Republican Bob McDonnell dropped the F-bomb during a radio interview.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Bob McDonnell, the normally-disciplined Republican candidate for governor in Virginia, mistakenly blurted out the F-bomb during a live radio interview on Friday.

Appearing on Washington-area radio station WTOP, McDonnell was sparring with host Mark Plotkin on the topic of transportation funding.

Plotkin asked if McDonnell would consider an increase in the state gasoline tax to help fund the transportation budget. McDonnell said no, and uttered the expletive during his response.

"So no tax will be raised during your four-year term?," Plotkin asked.

McDonnell answered: "I'm going to find other ways to be able to fund transportation. I've outlined twleve f—ing funding mechanisms that are creative, that are entrepreneurial."

The remark was first flagged by the Virginia Democratic blog NotLarrySabato.

McDonnell is running against Democrat Creigh Deeds in the governor's race, one of two marquee political battles in 2009 along with the New Jersey governor's race.

UPDATE: McDonnell communications director Tucker Martin said McDonnell's remark was nothing more than a verbal flub.

"At one point Bob was speaking quickly, and in trying to say 'funding mechanism,' he stumbled and accidentally said another word," Martin said. "It was unintentional, and anyone who spends any time around Bob knows he does not use such language. It was an accident. It is that simple."

Martin called it "disappointing" that the Deeds campaign is spending "so much time and energy aggressively pushing this absolutely trivial matter to every blog and media outlet they can think of."

Wilson directly asked in a Web video for campaign cash to fend off attacks from political opponents and said he's standing by his opposition to Democratic efforts at health care reform.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson — the South Carolina Republican who heckled President Obama during his speech to a joint session of Congress — has raised more than $1 million, a campaign aide confirmed to CNN Saturday.

News of that cash haul comes after Wilson directly asked in a Web video for campaign cash to fend off attacks from political opponents and said he's standing by his opposition to Democratic efforts at health care reform.

Wilson has come under fire for shouting "you lie" to Obama during the Wednesday night address to Congress on health care reform. The lawmaker soon apologized for his behavior, viewed by Republicans and Democrats as an ill-mannered breach of political decorum.

The remark energized Wilson's opponents and supporters, who have been opening their wallets and sending donations to Wilson and Rob Miller, his Democratic opponent in next year's congressional race.

Miller — who has reported raking in more than $1 million as a result of the outburst — ran against Wilson last year, losing by 8 percentage points. It was Wilson's smallest margin of victory in his five elections to Congress.

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Massachusetts Republican state Sen. Scott Brown will run for Ted Kennedy's vacant Senate seat.

WASHINGTON (CNN)–On his 50th birthday, Massachusetts Republican state Sen. Scott Brown announced his intentions to run for the late Sen. Ted Kennedy's vacant Senate seat.

Characterizing himself as a Washington outsider, Brown spoke directly to the people of Massachusetts.

"Already, my opponents have started pandering to the special interests, promising to support their pet projects," Brown said. "That's not the way I operate. Because I don't owe anybody anything, I'm free to tell the truth and fight for what's right for all of the people of Massachusetts, no matter their political party."

Read Browns full remarks here.

Brown said he has a history of bipartisanship as a three-term state senator and former three-term state representative, and spelled out his "core" beliefs.

"I believe that government is getting too big and that the federal stimulus bill made government bigger instead of creating jobs as was supposed to happen," Brown said.

The veteran legislator made his announcement after former Bush administration Chief of Staff Andy Card, dropped out of the race late Friday and encouraged Brown to run for the seat instead.

Another conservative name that's been mentioned is that of former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling.

On the Democratic side, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has already announced her plans to run for the seat.

Kennedy, 77, died on August 25 after a year-long battle with brain cancer. He had served in the Senate for nearly 50 years — most recently winning reelection in 2006.

The DNC is out with a new ad painting Gov. Pawlenty as a 'liar.'

WASHINGTON (CNN)– Ahead of President Obama's visit to Minneapolis Saturday, the Democratic National Committee is out with a new attack ad painting Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty as a politician attempting to appeal to the "extremists" in the Republican party.

"Tim Pawlenty is spreading lies about health reform," the nearly two-minute web ad charges.

The ad titled "Tim Pawlenty: In the extreme," is a compilation of interviews the Minnesota governor has given over the past few months in which he calls the President's health plan a "joke" and claims the bill "might affect end of life decisions."

Highlighting Pawlenty's recent campaign efforts for Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell, the ad accuses him of "campaigning for extremists."

Pawlenty, who was on Sen. John McCain's short list of vice presidential candidates, has also been rumored to be one of the leading Republican candidates running for president in 2012.

Friday, the Republican party of Minnesota released an ad calling President Obama's health care plan "risky," and urging him to "slow down and do health care reform the right way."

The President speaks in Minnesota Saturday at a health care reform rally that begins at 1230p CT/130p ET.

UPDATE: RNC Spokesman LeRoy Coleman released the following statement in response to the DNC ad:

“Once again, the Democrats are desperately trying to shift attention away from their extraordinarily unpopular health care plan – especially on a day when the President is bringing his traveling road show to Minnesota in an attempt to sell his floundering government-run health care proposal. Minnesotans, however, aren’t fooled by the rhetoric. The President’s government-run health care plan would increase costs, increase taxes, increase the deficit and reduce health care choice and quality.”

Tens of thousands marched to the U.S. Capitol on Saturday to protest health care reform. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (CNN) – On the final stop of the Tea Party Express, thousands marched to the U.S. Capitol on Saturday to protest health care reform, higher taxes and what they see as out-of-control government spending.

The conservative advocacy group began their trip in Sacramento, California, and made its way across the country, hosting rallies in about 30 cities. Washington is the final destination. Members gathered on the west side of the Capitol on Saturday.

At each stop, the tour highlights members of Congress "who have voted for higher spending, higher taxes, and government intervention in the lives of American families and businesses," according to The Tea Party Express Web site.

One woman at the rally summed up her feelings about issues this way: "It's too much too fast."

A major theme of the rally was the push for less government.

"The government should be doing things that are authorized by the constitution; they should be doing things that the people want, not things that they just decide are nifty. We can't afford these things any more.

Full story

President Obama spoke to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (CNN)—Congressman John Kline urged President Obama to take the proposed health care bill off the table Saturday and “start from scratch,” if he wants a bill passed anytime soon.

“There are things we can agree on, and things we can’t,” Rep. Kline said in a conference call with reporters, explaining Republicans are willing to sit down and compromise if the President will come to the table without the proposed bill HR3200.

Kline called the presidents plan a “pilot plan,” one which lacks real details.

President Obama heads to Kline’s home state Saturday for a rally in support of health care.

“The rally will surely be confusing because the president is on a sales pitch,” the Minnesota representative said.

In response to Vice President Biden’s remarks earlier this week that there will be a bill by Thanksgiving, Kline said it is impossible to determine a timeframe.

“We don’t know now what we are dealing with,” Kline said. “If it’s HR3200 the way it came through committee, I don’t think it can pass,” he said, stressing if Republicans and Democrats can start with a clean slate a plan “could move very quickly.”

Sen. Cornyn touted the Republican health plans Saturday.

WASHINGTON (CNN)– In the weekly Republican radio address, Senator John Cornyn touted a Republican health care plan "that will lower cost and expand access to care," while criticizing the president's plan, which he claims would "bust the budget."

"The Republicans want to save Medicare and Medicaid from bankruptcy by offering more choices to beneficiaries and making providers compete for their business," Sen. Cornyn said.

The Texas Senator said a Republican plan would work to lower coverage costs on a state level by increasing competition in the private insurance industry.

"So, instead of a top down plan that will bust the budget, President Obama should work with Republicans on a bottom up solution that the American people can support," Cornyn said.

In response to Cornyn's address the DNC released the following statement:

"In this week's GOP radio address, Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn reiterates the same debunked GOP talking points we've heard for weeks on end without offering a single GOP proposal to fix this country's broken health insurance system – not one. The truth is, the President's health insurance reforms will curb out-of-control costs, increase choice and competition, and strengthen our health insurance system so that Americans can keep the coverage they already have."

Health care reform critics converge on Capitol Saturday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Members of Congress may have been grateful to leave the raucous town halls of August behind last week, when their summer recess ended. The break was a short one.

Busloads of those town hall critics have been heading for the Hill all week ahead of a major Saturday showdown.

Starting Thursday, the day after President Obama delivered his address on health care reform to a joint session of Congress, opponents of his proposal made a major lobbying push, the kickoff of the annual three-day March on Washington organized by FreedomWorks.

Hundreds of them gathered Thursday at the D.C. Armory to officially prepare for face-to-face meetings with members of Congress.

Some sported tea bags, the symbol of the Tea Party movement, pinned to their hats. Others wore T-shirts advertising FreedomWorks, the controversial conservative group that has found itself at the center of some of the summer's fiercest town hall battles.

Many expressed delight at South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst during the president's Wednesday address.

Full story

WASHINGTON (CNNMoney.com) — In an effort to cast health care reform as helpful to more Americans, President Obama on Saturday pounded home a new statistic: Nearly 50% of people under 65 have gone without coverage for at least one month over a decade.

"It can happen to anyone," Obama said in his weekly address. "In the United States of America, no one should have to worry that they'll go without health insurance — not for one year, not for one month, not for one day. And once I sign my health reform plan into law — they won't."

The new figure comes from a Treasury Department analysis of survey data collected by the University of Michigan. The data tracked health insurance coverage through phone interviews with some 17,000 individuals from 1997 to 2006.

It appears to be the first such analysis of its kind to look at the population of uninsured Americans over a lengthy period of time.

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Kennedy began planning funeral before brain tumor.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Long before Sen. Edward Kennedy was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, the Massachusetts Democrat had already begun planning aspects of his funeral in anticipation of his eventual death.

Rep. Richard Neal, D-Massachusetts, told CNN Friday that Kennedy had informed fellow members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation in 2007 that he had been working on his memorial plans as well as reflecting on his legacy, including the core issue he had championed during his time in the Senate: health care.

"Well, I will tell you about two and a half years ago, when Congressman Meehan decided that he was going to become the chancellor of UMass, we had a little delegation dinner at Legal Sea foods and Senator Kennedy was there and he was in good form, and at that time he laid out for us what the service and ceremony was going to be like," Neal said in an interview Friday with Ed Henry and Mark Preston on CNN Radio's "44 with Ed Henry." "And I thought it was remarkable that the story held. None of us ever (thought) we should trespass on what he was saying that evening. And he talked about his legacy and what he had done, and he certainly raised the health care issue."

Rep. Martin Meehan, D-Massachusetts, announced in the spring of 2007 that he was resigning from office to become the next head of the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. Meehan's final day in Congress was July 1 of that year.

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Card, the former chief of staff to President Bush, said Friday he will not run for the vacant Massachusetts Senate seat.

(CNN) – Andy Card confirmed in a telephone interview with CNN late Friday he has decided not to run for the seat of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, and is encouraging state Sen. Scott Brown to run instead.

"I had done my due diligence and decided it was probably not in my best interest to run," said Card, former chief of staff in the Bush White House. "I'm disappointed but not unhappy."

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Another Democrat passes on Kennedy seat.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Rep. Edward Markey announced late Friday afternoon that he would not run for the open Senate seat in Massachusetts, opting instead to remain in the House.

"I have had the honor to serve the people of the Seventh Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives for 33 years, and am now the eighth most senior Democrat," Markey said in a prepared statement. "I believe that my leadership positions and seniority in the House allow me to accomplish more for my Congressional District and for Massachusetts. I have therefore decided not to become a candidate for the Senate."

Former Democratic Reps. Joseph Kennedy and Martin Meehan recently announced they would not seek the seat held by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, Joseph Kennedy's uncle.

Two of Markey's fellow Democrats in the Massachusetts congressional delegation, Reps. Michael Capuano and Steven Lynch, have both taken preliminary steps to run for the seat.

Attorney Gen. Martha Coakley is the only Democrat to declare her candidacy for the seat that Edward Kennedy occupied for 47 years.

Full statement after the jump

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The Democratic National Committee unanimously approved a resolution Friday honoring the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Democratic National Committee unanimously approved a resolution Friday honoring the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts.

The resolution highlighted Kennedy's accomplishments over a nearly 50-year legislative career.

"Senator Kennedy leaves a legacy of dedication to improving the plight of ordinary Americans, the determination to empower the powerless and to end the scourge of discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability or economic background," a section of the resolution reads.

Related: Kennedy takes with him a time and an era

Kennedy, who died August 25, 2009, was diagnosed with a brain tumor in May 2008.

Read full resolution here.

Jay-Z: Obama wanted to end the campaign 'Jordan-style'.

(CNN) – Superstar rapper Jay-Z recalls that in the closing days of the presidential race, Barack Obama asked the rapper for help on the campaign trail and told him: "We need to end this game Jordan-style."

"He was calling me saying it was the fourth quarter and how we need to end this game Jordan-style," Jay-Z told New York radio station Hot 97 on Tuesday. "He was joking. He has a good sense of humor."

Jay-Z held several concerts for Obama during the presidential race to help the campaign register voters, and during inauguration week in January, he treated Obama campaign staffers to a private performance at the D.C. Armory in Washington.

Asked if their friendly relationship has cooled since Obama entered the White House, Jay-Z said, "Everything's cool."

During the sit-down, the radio hosts argued that the criticism over the president's nationally broadcast address to school students on Tuesday was racist — but the hip-hop artist had a slightly different take.

"I don't think it's straight racism, but they're talking to a racist audience, which is dangerous," he said of the President's critics. "But they're doing it for ratings. It's sensationalism, right? They're doing it for this type of attention."

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Bob McDonnell, flip-flopper?

That's the latest charge to emerge from the Creigh Deeds campaign, which has been flogging the Republican gubernatorial candidate for nearly two weeks over his past positions on working women and homosexuality.

At issue Friday were McDonnell's remarks in an interview with Washington-area radio station WTOP, in which he explained why he voted against a 2001 resolution honoring equal pay for women when he was in the Virginia House of Delegates. Deeds, now the Democratic candidate for governor, supported the resolution.

"It was a ceremonial resolution," McDonnell explained to interviewer Mark Plotkin. McDonnell then stressed that he would support equal pay if elected governor of Virginia.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) - Online fundraising site ActBlue announced Friday that since Republican congressman Joe Wilson's outburst during President Obama's address, his Democratic opponent Rob Miller has raised over $787,951 (and rising) on the site.  The first donation came in at 9:15 p.m. ET on September 9.

ActBlue Deputy Communications Director Adrian Arroyo told CNN that the donations have come in from over 21,622 people since Wednesday night's speech, a major jump from the 5,000 who had contributed as of yesterday.  Arroyo admits that since the fundraising push is viral, "there is no one place to locate what is going on.  You have DailyKos, Twitter and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee circling these issues. There is no one prime mover."  The mean contribution size is $36.

Two links leading back to ActBlue's donation pages have been clicked on over 9,500 times, said the group. Two days after the speech, Joe Wilson is still the top trending topic on Twitter — and ActBlue has benefited greatly, with more than 1,000 tweets about their fundraising efforts for the congressman's opponent.

First Lady Michelle Obama will head to Copenhagen, Denmark, next month to promote her hometown of Chicago as the host of the 2016 Olympic Games.

(CNN) - First Lady Michelle Obama will head to Copenhagen, Denmark, next month to promote her hometown of Chicago as the host of the 2016 Olympic Games, the White House announced Friday.

The choice has been narrowed down to four cities: Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. Mrs. Obama will attend the International Olympic Committee Session at the Bella Center – Copenhagen Congress Center on October 2, where the winner will be selected and announced.

President Obama can't make the cross-Atlantic trip due to his busy schedule relating to his efforts at health care reform, the White House said, so Mrs. Obama and senior advisor Valerie Jarrett will go instead. The First Lady grew up on the South Side of Chicago.

"One of the great honors I have as First Lady is to represent America around the world and it is with great pride that I will go to Copenhagen to make the case for the United States to host the 2016 Olympics," Mrs. Obama said in a statement. "There is no doubt in my mind that Chicago would offer the world a fantastic setting for these historic games and I hope that the Olympic torch will have the chance to burn brightly in my hometown."

The first couple will also host an event at the White House on September 16 to support Chicago's bid to host the Olympic Games, according to the White House. Olympic athletes will visit local schools in the morning and head to the White House in the afternoon.