August was a difficult month for Democrats, nearly more difficult than the same month last year when bombastic health care town hall meetings threatened to rip the reform effort apart at the seams, but this summer has seen more of a quiet implosion of Democrats' chances in the fall for retaining control of Congress, as poll after poll offers more good news for Republicans.

And September is kicking off no differently than August. On Thursday, respected nonpartisan analyst Larry Sabato added to the picture with an updated projection of a 47-seat upset in the House for Representatives, well above the 39 seats required to flip control to the GOP.

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Former Obama administration car czar Steven Rattner is coming out with a new book that depicts him swashbuckling through the financial crisis and also shows Obama as "out to get" the car companies and the administration making political decisions about how to deal with bankrupt automakers GM and Chrysler.

Rattner, a former New York Times reporter in Washington, made a mint as a hedge funder, became a massive Democratic donor and returned to D.C. as Obama's point man during the bailout and takeover of GM and Chrysler. He's since been ensnared in a SEC investigation into his firm's efforts to leverage political influence and favors to win government investment deals.

But Rattner's working on his image. He signed up Obama golf partner and billionaire New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg as a client and now is launching his book "Overhaul" about his time in the administration.

The Huffington Post got a leaked copy and there is plenty there that will play into this years' elections - especially since this is the first kiss-and-tell book from the Obama team.

Key points from the article and excerpts: (read more)

The despair that currently grips the Democratic Party is enhancing the clout of big labor in the party.

The AFL-CIO has joined the other big unions - AFSCME and SEIU - in making lavish promises about mobilization and spending this cycle. At the national AFL-CIO conclave Wednesday, union boss Richard Trumka pledged to spend $40 million across 26 states, including more than 70 House races - all fighting "corporate traitors."

With similar pledges from other unions and new rules regarding campaign spending, it's conceivable that big labor could spend more than $150 million - a staggering sum for a midterm election.

Every day, another prognosticator has more bad news for Democrats. Today, Larry Sabato predicts a 47-seat gain for Republicans in the House and says the Senate is "on the bubble." While Democrats continue to enjoy the cash cushion provided by easier fundraising in the majority, the party is in dire need of help, especially when it comes time to get out the vote. (read more)

Going to the doctor is going paperless, as new Obama administration rules require hospitals and physicians to convert millions of paper patient files to digital records. Medical providers will have to electronically record certain information like a patient's weight, blood pressure, prescriptions and allergies by 2011. Every year after that will require more information or "measures" to be put into computers.

"A big part of where the government is going is to try to make the data flow more freely amongst providers and hospitals so that your data goes with you instead of staying with the hospital or doctor," said Dr. Michael Swiernek, UCLA Director of Medical Informatics.

The result, advocates say, are lower costs, better care and improved safety.

"It'll make sure that any medicines that I prescribe for them don't contradict with current medicines that they're on," says Dr. Jeffrey Feit, Vice President of Medical Affairs at Page Memorial Hospital in Luray, Va. "Those are all things that I would have had to remember to do when I was doing things on paper, and now the computer reminds me each time."

To help defray the cost, the feds will hand out $19 billion in stimulus money. A total of $27 billion is expected to be spent over 10 years. (read more)

The last big Republican primary battle of 2010 looks to be in the "First State" of Delaware, where the primary will be held on September 14th.

The seat, formerly occupied by Vice President Biden, is a coveted GOP pickup opportunity this fall.

The frontrunner and establishment candidate is Delaware's lone Congressman and former Governor, Mike Castle, who has served nine terms in the House.

But with 13 days left the Tea Party Express PAC is getting involved - the same group that helped lift Joe Miller to victory in Alaska's GOP Senate primary over Sen. Lisa Murkowski.The Tea Party Express is backing conservative activist Christine O'Donnell over Castle, and the Delaware GOP is determined not to make the mistake of ignoring the threat. Responding aggressively to O'Donnell and her backers, Delaware State GOP Chairman Tom Ross made his thoughts on the race very clear - click below to watch. (read more)

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka Wednesday warned labor-oriented voters to be wary of Republican prospects to seize control of the House of Representatives this fall and elect House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) as speaker.

"Things will get worse if we let them," said Trumka. "We absolutely believe that when workers get to vote, there will be no Speaker Boehner."

Trumka suggested that the agenda spelled out last week by Boehner in an address to the City Club of Cleveland "would move us right back to the Bush-era corporate agenda that created the economic morass we are still trying to escape."

At one point, he alluded to some business interests as "corporate traitors."

Trumka unveiled a TV ad that will air across the country during sporting events this Labor Day weekend.

He says the ad is "not political" in nature. Instead, it represents union workers who perform traditional blue collar jobs and drive the economy.

"It's about defining who we are," Trumka said.

Trumka wouldn't commit to how much the AFL-CIO would spend on that ad buy or other political commercials as the critical midterm elections creep closer. But Trumka conceded that "corporate America" would outspend labor this election cycle. (read more)

Voters prefer Republicans to Democrats on seven of nine key election issues - including an 11 point margin on the economy - according to a new poll from Gallup and USA Today.

The only two winning issues for Dems were the environment -- with a 23-point margin -- and health care, which had only a 1-point margin of 43 to 44 percent, a far cry from the double digit leads more common historically for the blue team on health.

The GOP advantage spanned from a 3-point to a 24-point margin and included the issues of terrorism (55-31 percent, Republicans over Democrats), immigration (50-35 percent), federal spending (50-35 percent), the economy (49-38 percent), the situation in Afghanistan (45-38 percent), jobs (46-41 percent) and corruption in government (38-35 percent).

The poll, taken Aug. 27-30, of a random sample of 1,021 adults had a 4-point margin of error. (read more)

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Republican challenger Carly Fiorina have their first debate Wednesday night and the expectations and stakes are high.

The two women are essentially tied in polling to this point - albeit with a slight edge for Boxer. There's a lot of rancor in this race. Boxer did not expect to have so much trouble in her run for a third term and Fiorina likes to throw lots of jabs and has the money to land thgem. The race is, much like the gubernatorial contest between Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown, an expensive, mostly negative affair.

Boxer is in the news today looking to hold President Obama to reassert his timetable to begin an Afghan drawdown in 2011, staking out her territory on the left on the war. The conflict has less support in California than many states, so expect Boxer to try to pin down the Hawkish Fiorina as a proponent of staying in Afghanistan for "as long as it takes."

Fiorina will be pushing hard on the central message on her campaign: jobs. Expect to hear a great deal about California's sputtering economy and Fiorina trying to pin the incumbent down on issues like whether she supports the expiration of the Bush tax cuts. (read more)

What would happen if all of our active duty members of the military serving overseas could vote in local and national elections with the click of a button?

Many advocates of the idea, say that finding a secure online system would solve the problem of military absentee ballots that often come in too late to be counted. Cyber security experts still feel the internet isn't 100 percent safe. This is why New Jersey Assemblyman Paul D. Moriarty says he wants the The Secretary of State to establish a pilot project that would use technology for an internet-based voting system that would ensure the security of the ballot and the integrity of the voting process for our troops.

The proposal by Assemblyman Moriarty would make official in New Jersey, what some states are already testing out.

According to the Verified Voting Foundation, this year, 33 states are allowing millions of overseas and military voters to use some form of electronic voting hoping to make the system more efficient. Moriarty tells Fox News, "it's a cumbersome process for someone overseas serving in the military to get an absentee ballot. They have to apply to the county clerk. The clerk has to send them the ballot. They have to fill it out. They have to send it back, and often times this may get lost in translation. It may not get back in a timely manner and it may not even be counted in an election." (read more)

President Obama's speech on the ongoing Iraq drawdown was a very strange kind of Oval Office address. It revealed a president who had grown in his first year in office, but also a president who is struggling for a way to connect with the American people.

The speech was partly a tacit acknowledgement of the success of the troop surge in Iraq - an effort Obama and his top lieutenants bitterly opposed. Obama's grace note about President Bush's patriotism was a high point.

But the speech was also an effort to explain the need to apply the tactics of Iraq to Afghanistan. Since Obama is marking the drawdown at an arbitrary date set as a candidate and on a strictly semantic basis ("combat brigades" versus "combat troops" is a thin hair to split), it was a tough pivot. This portion of the speech sounded like he was answering a question at a debate or in a law school class. His pointed remark about "fulfilling a campaign promise" in Iraq seemed a bit crass when talking about American heroes and national security.

As many have noted before, Obama may use the language of a war president, but his dry, logical presentations do not stir the American heart to martial challenges. (read more)