“New Orleans Saints fans received a midgame shot of President Barack Obama when the first general election campaign commercial featuring the president aired on behalf of Louisiana state Rep. Cedric Richmond during the Saints-Carolina Panthers game Sunday,” the Sunday New York Times reports.

Louisiana’s second congressional district is one of Democrats top (and few) targets this cycle. Rep. Ahn “Joseph” Cao took it over after a corruption scandal tarred former Rep. William Jefferson. The district is 60% black.

“Barack Obama's former right-hand man officially announced plans to throw his hat in the ring on Sunday, launching his ‘Tell It Like It Is’ campaign tour in a video message posted on newly-launched website chicagoforrahm.com,” the New York Daily News reports. “’Hi. I'm Rahm Emanuel,’ he says. ‘As I prepare to run for mayor, I’m going to spend the next few weeks visiting our neighborhoods –- at grocery stores, L stops, bowling alleys, and hot dog stands...I want to hear from you -- in blunt, Chicago terms -- what you think about our city, and how the next mayor and you, can make it better.’”

“When Congress returns in mid-November, lawmakers will face a daunting tax agenda that, left unresolved, would cost taxpayers trillions of dollars beginning next year,” The Hill writes. “Shortly after they adjourned this week, Democratic leaders vowed that extending middle-class tax cuts enacted by President George W. Bush would be their top priority upon returning after the elections.”

“Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) lost his driver’s license temporarily this summer because he bounced the check used to pay the renewal fee, according to an Associated Press report,” The Hill notes.

The New York Post profiles Chris Christie, who it calls the GOP’s new “heavyweight.” “This election season, the Garden State governor has received about 100 requests for endorsements. Republicans running for county offices in Ohio even write in, asking for his support. It's a level of political superstardom currently enjoyed on the right only by Sarah Palin -- but unlike that of the controversial Alaskan former governor, no Republican would back away from a Christie endorsement.”

Christie, by the way, is in Wisconsin today campaigning for gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker. “Then he hops a plane to Iowa to help out gubernatorial candidate Terry Branstad in stops at the Hy-Vee Conference Center in West Des Moines and a campaign office in Urbandale,” The Asbury Park Press reports.

Mitt Romney is in Albuquerque, N.M., today campaigning with and raising money for Republican Susana Martinez, who is running for governor.

“Senator Scott Brown has been hopscotching the country, using his high profile to help fellow Republicans fill their campaign coffers. But these missions help him with another goal: introducing himself to the GOP elite in key cities across the country and building his own national fund-raising network for his expected 2012 reelection bid,” The Boston Globe writes.

Congressman Eric Cantor (R-VA) is guest hosting CNBC’s Squawk Box this morning. He’ll interview Howard Dean and former TARP administrator Neel Kashkari.

How will this John Thune defense of his TARP vote go over if he decides to run in 2012: "I have probably been one of the fiercest critics and probably biggest advocates of ending TARP since it was enacted because of how it was used," he said on C-SPAN's Newsmakers program that aired Sunday, per The Hill.

The Sunday New York Times reached a conclusion that we agree with: Republicans winning the House isn’t a sure thing just yet. "Republicans carry substantial advantages as they move into the final month of the fall campaign, but the resilience of vulnerable Democrats is complicating Republican efforts to lock down enough seats to capture the House and take control of the unsettled electoral battleground. By now, Republicans had hoped to put away a first layer of Democrats and set their sights on a second tier of incumbents. But the fight for control of Congress is more fluid than it seemed at Labor Day, with Democrats mounting strong resistance in some parts of the country as they try to hold off a potential Republican wave in November."

The DNC tells First Read that when it files its finance report for September later this month, it will report raising more than $16 million that month -- its best month in a midterm cycle since McCain-Feingold. “We've found that our supporters are now focused on the election, are responding to the president's message laying out the choice and understand the stakes,” a DNC source emails us.

Politico’s Martin: “Once-despondent Democrats now believe that they may be able to avert a total midterm wipeout, as a series of important states now appears to be trending in their direction or growing more competitive. The bad news: In a sign of how hostile the election environment remains for the party, the cautious optimism is largely due to the view that the impending political hurricane could be downgraded from category 5 to category 4.”

CALIFORNIA: The Boston Globe goes to California, where it sets the stage for the Senate race there: “Over her three terms in the Senate, Boxer, 69, has been blessed with good timing, avoiding strong Republican election cycles and strong opponents, say political strategists in California. But this year the climate could work against her. California’s jobless rate is 12.4 percent, well above the national average of 9.6. The state has historic budget problems. Voters are dispirited.”

At a debate Saturday, Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman accused her Democratic opponent Jerry Brown of being behind the revelation that Whitman’s housekeeper was an undocumented immigrant, the Los Angeles Times recounts. ‘Jerry, you should be ashamed,’ Whitman said. ‘You and your surrogates put her deportation at risk. You put her out there. You should be ashamed for sacrificing Nicky Diaz on the altar of your political ambitions.’”

The Los Angeles Times “is backing Democratic candidate Jerry Brown over his Republican opponent, Meg Whitman, in the November 2 election. But the Times writes that both candidates ‘fall well short of our current needs,’” Reuters writes.

RNC Chairman brought his “Fire Pelosi” bus tour to California’s 45th district, where Rep. Mary Bono Mack “is facing her most aggressive re-election challenger yet in Democrat Steve Pougnet,” the Desert Sun writes.

CONNECTICUT: “National Democrats have begun airing a TV ad attacking the business record of the Republican candidate for Connecticut's U.S. Senate seat, accusing former professional wrestling executive Linda McMahon of being ‘a bad CEO.’”

McMahon and state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal square off tonight in their first Senate debate.

DELAWARE: For the love of meatballs… Well, Christine O’Donnell just didn’t dabble in witchcraft. Here’s yet another clip that Bill Maher has released, per Taegan Goddard:
O'Donnell: I was dabbling into every other kind of religion before I became a Christian.
Maher: You were a witch.
O'Donnell: I was. I was.
Maher: You were.
O'Donnell: I was dabbling in witchcraft. I've dabbled in Buddhism. I would have become a Hare Krishna but I didn't want to become a vegetarian. And that is honestly the reason why -- because I'm Italian, I love meatballs.
Maher: Boy, are you spiritual.

“Tea Party darling Christine O'Donnell treats religion like one big buffet,” The New York Daily News quips.

O’Donnell recounts to AP how she first got on the TV circuit in 1992.

GEORGIA: In the Georgia governor's debate, “Democrat Roy Barnes took several swipes at the continuing financial troubles of his Republican opponent Nathan Deal. At one point Deal suggested Barnes had made $2 billion in campaign promises he couldn't keep. Barnes fired back that Deal was using bad math. ‘I'll be very frank with you. I don't trust your adding on financial matters,’ Barnes quipped.” Meanwhile, Barnes and Deal had the chance to ask each other questions, and Deal asked Barnes if he would vote for Obama again if the Presidential election was this year. Barnes' response: "As you know, I supported the Democratic nominee for president in 2008.... I don't know [if I'd support him again]. I would have to see who else was running. I always believe you choose from between the best-qualified candidates who are running. I don't know who might be running against him so I don't know how to answer that." It’s a fine line to walk for conservative Democrats in the South. Georgia’s electorate is 29% African American.

KENTUCKY: “Rand Paul, the Republican candidate for senator from Kentucky, said yesterday that the age of eligibility for Social Security and Medicare may need to be raised for future recipients,” The Boston Globe reports. “But Paul, speaking during the first televised debate of the general election season with Democratic opponent Jack Conway, said he doesn’t want to change those benefits for older people already receiving them. The debate in Louisville, Ky., was aired on ‘Fox News Sunday.’”

Paul “sought to position the race as a referendum on President Barack Obama's agenda, in the first of a series of debates with his Democratic rival ahead of November's election,” the Wall Street Journal writes. Democratic nominee Jack Conway, “the state's attorney general, meanwhile, criticized his opponent's ideas as being ‘outside the mainstream.’”

“Kentucky GOP Senate nominee Rand Paul said Sunday he would support Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) if he is elected next month,” The Hill writes. ‘I will vote for whoever comes out of the caucus as the Republican leader, absolutely,’ he said. ‘And I presume that that will be Senator McConnell.’”

LOUISIANA: “After finishing about 200 votes shy of securing the 3rd district GOP nomination in his August primary, attorney Jeff Landry finished the job Saturday. He will now be heavily favored to flip the southeast Louisiana seat into the Republican column in November.”

NEVADA: Today, at events in Reno and Las Vegas, National Nurses United, the largest union of registered nurses in the country, is announcing a new $200,000 campaign against Sharron Angle. The campaign will include TV ads, Internet ads and direct mail. This is the largest ever expenditure on a political race by the union.

NEW YORK: Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, “who got his start in politics managing his father’s campaigns, cannot seem to stop managing his own,” the New York Times writes. “Because he has not fully entrusted anyone else with managing the operation, the campaign has at times become trapped by the candidate’s overthinking, most noticeably in the critical days after Mr. Paladino’s upset victory in the Republican primary.”

From NBC's Adam Verdugo
ERLANGER, KY -- U.S. Senate hopeful Rand Paul last night brought in two Tea Party titans to headline a fundraising rally in Northern Kentucky. One of them was his father, former GOP presidential candidate and current Rep. Ron Paul. The other was South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint.

“[DeMint] has been one of those who probably really has been involved and help get so many conservatives elected,” Rand Paul told the crowd of about 300 gathered in a Holiday Inn ballroom. “His endorsements have been a big deal across America.”

DeMint’s decisions to support certain candidates over others has caused a stir within his own party in recent contests, most notably Christine O’Donnell’s race in Delaware. He said that the Tea Party “has the establishment shaking in their boots.” His support for Paul in the GOP primary ran counter to the “establishment” pick -- Trey Grayson -- who was backed by Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell.

DeMint also told the crowd he received a thank-you note from Paul that read, “I smile when I think what we can do together in the Senate” -- to which DeMint added, “I smile when I think maybe not just us two but eight or 10 senators who believe in constitution-limited government."

DeMint is just one of the latest high-profile Republicans who have made trips to Kentucky on Paul’s behalf in the last month; Sarah Palin and Haley Barbour also have attended fundraisers in the state.

President Obama and the first lady celebrate their 18th wedding anniversary, then he hits the road for candidates across the country. And in the height of the midterm elections, it's time to debate.

FULL WEEK AHEAD VIDEO HERE.

Scott McAdams, the Democrat running in Alaska's three-way Senate contest, is up with his first TV ad, distinguishing himself from Joe Miller (R) and Lisa Murkowski (write-in).

"If it takes a tie to finally get the same share of oil royalties as Louisiana, then I'll wear one," McAdams says in the ad, as he tries on different neckties. "And if it takes a tie to stop Joe and Lisa from outsourcing our jobs to China or our tax dollars to the Lower 48, then that's a good reason, too."

The end, however, shows him pulling out an Incredible Hulk tie, which the late Sen. Ted Stevens (R) used to wear in the Senate.

From NBC's Savannah Guthrie and Mark Murray
If you closely follow American politics, you've probably heard the true story about a young Rahm Emanuel sending a pollster who angered him a dead fish.

Well, on his final day at the White House, aides -- playfully -- gave him a taste of his own medicine.

Emanuel gave a teary-eyed farewell after receiving the gift of an enormous dead Asian carp from economic adviser Austan Goolsbee (a fellow Chicagoan who volunteered on Rahm's first campaign for Congress).

"I know that I pushed you all very hard," Rahm said at the farewell. "But I did it in service to the president and I believe that our whole country is better off for it."

After his speech -- which was about five minutes long -- he received extended standing applause from the assembled members of the staff.

Assessing Rahm's tenure as chief of staff... His successes, his detractors... The bottom line: He helped run Washington, but didn't help change it... Meet Pete Rouse, Rahm's successor at least for the short term... Obama to announce the personnel move at 11:05 am ET... Assessing the electoral map as we begin October... Is Meg Whitman in BIG trouble?... Profiling SC-5.

From NBC's Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg
*** Assessing Rahm: As Rahm Emanuel today departs the White House to run for Chicago mayor, it's time to assess his nearly two years as chief of staff. On the one hand, he played a key role in the Democrats racking up more legislative achievements than Washington has seen since the Great Society or the New Deal. His half-a-loaf-is-better-than-no-loaf approach produced big results, even if those results weren't widely embraced by a public during a time of 10% unemployment. Rahm -- perhaps more than many pundits or chatterers in the blogosphere -- knows that politics is the art of the possible, that you take what you can get, and that enacting change is hard. Really hard. This, in fact, has been a hallmark of Rahm's career. As head of the DCCC, he pursued the "art of the possible" when finding candidates to win in tough districts. (Ironically, many of those candidates who won in '06 are the first ones who are going to lose in 2010 after having helped Rahm and Rahm's boss enact their long list of legislative achievements.)

*** His detractors: On the other hand, the larger-than-life Emanuel didn't always rub folks the right way. His style as chief of staff was not just an organizational dynamo, but also a micro-manager in every good and bad way that label is applied. He often wore too many hats (chatting with reporters, poring over polling data, dabbling in political races). He alienated liberals (like when he called them "f-ing retarded" for planning to air attack ads against conservative Dems who weren't backing the health reform). And he -- deliberatively or not -- let it be known that he disagreed with the president on major issues, like Obama going big on health care.

*** The bottom line on Rahm: History will likely judge Rahm's tenure as a successful one when it comes to helping "run" Washington. And if the president is re-elected in 2012, his two-year run will look even better. Perhaps someone with as hot of a personality as Rahm has only has a two-year political life expectancy as a staffer; you don't aspire to be mayor of Chicago one day if you enjoy simply being a No. 2 The president brought Rahm in because he needed someone who was familiar with Washington -- he didn't want to make the mistake Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, or Bill Clinton made when they came in determined to do things their way to the point of naive stubbornness. Like Reagan and Bush 43, Team Obama was determined to figure out a balance of working IN Washington and trying to change. Thanks to Rahm, they got the working "in" Washington right. But the president's political problems stem from the other half of the challenge: failing to change it.

*** Meet Pete Rouse: Let's make one thing clear, though: What's taking place at the White House isn't a shakeup; it's just turnover. It's Plouffe replacing Axelrod. It's Goolsbee replacing Romer. It's likely Donilon replacing Jones at NSA (by the end of the year). And the man who will replace Rahm -- at least temporarily -- is senior White House adviser Pete Rouse, who served as Obama's chief of staff when he was in the Senate and who was Tom Daschle's chief of staff before that. Here's the New York Times: "The decision to tap Mr. Rouse reflects a desire by the president to maintain his small circle of close advisers for now rather than bringing in an outsider or elder statesman to present a new face." And the AP says he "shuns the spotlight but has quietly built up an enormous wealth of trust and relationships in Washington. Those close to him say that he provides what Obama needs -- a sharp and strategic mind, a sense of continuity, a knack for troubleshooting and an ability to keep people focused on their tasks." In essence, he's the anti-Rahm. President Obama will announce the personnel change at 11:05 am ET.

*** October surprise? We're now a month away from Election Day. And here's what we know as we begin the month of October: Republicans are still poised for substantial House and Senate pick-ups; Democrats, though, look to be in a better position in the California and Washington state Senate contests; but they're weaker in Wisconsin, where Russ Feingold is having trouble against Ron Johnson; Richard Blumenthal in Connecticut has about the same lead as Boxer does in California (but he's on the decline, while she has been on the rise).

*** Is Whitman in big trouble? A month out before an election, it is never a good thing for a candidate to declare he/she would be willing to take a lie detector test. It also isn't a good thing when it's revealed that the candidate's husband knew about a letter of possible problems with a housekeeper's Social Security number. Here's the L.A. Times: "Meg Whitman launched a forceful effort Thursday to regain control of her campaign for governor, pledging to take a lie detector test if necessary to prove that she and her husband were unaware they had employed an illegal immigrant housekeeper for nine years until the woman confessed her status in 2009... But Whitman's lengthy defense was undercut ... as the housekeeper's attorney, Gloria Allred, produced a copy of a government letter sent six years before Nicandra Diaz Santillan was fired alerting the couple to potential problems. On the bottom of the letter was a note in what Allred said was Whitman's husband's handwriting: 'Nicky, please check this. Thanks.'"

*** Couldn't be worse timing: This is all coming at a horrible time for Whitman. In fact, tomorrow is the Brown-Whitman Univision debate, where this entire story will play a BIG role and where plenty of California Latinos will be watching. This is already a three-day story. Will we still be talking about this on Monday? If so, that's a problem for the Whitman campaign. One other thing worth noting: This story has been driven by TV more than print.

*** 75 House races to watch: SC-5: The Democratic nominee is 14-term incumbent Rep. John Spratt, who was first elected in 1982. His GOP opponent is state Sen. Mick Mulvaney. McCain won 53% of the vote in this district in '08, while Bush got 57% in '04. As of June 30, Spratt had $1.2 million in the bank, versus Mulvaney's nearly $475,000. Spratt voted for the stimulus, health care, and cap-and-trade. Both Cook and Rothenberg rate the race as Toss Up.

Countdown to Election Day 2010: 32 days

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"House Minority Leader John Boehner's speech Thursday about his longtime personal opposition to earmarks made it no clearer whether House Republicans would end the practice. But House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has interpreted the Ohioan's statement as an unequivocal call to end earmarks," Roll Call reports. "Meanwhile, the House Republicans' new governing agenda, known as 'A Pledge to America,' largely ignored the issue. There are deep divisions over what to do among the party's rank and file, the vast majority of whom have endorsed earmarking in the past."

"Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-Del.) is replacing Elizabeth Warren on the Congressional panel that oversees the Troubled Asset Relief Program, according to a statement issued by the Senator's office Thursday," Roll Call reports.

Ben Nelson (D-NE) endorsed the flat tax.

Keep it down! "Bills to turn down the volume on loud TV commercials that send couch potatoes diving for the remote controls looks destined to become law," the AP writes. "The Senate unanimously passed a bill late Wednesday to require television stations and cable companies to keep commercials at the same volume as the programs they interrupt."

"White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs blasted Sen. Mary Landrieu's hold on a presidential appointment as 'outrageous' on Thursday," Roll Call reports.