Last week Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO Lloyd Blankfein generated himself a bit of news by telling the Sunday Times' Magazine he was simply "doing God's work."

So why is Blankfein now apologizing for Goldman's role in the financial crisis? The FT reports:

Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman's chief executive, told a corporate conference in New York that the bank regretted taking part in the cheap credit boom that fuelled the pre-crisis bubble. “We participated in things that were clearly wrong and have reason to regret,” Mr Blankfein said. “We apologise.”

Nothing like a PR crisis to generate a public confessional, I guess.

Slight uptick in President Obama's job approval rating in the last two weeks, according to CNN/Opinion Research:

Approve 55 (+1 vs. last poll Oct 30-Nov 1)
Disapprove 42 (-3)

Overall Obama's job approval rating is at 52.6% in the RCP Average.

Also of note: the CNN poll has the Democrats up six points among registered voters in the generic Congressional ballot, which is unchanged from two weeks ago:

Democratic candidate 49 (-1 vs. last poll Oct 30-Nov 1)
Republican candidate 43 (-1)

Overall, Dems hold a 1.6% lead over Republicans in the RCP Average.

As she gets ready to launch a multi-state book tour, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin phoned in to Rush Limbaugh's show today and offered her thoughts on a number of political issues today. Among them, whether in the wake of New York 23 a third party could be viable. Her response:

"Ideally, sure, a third party or an independent party would be able to soar and thrive and put candidates forth and have them elected. But I don't think America is ready for that. I think that it is -- granted, it's quite conventional and traditional -- but in a good way, that we have our two parties. And I think that's what will remain.

And I say that, though, acknowledging that I'm not an obsessive partisan. I understand why people, good people, like my own husband refuse to register in a party. Todd's not a Republican and yet he's got more common sense conservatism than a whole lot of Republicans that I know, because he is one who sees the idiosyncrasies of the characters within the machine and it frustrates him, along with a whole lot of other Americans who choose to be independent.

But to answer your question, I don't think the third party movement will be what's necessary to usher in some common sense conservative ideals.

You can read more about the appearance over at Politics Nation.

But to answer your question, I don't think the third party movement will be what's necessary to usher in some common sense conservative ideals.

Ari Melber is outraged that Newsweek let former Bush Administration official Yuval Levin write a piece for them. Apparently Melber is unable to distinguish between reporting and opinion, because he breathlessly titles his post, "Newsweek Taps Bush Aide For Obama Reporting."

If Melber is worried about a reporter's ideological bias affecting their reporting, maybe he should direct some of his idignation at Richard Wolffe, the "Senior White House correspondent" who covered Obama for the 2008 campaign for Newsweek. Wolffe was so chummy with the Obama inner circle he wrote a book about it, and hopes to write another - when he's not busy appearing on Keith Olbermann's show, that is.

According to Marist, 45% of New York City residents think it's a good idea to try KSM & Co in the city, while 41% think it's a bad idea and 14% aren't sure.

New ABC News/Washington Post and CBS News polls show some slippage in President Obama's job approval rating, now at 56% and 53%, respectively. The RCP Average of Obama's approval is at 53% overall.

CBS finds that among independent voters, Obama's approval has slipped to 45% from 52% in October. The right track/wrong track number from ABC/WP is 44/55, matching the worst net score since late March.

Health Care: ABC/Washington Post looks closely at health care reform, where 41% of respondents say they strongly disapprove of the president's handling of the issue. Overall, 47% approve and 49% disapprove.

Still, more voters favor Obama than Republicans on the issue by a margin of 13 points. And slightly more voters support the proposed changes now than last month -- 48%, versus 49% who oppose it. Obama also sees improvement among a key demographic -- seniors -- though a majority still are wary.

A potential warning sign for Democrats, however, as final passage seems increasingly unlikely in 2009: 25% of respondents say they're more likely to vote for a candidate who supports health care reform, while 29% say they're less likely to do so. Forty-five percent say it won't make much difference.

Afghanistan: After months now of deliberating (some say dithering) on a new military posture, only 45% now approve of Obama's handling of the issue. It had been one of his strongest points, with 62% approving of his handling on that issue just this summer. CBS' poll scores him even lower in that regard -- 38% today, versus 48% in August and 58% in April. The biggest change here, to, is among independents -- from 44% to 30% approval.

In some of the first numbers to be released since the Justice Department announced plans to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed in a New York court, a CNN poll (928 RVs, 11/13-15, MoE +/- 3%) finds that most Americans think the alleged 9/11 mastermind should stand trial in the United States, but by a military and not civilian court.

In fact, only 34 percent think KSM should be brought to trial in a civilian judicial system, while 64 percent say he should be tried by a military court. Sixty percent agree with bringing him to the U.S., compared to 37 percent who want him tried in a U.S. facility in another country. Also of note, nearly two-thirds of respondents think he'll get a fair trial in the U.S., and 78 percent want him to get the death penalty if found guilty -- including 19 percent who say they generally oppose executions. Those numbers closely mirror the views about Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.

A new Susquehanna Polling & Research survey gives Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden (D) a 5-point lead over Rep. Mike Castle (R) in a hypothetical Senate matchup, news that has to relieve Democrats worried about a dubious trifecta in 2010.

General Election Matchup
Biden (D) 45 (+11 vs. last poll, 4/09)
Castle (R) 40 (-15)
Und 8 (unch)

Castle leads by 2.3 points in the RCP Average of Delaware Senate polling.

In this poll, Castle performs slightly better among Republicans than Biden does among Democrats, and holds a 5-point lead among independents. The problem for the state's lone Congressman and former governor is that there are 106,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans in the First State.

Susquehanna also attributes Castle's slippage to "negative publicity he received in the state after casting a 'no' vote for President Obama's health care bill in the U.S. Congress." That vote occurred just over 48 hours before the poll went into the field.

This survey of 850 registered voters was conducted November 10-15, and has a margin of error of +/- 3.36 percent.

Even after a recent ad buy aimed at improving his numbers, New York Gov. David Paterson (D) looks like a sure loser in either the primary or general election next year, a new Siena poll (11/8-12, 800 RVs, MoE +/- 3.5%) finds.

The TV ads may have bought the governor a slight improvement in his fav/unfav rating, but that's about it. His job approval rating is still an abysmal 21 percent, compared to 79 percent who disapprove. Only 17 percent say they'd vote to elect him in 2010, while 69 percent prefer someone else. Here are how the primary and general election matchups pan out:

Gubernatorial Primary Election Matchup
Cuomo 75 (+5 vs last poll, 10/14-18)
Paterson 16 (-4)

Gubernatorial General Election Matchups
Giuliani 56 (unch)
Paterson 33 (unch)

Lazio 42 (+5)
Paterson 39 (unch)

Cuomo 53 (+3)
Giuliani 41 (-2)

Cuomo 67 (+1)
Lazio 22 (+1)

“While it's true that the Governor's new commercials had only been airing for less than a week while Siena was polling, it seems clear that he's going to have to spend a lot of campaign funds very early to even have a chance of improving the measurements by which voters judge David Paterson," Siena's Steven Greenberg said.

Fifty-two percent of voters prefer that Andrew Cuomo run for governor instead of another term as attorney general. Just as many say he has time to wait, while 33 percent want him to declare now.

Favorable Ratings
Paterson 27 / 61
Lazio 29 / 22
Cuomo 67 / 20
Giuliani 62 / 34

The good news for Democrats is that Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's (D) re-election prospects are improving.

Senate General Election Matchups
Giuliani 49 (-4)
Gillibrand 43 (+7)

Gillibrand 45 (+4)
Pataki 44 (-2)

Favorable Ratings
Pataki 55 / 36
Gillibrand 34 / 24

A Des Moines Register poll shows that Gov. Chet Culver (D) is at risk of being a one-term governor in a state that has re-elected every governor -- often multiple times -- since four-year terms were approved in 1972. He's particularly vulnerable against one of his predecessors -- four-term Gov. Terry Branstad (R), who is likely running in 2010.

General Election Matchups
Branstad 57 -- Culver 33 -- Und 8
Vander Plaats 45 -- Culver 37 -- Und 15
Culver 42 -- Rants 35 -- Und 18
Culver 42 -- Fong 34 -- Und 20

In the matchup against Branstad, the Register poll finds that one of five Democrats chose the Republican, as do 58 percent of independent voters. Culver's job approval rating is just 40 percent in the latest poll, far lower than former Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack ever scored, and a point Branstad hit only briefly in his tenure.

Favorable Ratings
Culver 48 / 46
Branstad 60 / 22
Vander Plaats 24 / 12
Rants 14 / 11
Fong 10 / 6

In the 2010 Senate race, incumbent Charles Grassley (R) is much safer, leading potential Democratic opponent Roxanne Conlin 57-30. He has a 57 percent approval rating, though he scores lowest when asked about his role in the health care debate. Thirty-nine percent give him good marks for that issue, while 49 percent grade him as fair or poor.

The Iowa Poll for the Des Moines Register was conducted by Selzer & Co. from November 8-11, with an overall sample of 800 Iowans and margin of error of +/- 3.5 percent. The gubernatorial and Senate matchups were taken from a sample of 539 likely voters and had a margin of error of +/- 4.2 percent.