**President Obama
*Obama made a late-night, unscheduled visit to Dover Air Force Base last night to witness the return of 18 servicemen killed in action. "The carefully choreographed visit to Dover, the nation's entry point for U.S. military personnel killed in action, brought Obama face-to-face with the grimmest realty of war as his administration mulls the best way forward in Afghanistan."

*Reported cooperation between the CIA and Hamid Karzai's brother is presenting new headaches fo the White House, the New York Times reports.

*More quid pro quo talk involving the White House. USA Today: "More than 40% of President Obama's top-level fundraisers have secured posts in his administration, from key executive branch jobs to diplomatic postings in countries such as France, Spain and the Bahamas."

*The White House is pushing back on this AP story about stimulus jobs, which says the plan "overstates by thousands the number of jobs created or saved through the stimulus program, a mistake that White House officials promise will be corrected in future reports."

*A truce in Fox News vs. The White House? Mike Allen reports that Robert Gibbs met with Fox News' senior vice president for news for about 20 minutes on Wednesday morning.

*Obama signed a bill expanding the reach of hate crimes laws yesterday, LA Times reports.

*New York Times Magazine takes a long look at the First Marriage. Politics Daily's Lynn Sweet has more on it here.

**Congress
*Speaker Pelosi "will unveil a health-care reform bill on Thursday that includes a government insurance option and a historic expansion of Medicaid, although sticking points in the legislation involving abortion and immigration remain unresolved. Senior Democratic House aides said the bill would likely include a version of the "public option" preferred by moderates and may raise Medicaid eligibility levels to 150 percent of the federal poverty level for all adults, a steeper increase than in earlier drafts," Washington Post reports.

*Pelosi "remains well shy of the 218 votes needed to pass a landmark health care bill, isn't wasting much time these days on colleagues who are firmly in the 'no' column -- or even those who appear to be," Politico reports.

*"The hoopla provoked by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) decision to include a public option in healthcare reform has obscured the fact that major issues in the bill remain unsettled," The Hill reports.

*NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell "faced heated criticism Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee, with lawmakers, former players and even a former team executive accusing the league of neglect in its handling of active and retired players with brain injuries," New York Times reports.

*While receiving the Congressional Gold Medal in a ceremony yesterday in the Capitol Rotunda, where Obama and leaders from both parties attended, 90-year-old former senator Edward Brooke (R) pleaded with members of Congress to halt the bickering and get to work, Boston Globe reports. "We've got to get together," Brooke said, turning to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. "It's time for politics to be put aside on the backburner."

*Rep. Alan Grayson did something different on the House floor again -- this time he broke down in tears while reading letters sent to him through his controversial website from people who said their loved ones had died because they were uninsured, Roll Call reports.

**Campaign Stuff
*CA Gov: L.A. Times reports that "in the very first series of radio ads in the 2010 gubernatorial race, comes blatant baloney from billionaire political novice Meg Whitman," who claims state spending has increased 80% in the last 10 years -- it's actually just 27%, and "adjusted for inflation and population growth, spending actually has decreased by 16.6%."

*TX Gov: "Kay Bailey Hutchison's campaign hopes the endorsement of former Vice President Dick Cheney will help woo conservatives in the GOP base that will be key to winning the Republican nomination for governor. Cheney will endorse Hutchison at a Houston fundraiser on Nov. 17," Dallas Morning News reports.

"I am so pleased," Hutchison said yesterday of Cheney's endorsement. "I respect the vice president so much. We've worked together. He knows my record as a conservative in the Senate."

*Mitt Romney acknowledged flaws in the health care plan he signed into law as Massachusetts governor. He told CNN: "We were unable to deal with - and didn't have any pretense we would somehow be able to change - health care costs in Massachusetts. We still have a fee for service, a re-imbursement system here like every other state in America."

*With all the focus on national involvement in NY-23, the local paper points out that Rick Lazio, gubernatorial hopeful, hasn't weighed in.

*MA Sen: Half of the Democratic primary field won't accept PAC or lobbyist money, Boston Globe reports.

And Rep. Michael Capuano is "is embracing a label most politicians shun: Washington insider," AP reports.

*FL Sen: Katherine Harris's former campaign manager sees Marco Rubio "heading down the same path as Harris."

**Sports Alert: Cliff Lee is good.

**Redskins Alert: Already looking ahead to the next NFL season (Kyle is at least), there are no offensive tackles on Mel Kiper's updated Big Board. That's not a good sign.

--Kyle Trygstad and Mike Memoli