**President Obama
*"From the moment he began speaking" at the UN yesterday, "Obama made clear his determination to repair the 'skepticism and distrust' he said had built up under his predecessor, George W. Bush," the Washington Post reports. "He argued that Bush's tenure had fed a 'reflexive anti-Americanism, which too often has served as an excuse for our collective inaction.'" The generally warm response Obama received, in contrast to the sometimes stony silence that greeted Bush at the United Nations, suggested that his presidency already is perceived differently."

*A win? "Russian President Dmitry Medvedev offered closer cooperation with the United States in curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions Wednesday, promising President Obama that Moscow would help the Islamic Republic make "a right decision" and hinting that sanctions might be necessary to achieve it," the Los Angeles Times reports.

*NY Times: "The Obama administration has decided not to seek new legislation from Congress authorizing the indefinite detention of about 50 terrorism suspects being held without charges at at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, officials said Wednesday."

*USA Today: "The Group of 20 meeting of the world's major and emerging economies aims to take stock of the recovery that the last summit in London helped to create -- while acknowledging that the world economy, environment and financial regulatory system have a ways to go."

*"The Obama administration is signaling that it is in no hurry to let the $700 billion financial bailout program expire at year's end amid continuing stress on the economy and the banking system," AP reports.

**Health Care
*Gallup: "There are significant differences in views on a new healthcare law by age. The youngest Americans, aged 18-29, favor it by a 13-point margin, although more than 4 in 10 have no opinion on the issue. Support is more evenly divided among Americans 30-64, while those 65 and older are opposed by a 10-point margin."

*On Day 2 of mark up, the Senate Finance Committee "wrestled...with politically volatile proposals to squeeze money out of Medicare. As they continued marking up the bill, a process expected to stretch into next week, Democrats fended off attempts by Republicans to restore proposed reductions to the program," Washington Post reports.

*In an interview with Charlie Rose, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel predicts: "Health care will be passed before the members go home for Thanksgiving. And it will not be just on the Senate finance because the legislative process is a place where both bodies get to contribute."

*Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) "has a big problem. The bill taken up this week by the committee would cut Medicare payments to insurance companies that care for more than 10 million older Americans, including nearly one million in Florida," NY Times reports.

*Chuck Todd called Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) "the real Senate majority leader" last night on NBC's Nightly News. Time writes why: "As the only Republican on the Finance Committee still in talks with Democrats on a final bill, Snowe now finds herself with extraordinary leverage as crunch time hits for health reform. Snowe could provide the 60th vote that may be needed for Democrats to overcome a GOP filibuster on the Senate floor. All of which means that pretty much anything Snowe wants, she is going to get -- and any bill that emerges from this excruciating process will bear her stamp."

**Replacing Kennedy
*The Boston Globe said that indications were that Gov. Deval Patrick (D) would appoint former DNC chair Paul Kirk Jr., "who has the strong backing of the immediate family of the late Edward M. Kennedy," to the U.S. Senate.

*NY Times reports that senior Democrats in Washington "said they were certain Mr. Kirk was the choice. ... Democrats in Washington and Massachusetts expressed enthusiasm for his candidacy, saying Mr. Kirk was familiar enough with Capitol Hill and Mr. Kennedy's priorities to seamlessly pick up where the senator left off."

**Campaign Stuff
*Karl Rove, speaking in Las Vegas yesterday, urged his party "to oppose Obama's health care proposals and to come up with their own solutions to make insurance more affordable and accessible." Rove: "We'll be defined this year by what we oppose. By next year we need to be able to articulate what we are for. There is a problem: Some people are not getting health insurance, they can't afford it."

*Sarah Palin posts some of her remarks from the Hong Kong speech on Facebook.

*After speculation he may have had renewed interest in the Senate race, Nevada Rep. Jon Porter (R) told Jon Ralston he would not make the race against Harry Reid. Via Politico: "That leaves businessman Danny Tarkanian, outgoing state party chairwoman Sue Lowden and state senator Mark Amodei as the leading contenders for the Republican nomination against Reid - for now."

*NY Gov: "Gov. David A. Paterson went on the offensive Wednesday, soliciting sympathy and support from the public while lashing out at everyone from President Obama to state Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo. By day's end, Paterson was saying he is now on a "mission" to run for office next year, despite efforts by the White House and some New York Democrats to get him off the ticket," Buffalo News reports.

*Some tit-for-tat in Washington over the Texas governor's race yesterday, The Hill reports. From Gov. Rick Perry (R): "The idea that we are about to spend $50 million in a Republican primary is asinine to me. ... There are still opportunities in Washington for her to do the job she's been elected to do."

WSJ writes that the gloves are off: "from the get-go the race has been fierce, even by the bare-knuckled standards of Texas politics. For instance, both sides have taken to posting attack videos on YouTube, referring to one-another as "Kay Bailout" and "Tricky Ricky."

Houston Chronicle reports Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison "is harnessing the powers of incumbency on Capitol Hill to wage a demanding, two-front campaign in the nation's capital and Texas to unseat Gov. Rick Perry. The Dallas Republican is using her Senate post to showcase conservative positions on high-profile state and national issues to galvanize support for the GOP gubernatorial primary in March."

*A Suffolk University poll shows Gov. Deval Patrick winning a three-person race next year. He gets 36 percent, while independent candidate Tim Cahill pulls 23 percent and Republican Charlie Baker gets 14.

*Yet another New Hampshire Republican businessman, Jim Bender, says he's considering the U.S. Senate race, DiStaso reports in the Union Leader. "I'm strongly considering a candidacy because we need to get the federal deficit under control and we need congressional term limits," he said.

--Mike Memoli and Kyle Trygstad