Key Republican senator loses seat

When Ashley Judd announced on Wednesday that she had decided not to run for Mitch McConnell’s Senate seat in Kentucky, national Democrats quickly made clear that they remain serious about taking on the five-term lawmaker. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee launched a small anti-McConnell radio ad buy the next morning.

This Saturday, right-wing protesters will gather in Washington DC for a march to oppose health reform and President Obama. The event, scheduled intentionally on September 12 to coincide with the anniversary of the day following the September 11 terrorist attacks, was conceived largely by Fox News’ Glenn Beck.

A recent Tea Party Second Amendment program attracted an overflow crowd to a rear dining room at the First Street Family Restaurant in Simi Valley. A few days later, a couple of hundred people, many of them local Tea Party members, attended a "Day of Resistance" gun rights rally and march in Ventura.

Denying decorated war hero and foreign policy luminary Chuck Hagel the Pentagon’s top job will be a daunting task for his opponents. But Republicans are spoiling for a fight against President Obama over the nomination of the former GOP senator for secretary of defense.

Ross Douthat says liberals are propounding myths about the tea party movement, but he’s willing to give some credence to one complaint:

How many ultra-conservative lawmakers do you need to pack into a room before one of them objects to immigration reform? Apparenty more than nine.