The XX Factor

We’re Talking About: Possible Midterm Results, Silvio Berlusconi, and a Juror’s Flirtatious Note

- The Republicans are already looking beyond the midterms with Sarah Palin as a possible 2012 Republican nominee , but what happens if Joe Miller loses in Alaska today? [ New York Magazine ]

- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is in trouble for–not for the first time–getting involved with an underage girl, but this latest scandal could open the door to a full-fledged government crisis. [ New York Magazine ]

- Conservative women like Christine O’Donnell and Sharron Angle are being called names from all sides , but this may cause voters to reward the victims at the polls even more. [ The Daily Beast ]

- The third week of testimony in the trial of convicted murderer Steven Hayes kicked off with a bizarre revelation of an amorous alternate juror passing a note to one of the court marshals on Friday which read: “Sunday 5pm. Side Street Grill. Can we?” [ CNN ]

- Former congressman Gary A. Condit , who has been at the center of the Chandra Levy case since she disappeared nine years ago, took the witness stand Monday but refused to testify whether he had an affair with her. [ Washington Post ]