CQPolitics.com - Outside organizations have shelled out twice as much on ads and other electioneering activities to affect Congressional races so far during the 2010 election cycle as they did two years ago.

AP - The family of the late Robert C. Byrd blasted the GOP nominee for his U.S. Senate seat Sunday after he used an image from Byrd's memorial service in a TV ad attacking the Democratic nominee.

Time.com - Nine weeks before the midterm elections, Barack Obama finds himself on the wrong side of the polls. Where did all that adoration go -- and is a Republican sweep next?

Reuters - Afghanistan's Taliban said on Sunday they would attempt to disrupt elections this month and warned Afghans to boycott the vote, the first explicit threat against the poll by the hardline Islamists.

Reuters - President Barack Obama will ask the Congress on Wednesday to increase and permanently extend a tax credit for business research as a way of boosting job growth, an administration officials said on Sunday.

AP - President Barack Obama hopes to improve the fortunes of suddenly imperiled Wisconsin Democrats as he celebrates Labor Day with the state's union workers on Monday.

The Christian Science Monitor - A consensus is building that Democrats chances of holding on to both houses of Congress certainly with anything like the majorities they have today are fast fading.

AP - French director Francois Ozon's says he was inspired to go ahead with his latest film, a battle-of-the-sexes comedy, after the presidential election pitting Nicolas Sarkozy against Segolene Royale.

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 - The father of Republican Senate candidate Marco Rubio has died after a long illness. He was 83.

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

Reuters - Afghanistan's Taliban said on Sunday they would attempt to derail elections this month and warned Afghans to boycott the vote, the first explicit threat against the poll by the hardline Islamists.

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.

AP - A company has sued Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle, claiming she reprinted two Las Vegas Review-Journal articles on her campaign website without permission.

Reuters - President Barack Obama, previewing a big push on the U.S. economy next week, on Saturday defended policies that he said "have stopped the bleeding" and put the middle class on the road to recovery.