more Palin than Alaska,” he wrote. “If she were buying the time, she couldn’t have created a more flattering infomercial.”

Happy to be here? Raise your hands …

In this handout photo to Getty Images, members of the G-20 Economic Summit pose for their class shot. The photo was taken Friday at the fifth meeting of the G-20 group of nations in Seoul, South Korea.

Notable quotable

“President Obama is meeting with world leaders in South Korea today at the G-20 economic summit. John McCain heard ‘G-20,’ and he yelled ‘Bingo!’ ” — George Lopez

Late-night laughs

Stephen Colbert: “Wall Street hands out record bonuses. Poor people — get ready to be trickled down on.”

Jimmy Fallon: “This guy in Indonesia wrote this book about President Obama. … It’s 5,472 pages long — the thickest book in the world. The book is called ‘One of Obama’s Speeches.’ “

David Letterman: “I’ll say this — the president [George W. Bush] looks great now and is everywhere talking about his book. And he is being very candid: In one interview, he said that he used to do stupid things while he was drunk. But think about it: Who among us hasn’t had a couple of drinks and invaded Iraq?”

Political Circus: Hotties in the House

The address at the University of Indonesia was considered a highlight of Obama’s two-day stop in the southeast Asian nation where he spent four years of his childhood.

As the nation with the largest Muslim population in the world, Indonesia was chosen as the site for Obama to further address U.S. relations with the Islamic world following his speech on the topic last year in Cairo, Egypt.

He referred specifically to the Cairo speech of June 2009, noting he called there “for a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world — one that creates a path for us to move beyond our differences.”

“I said then, and I will repeat now, that no single speech can eradicate years of mistrust,” Obama said. At the same time, he promised that “no matter what setbacks may come, the United States is committed to human progress.”

Volcano may cut Obama Jakarta trip short

Obama touts importance of Indonesia

Gallery: Barack Obama’s Indonesian childhood

Obama’s trip to Asia

America “is not, and never will be, at war with Islam,” Obama insisted. “Instead, all of us must defeat al Qaeda and its affiliates, who have no claim to be leaders of any religion — certainly not a great world religion like Islam.”

Indonesia has been rocked by terror attacks such as bombings on Bali in 2002 and 2005, and Obama noted the nation’s progress “in rooting out terrorists and combating violent extremism.”

However, Muslims staged rallies across Indonesia on Sunday to protest the American president’s visit, and about 20,000 people attended the demonstrations, a spokesman for a protest group said.

“We don’t see the differences between Obama and (former U.S. President George W.) Bush. They both oppress Muslims. They both have blood on their hands,” said Ismail Yusanto, a spokesman for the Muslim group Hizbut Tahrir. “That’s why we reject Obama and we don’t believe that he’s reaching out to Muslims.”

In his speech Wednesday, Obama reflected on his years in Indonesia, referring to how he and his family were warmly accepted. He got cheers when he sprinkled sayings from the local Malay language, such as “Selamat Datang” — a greeting of welcome — and the national motto “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika,” which means “unity in diversity.”

Noting that Malay is one of hundreds of languages of the archipelago nation, Obama lauded Indonesia for its spirit of inclusiveness despite its diverse population and history of dictatorship.

“But even as this land of my youth has changed in so many ways, those things that I learned to love about Indonesia — that spirit of tolerance that is written into your constitution, symbolized in your mosques and churches and temples standing alongside each other; that spirit that is embodied in your people — that still lives on,” he said.

Now, Obama said, he returned as the U.S. president seeking “a deep and enduring partnership” with Indonesia, “because as vast and diverse countries; as neighbors on either side of the Pacific; and above all as democracies — the United States and Indonesia are bound together by shared interests and shared values.”

“America has a stake in an Indonesia that is growing, with prosperity that is broadly shared among the Indonesian people — because a rising middle class here means new markets for our goods, just as America is a market for yours,” Obama said.

The U.S. leader called for Indonesia’s continued development and warned that would require “a refusal to tolerate the corruption that stands in the way of opportunity,” along with a commitment to transparency and protecting the freedom being honored on the Heroes’ Day holiday Wednesday marking Indonesian independence.

“Our nations show that hundreds of millions who hold different beliefs can be united in freedom under one flag,” Obama said. “And we are now building on that shared humanity — through the young people who will study in each other’s schools; through the entrepreneurs forging ties that can lead to prosperity; and through our embrace of fundamental democratic values and human aspirations.”

CNN’s Tom Cohen contributed to this report.

Obama: Indonesia model of religious tolerance

But can they deliver on that promise without cutting entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security and angering older voters?

Seniors voted last week by an almost 60-40 split for Republican House candidates, after splitting evenly between Democrats and Republicans in the 2006 midterms. And voters 65 and older made up 24 percent of those casting votes last week.

Read more about exit polling on seniors

Check out exit polls from the 2006 midterm elections

Republicans, who will control the House in the next Congress, have vowed to cut spending in the federal budget, and entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare make up more than half of the budget. Significant cuts can’t happen without addressing these programs.

Changing those programs will be nearly impossible, with advocacy powers like AARP and other seniors’ groups resisting change.

The Arena: How to fix the economy

Perry: Let states decide Social Security

GOP strategist Ron Bonjean found that out when fellow Republicans, notably President George W. Bush, pushed a plan in 2005 to privatize Social Security and implemented changes to Medicare.

The reason Social Security reform failed was because “Americans were not fully educated in what the systemic problems were,” said Bonjean, the former chief of staff to the Senate Republican conference and director of communications for then-Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert.

“Seniors seriously objected to any attempt to change it,” he added.

And seniors resisted change again this year, opposing health care reform, polls showed. Republicans hammered the Obama administration and congressional Democrats on their health care reform law and have vowed to repeal it.

It was a message that caught on with seniors, political analyst Jennifer Donahue said.

“Health care reform played a large factor. … The Obama administration appears to have gone too far too fast on health care, and especially in the minds of older voters, who already have government health care available to them.”

She added that one reason seniors favored Republicans this cycle was because of the endless attack ads on the new law.

Statistics show that anti-health care reform advocates spent $94 million on ads nationwide this year, while the other side spent $19 million.

While repealing the health care reform law will be next to impossible, the sensitive subject is one that may keep seniors wary of Democrats, Donahue added.

Will the GOP take on entitlements?

In the meantime, don’t expect Republican leaders to start changing or slashing entitlements right away, Bonjean said.

“I don’t see it as a top priority for Republicans going into the next Congress,” he said. “I think they’ll start creating a conversation, which needs to be had. Before you try to solve a problem, it will be important for Americans to understand what the problems are.”

Their primary focus will be on the economy and “low-hanging fruit” items in the budget that can be cut.

“Republicans are going to focus on growing the economy, creating jobs, repealing the health care law and cutting nondiscretionary spending. They may look at waste, fraud and abuse within the Medicare program, but their No. 1 priority is to jump-start the economy and repeal the new health care law,” Bonjean said.

Donahue added that even if Republicans float the idea of cutting entitlement programs, they have political cover.

“I think the Republicans have a little bit of cover because they know that a [Democratic] Senate and President Obama won’t cut Medicare,” she said. “So they can try to cut it and fail and that’s their safety net.”

Eventually, though, Congress will need to tackle the growing problems with these programs, which are pressing on the country’s fiscal health.

Bonjean hinted that entitlement change won’t come until the problems get really bad. Americans don’t like to deal with problems, he said, until they are “front and center and almost in a crisis level — like the economic situation we’re in right now.”

“When Medicare and Social Security get to such a point where it will be unsustainable, I think that’s when Americans will force Congress to do something about,” he added. “That’s the way the country works.”

What can Democrats do?

“To try and attract seniors is actually to make movement towards the center,” Donahue said. “And that is a dilemma for the Democrats right now because in order to attract younger voters, they actually have to move to the left.”

Democrats in recent history have had a hard time attracting seniors, so it comes as no surprise that they would face an uphill battle in this year’s election.

“Seniors have been a problem for the Democrats for at least a decade,” CNN polling director Keating Holland said. “Seniors routinely voted Democratic in House elections in the 1970s and 1980s, but starting in 1994 they trended toward the GOP and except for 2000, that trend has held up ever since. So there is some long-term pattern going on — it’s not a recent development.”

And it was certainly seen in the 2008 presidential election, when Barack Obama lost the senior vote to Republican presidential candidate John McCain. Obama was put over the top by support from independents, younger voters and baby boomers.

“For Democrats to have succeeded with older voters this cycle, they would have really had to court them,” Donahue said. “They didn’t do that. Where Republicans I think had the most energy and seemed like the most effective agent of change this cycle.”

CNN’s Rebecca Sinderbrand and Rebecca Stewart contributed to this report.

GOP walks budget-cutting line with seniors

Polls indicate a dissatisfied electorate may clean house — literally — by tossing out the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives and possibly doing the same in the Senate.

With all predictions, including those of Democrats, signaling Republican gains, the election is considered a referendum on both the Democratic-controlled Congress and President Barack Obama’s first two years in office.

Losses by the governing party are common in the first mid-term election it faces, but the shift Tuesday could rival or match historic levels dating back decades.

Unemployment of 9.6 percent amid a slow recovery from economic recession has been the dominant issue, with Republicans accusing Obama and Democrats of pushing through expensive policies that have expanded government without solving the problem.

Obama has led Democrats in defending his record, saying steps such as the economic stimulus bill and auto industry bailout were necessary to prevent a depression, while health care reform and Wall Street reform will lay the foundation for sustainable future growth.

As voting day approached, voter anger appeared to tune out the Democratic arguments. Conservative groups and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce funded attack ads that skewered increased spending under Obama and the health care reform bill he championed, while labor unions and traditional Democratic donors backed messaging that warned a GOP victory would bring back Republican deregulation and policies that caused the recession.

The long and bitter campaign season will cost more than $3.5 billion to be the most expensive non-presidential vote ever, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Republicans need to win an additional 39 seats to claim the House majority, and 10 more Senate seats to overtake Democrats there.

With around 100 of the 435 House seats at stake considered “in play,” or competitive, the anti-Democratic mood is predicted to result in big Republican gains.

Video: Does Tea Party help or hurt GOP?

Video: Van Hollen: Pundits will be proven wrong

Video: GOP targets Democrats in New York

On the Senate side, where 37 of the 100 seats are being contested, the majority will be decided by key races in Nevada, Washington and a few other states where Democratic incumbents face strong challenges.

A new national poll released Monday showed the number of Americans who say things are going badly in the country, at 75 percent, is higher than it has been on the eve of any mid-term election since the question was first asked in the mid-1970s.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey also indicates that the economy remains, by far, the top issue on the minds of Americans, more than all other major issues combined, including terrorism, health care, illegal immigrants and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In addition, the rise of the conservative Tea Party movement has added a new element to the election cycle, roiling Republican races by boosting little-known and inexperienced candidates to victory over mainstream figures in primaries across the country.

Tuesday’s vote will show how many of the so-called Tea Party candidates can win in a general election, but no matter the final tally, the result is expected to shift the Republican agenda to the right.

That means little chance of compromise or bipartisan approaches on major issues, observers warn.

Ron Bonjean, a Republican strategist who worked for the last Republican House speaker, Dennis Hastert, put it bluntly: “It’s been a hostile atmosphere, but it will be hostile on nitroglycerin.”

Ohio Republican Rep. John Boehner will be the new House speaker if the GOP wins control of the chamber. He already has signaled little appetite to negotiate with the White House or congressional Democrats, saying last week that “this is not a time for compromise.”

Boehner and other conservatives say the top priorities must be spending cuts to try to balance the budget and job creation to spur the economy. However, they also advocate extending Bush-era tax cuts for everyone at a cost of $4 trillion over the next decade.

In the Senate, legislative gridlock is likely if Republicans strengthen their current minority of 41 seats. Obama and Democrats accuse Senate Republicans of using obstruction tactics as a political tool, showing the distrust and animosity that already exists.

Democrats are also wary of a recent comment by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who told the National Journal, “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”

The first test of a new relationship will come in mid-November when Congress convenes a post-election lame-duck session to try to clear unfinished legislation before the newly elected Congress convenes in January. Among other issues, lawmakers must decide whether and how to extend Bush-era tax cuts.

Voters on Tuesday also will decide governors’ races in 37 of the 50 states, with the outcome potentially having an influence on redistricting based on the results of the 2010 census.

Every 10 years, the states redraw House district lines to reflect population shifts. Some states gain more House seats due to population growth, while others lose seats due to declines.

In most cases, state legislatures draw the lines and governors have the power to approve or veto that map. Governors also can influence whether any loss or gain of seats in their state involves districts represented by Republicans or Democrats.

The list of states that will gain or lose seats is released in December. However, Election Data Services issued estimates based on preliminary census figures that indicated Texas will gain four seats, Florida will gain two, and Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah and Washington will each gain one, while Ohio and New York will lose two seats, and Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey and Pennsylvania will each lose one.

CNN’s Ted Barrett, Deirdre Walsh, Paul Steinhauser and Jessica Yellin contributed to this report.

A long, nasty campaign comes to an end

There are some fascinating inside details I’ve been able to piece together about how and why this Meek story exploded into the public.

In the words of one senior Democratic Party official, the Meek story came to a head because former President Bill Clinton “flew into a purple rage” about the Democratic candidate breaking a private pledge to him to get out of the Senate race and endorse independent candidate Charlie Crist.

But a source close to Clinton said he “never saw anything close” to rage from the former president, who is at peace with how this wound up.

“He always believed this was Meek’s decision,’ said the source close to Clinton.

As for the Obama adminstiration’s role in this, I’m told by senior Democratic officials that while White House aides were in the loop on the Clinton-Meek talks, they were not driving the conversation and were not lobbying Meek to go.

Video: Meek: I’m not dropping out

Video: Clinton sets record straight

I’m also told that senior officials deliberately kept President Obama out of the loop on these behind-the-scenes conversations because they did not want to get him personally tainted by the Meek story. That came no doubt in part because they didn’t want it to blow up in his face like the botched attempt to get Joe Sestak out of the Democratic primary in the Pennsylvania Senate race so many months ago. (Clinton was the intermediary then, too).

But all the jockeying and horse-trading is really just a sideshow. The real story is how bad the broader electoral map has gotten for Democrats heading into the final weekend of this midterm election: Top Democratic officials privately say they believe they are going to lose the House, but as they survey the country they are getting increasingly worried they will also lose the Senate.

These Democratic officials tell me they’ve reviewed private polling numbers that suggest Sen. Patty Murray of Washington has a razor-thin lead of about two points over Republican Dino Rossi despite all kinds of help from the president and first lady Michelle Obama, among others.

They’re also deeply worried about whether Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada can beat Republican Sharron Angle, so suddenly the “firewall” out West to keep control of the Senate might be more like a crumbling brick wall.

These Democratic officials also say in private that they think Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin is likely to lose to Republican Ron Johnson and they’re worried enough about Obama’s old Senate seat that the president is heading home to Chicago, Illinois, on Saturday night for a rescue mission to again help Democratic candidate Alexi Giannoulias in his battle with Republican Mark Kirk.

Thanks to that awful landscape, Democratic officials made the brutal political calculation to try to toss Meek aside, because if Crist somehow beats Republican Marco Rubio in the three-way battle, he has indicated he will align himself with Democrats. A Crist victory would offset a potential loss in another state like Nevada or Wisconsin to help keep the Senate in the party’s hands.

“It’s got nothing to do with Florida,” one senior Democratic Party official told me about the story that’s rocked the state. “Except that if Kendrick was at 25 percent [in the polls] there may have been some sense that he was driving African-American votes that [Democratic gubernatorial candidate] Alex Sink couldn’t get on her own.”

Instead, Meek is stuck at 15 percent in the latest Quinnipiac University poll, a distant third place behind Rubio (42 percent) and Crist (35 percent). My sources say that given that grim political reality, several top Democrats have been privately encouraging Meek to step aside for the good of the party and Clinton was brought in as the “closer” to help seal the deal.

For several days over the last week or so, Clinton believed he had persuaded Meek to throw his support to Crist. I’m told that one of many scenarios had Crist and Meek joining up this past Tuesday at an event in Florida, but there was also another more dramatic scenario: The two candidates would shock the political world by getting together shortly after last Sunday morning’s CNN debate among the three candidates moderated by Candy Crowley.

But two people close to Meek persuaded him to reconsider: his wife and Rep. Alcee Hastings of Florida, both of whom made the case that he would upset his supporters, especially African-American voters who had already turned out in early voting, and jeopardize his career long-term.

At one point, Democratic officials say Meek went into “radio silence” mode, infuriating Clinton and others as they waited to see if the congressman would follow through on his private promise to get out of the race. When Meek finally emerged to tell party officials that he was staying in, Clinton was unhappy.

Shortly thereafter, the story was leaked to Politico, causing some chaos. The leak sent the message to the Democratic base that the party hierarchy does not believe that Meek can win, so the rank and file might prefer to vote for Crist instead of throwing their vote on Meek.

Top Republicans are laughing at this strategy and the broader Democratic claim that the Florida seat is still winnable for Crist. One said, “I think a fair question for the White House is this: What does it tell your Democratic base to see that senior party officials are willing to throw an incumbent African-American Democrat congressman under the bus in place of a former Republican who campaigned against the health care bill and on a pro-life platform?”

In fact, I asked top Democratic officials if it’s really worth it to try to push Meek out, even though the whole plan has now been exposed and it appears the congressman will not budge. The consensus was yes, it’s worth it simply because holding on to the Senate is the Democrat’s sole chance of keeping some power on Capitol Hill.

One senior official was particularly blunt in saying the goal among top Democrats now is to get Meek’s numbers even lower than 15 percent in the polls, perhaps even below 10 percent, in the hopes that he goes so low that Crist gets a surge of support and pulls out a comeback victory. But is this really worth the risk of dropping one of your own Democrats down below 10 percent?

“Who cares if Charlie Crist wins and he caucuses with Democrats?” this Democratic official said bluntly, adding that this strategy is critical “especially if we don’t hold on out West” in some of the other Senate battles.

In other words, time to tighten the seat belts. Tuesday might be even bumpier than expected.

Meek story shows Dems’ Senate fears

Mary Jane Holland is one of 1,000 female members of the United Steelworkers gathered here to talk about how to mobilize her labor colleagues to re-elect what she calls “worker-friendly candidates” across the country.

She made the trip to Pittsburgh from West Bend, Wisconsin, where she is the president of her local USW chapter. She’s been spending weekends knocking on doors, sending out voter information and urging fellow union members to vote.

“People hear negative things, and we’re trying to be positive and trying to make sure they understand how these [candidates] are working for them day in and day out,” Holland said.

She conceded many voters are upset because President Obama and congressional Democrats haven’t turned a bad economy around yet, but she said they need to be patient.

Video: Democrats’ last line of defense?

“Are we going to achieve everything in 18 months? No we’re not going to. We know it is a slow process, just like women coming up in the union.”

Tonya DeVore-Foreman is from Michigan, which has a 13.1 percent unemployment rate, the second-highest in the country. She said the sluggish economy is a reason to stick with candidates who back labor — usually Democrats, she notes — not reject them.

“We’re losing our manufacturing base every day. The manufacturing base decreases, the loss of jobs continues to grow. And we feel it is very important to get labor-friendly, working-family-friendly candidates in office.”

These are the women House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was trying to energize Monday when she visited the “Women of Steel” conference. She entered the convention ballroom to loud cheering and Tina Turner’s “Simply the Best” blaring over the speakers. Women stood up, waving signs that said, “Best Speaker Ever.”

It was a warm reception for a politician who has become a liability for many Democrats this election season. According to a recent CNN-Opinion Research Corporation poll, more than half of Americans have an unfavorable impression of Pelosi. She has kept a low profile on the campaign trail this year, traveling the country fundraising, rather than doing public appearances with Democratic candidates.

Speaking to this friendly audience in Pittsburgh, Pelosi was able to do something many Democrats have avoided this cycle — touting legislative victories on health care reform and Wall Street regulation and accusing Republicans of wanting to return to the Bush era.

“It’s a choice, as the president said, of moving America forward or going back to the failed policies. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: We’re not going back and we’re not going back and we’re going to win because the Women of Steel, the Women of Steel are going to help us lead the way in our country to that great victory,” Pelosi said.

The problem for Democrats is that the enthusiasm in this room is not necessarily shared by other Democratic voters.

A recent CNN-Opinion Research Corporation poll shows women, who tend to support Democratic candidates over Republicans, are much less inspired to head to the polls than their male counterparts, who generally favor GOP candidates.

Thirty-eight percent of likely male voters said they were “extremely enthusiastic” about voting in the midterm elections, compared with just 23 percent of women who rated themselves the same way.

But DeVore-Foreman pushes back at polls showing voters who rallied for Obama in 2008 might be less enthusiastic now, saying union members will succeed in firing up those Americans.

“Polls talk about likely voters. One of the things we’re gonna do is we’re gonna bring people who weren’t reached in those polls, and get them to vote. Because when working people vote, our voice is heard,” DeVore-Foreman said.

She’s reaching out to fellow union members, sending postcards to workers in other states with competitive races, reminding them how important these elections will be to pushing the labor agenda through Congress.

While these women know people are disheartened by the stalled economy, they remain confident that their efforts will turn the tide for Democrats on Election Day.

“People have been sitting back, waiting and looking looking and investigating,” Holland said. “And when the election comes around, I think you’ll see it especially in the union vote. I think they’re gonna come out and vote, and it’s gonna make the difference.

Unions and women: Democrats’ last line of defense

O’Donnell, the Tea Party backed candidate who upset the mainstream Republican favorite in the primary, appeared nervous at the start but quickly went on the attack, accusing Coons of raising taxes and offering a “rubber stamp” to Obama administration policies if elected.

“My opponent wants to go to Washington and rubber-stamp the spending bills” that she said are hurting the nation and Delaware.

Later, O’Donnell said, a vote for Coons would cost the average Delawarean $10,000 “instantly” in tax hikes and energy reform costs.

Coons emphasized his experience as New Castle County executive but also attacked O’Donnell, calling some of her positions extreme and accusing her of lying about his record in campaign messaging.

Both candidates framed the election as a clear choice for voters, with Coons taking mainstream Democratic stances on economic policy, health care and other issues, while O’Donnell backed Republican positions such as tax cuts and spending cuts to balance the budget.

The most serious problem for either candidate came when O’Donnell was asked to cite any specific recent Supreme Court rulings that she opposed.

“Oh gosh, give me a specific one,” she said, and when told the question required her come up with cases, O’Donnell responded, “I’m sorry,” and promised to put the information up later on her website.

Coons quickly referred to the Citizens United ruling in January in which the court lifted some limits on corporate contributions to campaign spending.

In a pattern throughout the debate, O’Donnell made broad statements that attacked Coons on various mainstream Democratic stances, sometimes with personal references to his political record and what she called a family business.

Offered the chance to respond, Coons several times expressed exasperation, saying at one point: “A fascinating question that really makes no sense. What’s she talking about?”

The debate produced a few humorous moments, such as when Coons said O’Donnell’s well-publicized statements from a decade earlier that she dabbled in witchcraft and questioned evolution theory were distractions instead of a substantive campaign issue.

“You’re just jealous that you weren’t on ‘Saturday Night Live’,” O’Donnell said, referring to the comedy show’s satirical skit about her.

“I’m dying to see who’s going to play me,” Coons responded with a smile.

O’Donnell scored a major upset last month when she defeated Rep. Mike Castle to win Delaware’s GOP Senate nomination.

She had support from the Tea Party Express, a major endorsement from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, as well as the strong anti-establishment and anti-incumbent feelings among voters this year in topping Castle, a moderate Republican who served nine terms in the House and eight years as governor before that.

Since O’Donnell’s primary victory, she has had to deal with controversial and colorful comments she made about a decade ago when she was a spokeswoman for conservative causes.

Her first campaign commercial began with O’Donnell declaring, “I am not a witch” in response to her statement years ago on the program “Politically Incorrect” that she “dabbled in witchcraft.”

She acknowledged in an interview with CNN that the resurfaced clips have forced her to reinvent herself in the final weeks of the campaign.

“I haven’t been embarrassed. And I’m not saying that I’m proud,” O’Donnell told CNN’s Jim Acosta last week. “I’ve matured in my faith. I’ve matured in my policies. Today you have a forty-something woman running for office, not a 20-year-old. So that’s a big difference.”

The debate at the University of Delaware in Newark was co-moderated by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and by longtime Delaware news anchor Nancy Karibjanian of Delaware First Media.

Results of a CNN/Time/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Wednesday showed Coons with a 19-point lead over O’Donnell. However, O’Donnell enjoys a lead in campaign cash, which is one reason both President Barack Obama and Biden are coming to Delaware on Friday to help Coons raise money.

O’Donnell, 41, ran unsuccessfully for Senate twice before, in 2006 and 2008. Since winning the primary, she’s had to deal with controversies involving unpaid income taxes and allegations of misusing campaign donations, as well as attacks from Democrats and some Republicans, including Karl Rove, on her qualifications.

Coons, the 47-year-old executive of New Castle County, the state’s most populous county, faced no serious opposition in the Democratic primary.

While he is running his first statewide campaign, Coons is neither a political novice nor a party outsider. In 1988, Coons served as a policy researcher for the failed Senate campaign of then-Lt. Gov. S.B. Woo.

He went on to earn a degree from Yale Law School, as well as a master’s in ethics from Yale Divinity School.

The winner in November will fill out the remaining four years of Biden’s final term in the Senate. Biden stepped down from his seat after his election in November 2008 as vice president.

Former Biden aide Ted Kaufman was named as an interim replacement, and did not seek a full term.

CNN’s Tom Cohen, Paul Steinhauser, Jim Acosta, and Bonnie Kapp contributed to this report.

O’Donnell attacks then stumbles in debate

While saying he thought his party would retain its majority in both the House and Senate in the November 2 voting, Axelrod told the CBS program “Face The Nation” that that he hoped Republican gains would bring more cooperation.

He accused Republicans of deliberate obstruction as a political strategy since President Barack Obama took office last year with majorities in both the House and Senate.

“The posture of the Republican Party from the moment we got here has been basically to deprive the president of bipartisan support so they could accuse him of not being bipartisan,” Axelrod said.

“So I’m hoping that with more seats, the Republicans will feel a greater sense of responsibility to work with us to solve some of these problems,” he said.

Former Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie indicated a continued GOP hard-line stance on spending issues.

“I think there will be areas where there’s cooperation and areas where there’s opposition,” Gillespie said on the same program. “Look, the Republicans, if they take control of the House and get very close in the Senate, are going to try to put the brakes on all this reckless spending.”

Gillespie said “common ground” was possible on a few issues such as free trade agreements, but maintained his focus on spending controls.

“If they can find some areas where you can get spending restraint with this administration, Republicans would be happy to go along with that,” he said.

Axelrod hopes GOP gains bring cooperation

The economy lost 95,000 jobs in September, though the private sector added 64,000 jobs. The nation’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.6 percent.

Obama blamed the net job loss on layoffs at both the U.S. Census and state and local governments. He slammed the GOP for opposing additional state assistance.

“We have to keep doing everything we can to accelerate this economy,” he said during a visit to a Maryland brick and masonry company. Too many Americans have been “swept up in the most devastating recession of our lifetimes.”

Obama highlighted the recently enacted small-business aid bill — a measure opposed by many senior Republicans — and renewed his push for a permanent extension of the Bush tax cuts for families making less than $250,000.

“The damage left by this recession is so deep that it’s going to take a long time to get out,” he said.

Republicans have repeatedly warned that a failure to extend all of the tax cuts — including those for wealthier Americans — will damage an already sluggish recovery. GOP leaders have also criticized the White House’s economic recovery initiatives, claiming they’ve needlessly added to the debt while failing to sufficiently stimulate growth.

“With each passing month, and each new jobs report, it becomes increasingly clear that while massive Washington spending is growing the size of government, it’s clearly not growing sustainable private-sector jobs,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said in statement released before Obama’s remarks.

“The trillion-dollar stimulus didn’t live up to promises made by the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress; the massive growth of the federal government didn’t result in a similar growth of jobs; and the maze of new regulations, health care mandates and taxes are having a predictable impact on the economy.”

Obama notes private sector job growth, rips GOP