CQPolitics.com - White House spokesman Robert Gibbs on Thursday defended President Barack Obama's track record of campaigning for House Democrats as new polling shows their party taking a nose dive.

AP - Frustrated, discouraged and just plain mad, a lot of people who have lost jobs — or know someone who has — now want to see the names of Democrats on pink slips. And that's jeopardizing the party's chances in Ohio and all across the country in November's elections.

AFP - Just two months before November elections, President Barack Obama's Democratic allies insist they will defy predictions of a Republican romp that could cripple the White House's still-ambitious agenda.

AP - In the turbulent year of the tea party, Republican Rep. Mike Castle of Delaware set out to jangle no nerves as he ran for a Senate seat long held by Vice President Joseph Biden. It's the way Republican strategists originally envisioned 2010, a roster of seasoned politicians pointing the party toward significant gains in the Senate.

AP - John Boehner could walk down most American streets without turning a head.

AP - Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank's retort was an Internet sensation. Questioned at a town hall last year about the "Nazi policy" of health care reform, Frank told the speaker who made the comment that talking to her was "like arguing with a dining room table." Fast forward to this year, the questioner, Rachel Brown, is challenging the 15-term Democrat's re-election bid.

AFP - The UN refugee agency on Friday urged European countries not to send Iraqi refugees back to central parts of Iraq, just days after the official withdrawal of US combat troops.

AP - Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate David Haase said he's meeting Tuesday with Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski as the Republican Murkowski is being urged by supporters to find a way to stay in the race despite her loss in the primary last month.