**President Obama
*Playing politics: New York Times reports that the "assertiveness" of the White House in local races "has bruised some Democrats who suggest it could undercut Mr. Obama's appeal with voters tired of partisan politics." Karl Rove also weighs in: "This was particularly ham-handed. They shouldn't have tried this unless they can make it happen. Even then, they should have acted in a way that was subtle, not messy and ugly."

*Washington Post: "While White House officials shrug off suggestions that they are any more involved in trying to improve the prospects for their party than were their predecessors -- and argue that there is no single figure playing the kind of politics-first role that Karl Rove occupied in George W. Bush's administration -- the president and his aides are becoming increasingly active in the political arena."

*Bill Clinton's take on the racism allegations: "I believe that some of the right-wing extremists which oppose President Obama are also racially prejudiced and would prefer not to have an African-American president," he told CNN's Larry King. "But I don't believe that all the people who oppose him on health care -- and all the conservatives -- are racists. And I believe if he were white, every single person who opposes him now, would be opposing him then."

*LA Times on the Afghanistan review: It "could result in a scaling back of efforts to reform Afghanistan's politics and develop its economy. The U.S. could then focus more on hunting down Al Qaeda and its close allies with small special operations teams and armed Predator drones. Such an effort could avert the need for additional troops, officials and experts said.

*Reuters: "China and the United States, the world's top greenhouse gas emitters, will try to ignite efforts on Tuesday to secure a U.N. global warming pact as worries grow of a "dangerously close" deadlock in talks."

*The AP on Obama's visit to Letterman. RCP Video has a clip.

**Congress
*"Hoping to find strength in numbers, nine Senate Democratic freshmen have come together as a bloc to try to influence the direction of the chamber's health care overhaul," Roll Call reports. "Led by Sen. Mark Warner (Va.), the newly elected Democrats will take to the floor this week to call for stabilizing health care costs and reining in spending. The move is just the latest by the new Senators, and one the Democrats say could develop into a larger health care strategy this fall."

*Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) "said Monday that he would modify his health care bill to provide more generous assistance to moderate-income Americans, to help them buy insurance. In addition, Mr. Baucus said he would make changes to reduce the impact of a proposed tax on high-end health insurance policies," N.Y. Times reports.

*"Pelosi's (D-Calif.) push to decide issues like how to pay for the bill and the shape of the "public option" means that this week will be crucial for healthcare in both chambers," The Hill reports. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told Roll Call he can't "guarantee" that health care will pass by the end of the year.

**In the States
*"Along Columbia Road," which divides the congressional districts of Reps. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), "race has long been an inescapable topic of debate. And as Wilson's outburst brought the issue back to the surface, residents here voiced both divergent and hardened opinions," Washington Post reports.

*"More than three decades of rapid growth in the country's foreign-born population came to a halt last year, census data show, as surging unemployment made the U.S. economy less attractive to outsiders," L.A. Times reports. "In California, which has a long history of attracting immigrants, the number of foreign-born residents actually declined, shrinking 1.6%."

*"Civility reigned in a 90-minute Public Square forum yesterday at the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The forum featured two local congressmen [Eric Cantor (R) and Bobby Scott (D)] on opposite sides of a political fight over health-care reform that grew nasty at town-hall meetings across the country last month."

*Boston voters head to the polls today to narrow the field of mayoral candidates in "the most competitive mayor's race in 16 years," Boston Globe reports. Mayor Thomas M. Menino, being challenged by two city councilors and a developer, is running for a record fifth term. The top two vote-getters face off Nov. 3.

**Campaign Stuff
*The DSCC has raised just $1 million more than the NRSC through the first eight months of the year, CQ reports. "The NRSC has raised more from individual donors than the DSCC, which is more reliant on political committees, and also taken in a much larger percentage of its donations than the DSCC in smaller contributions that are not itemized on campaign reports."

*John McCain backed Rep. Jerry Moran (R) yesterday in the race for Kansas's open Senate seat, Kansas City Star reports. McCain chose Moran over fellow Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R).

*Meg Whitman makes her California governor bid official today. AP: "In excerpts from Tuesday's speech, Whitman reiterates her goal of creating 2 million private-sector jobs by 2015. She said she can do so by lowering taxes and eliminating regulations that conservatives say limit growth in California."

*A Baltimore Sun poll of a potential O'Malley-Ehrlich rematch puts the Democrat up 49-38.

*Sun-Times: "When Cheryle Jackson formally launched her campaign for the U.S. Senate last week, she kicked it off with a major name change. Cheryle Jackson is now Cheryle Robinson Jackson. Family considerations were behind the switch, she tells me. She denies it is a campaign strategy. Still, the move triggered a flurry of theories."

*NY Gov: Wall Street Journal reports that "the prospects of a gubernatorial bid by fellow Democrat state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo have brightened." But a spokeswoman for Cuomo "declined to comment on his political aspirations or the recent developments involving the Obama White House's concerns about Mr. Paterson's weakened political state."

--Mike Memoli and Kyle Trygstad