Political tidbits: Good news for Jewish Dems in House, Obama gets serious about Fla.

• The chances for re-election of two Jewish members of Congress have been upgraded by the Cook Political Report – Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) from Lean to Likely Democratic, and Rep. Paul Hodes (D-N.H.) from Likely to Solid Democratic.
• Jewish Democratic challenger Ethan Berkowitz almost triples the fundraising totals of incumbent Republican Rep. Don Young in the race for Alaska’s congressional seat, according to the Hill.
• Meanwhile, another Jewish Democratic challenger, Josh Segall, had his chances upgraded by CQ from Safe Republican to Republican Favored in his race against incumbent Republican Rep. Mike Rogers in Alabama’s Third District.
• The Los Angeles Times reports Barack Obama’s campaign has sent its number two Jewish outreach official (Eric Lynn) to Florida for the rest of the campaign.
• In an article about the Jewish vote, Brad Greenberg of the Los Angeles Jewish Journal notes that Sarah Palin received a surprising endorsement recently –from the president of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Organization of Woman.
• For lots of other women, though, Palin strikes a “raw nerve” and made them more active in the Obama campaign, reports the Forward.
• Florida state Rep. Nan Rich says she’s found similar feelings among her fellow Jewish women, in the Chicago Tribune’s political blog.
• Brett Lieberman in the Forward talks to Cleveland-area Jews about the presidential race.
• Joe Lieberman on the Republican Jewish Coalition advertisements: “I don’t like negative campaigning, but it’s a fact of life,” reports the Cleveland Jewish News.
• What do Sheldon Adelson, David Axelrod, Barbra Streisand and Dennis Prager have in common? They’re all on Bradley Burston and J.J. Goldberg’s list of “36 Jews who have shaped the 2008 U.S. election,” in Haaretz.
• Frequent AIPAC critic Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), heavily favored to win re-election, has hired an Israeli staffer to work on foreign policy issues in his congressional office. Moran’s spokesman tells the Washington Jewish Week: “I don’t see any reason this would be seen as ironic.”
• Details on the making of a pro-Obama video by an Orthodox Jewish woman upset at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s ads, from the Washington Jewish Week.
• Rabbi Levi Brackman, in Ynet, believes Obama’s tax plan makes the “most moral, religious and economic sense.”
• The Jewish Star, an Long Island Orthodox newspaper, endorses John McCain.
• The Brandeis Hoot reports on a university panel discussing blacks, Jews and Obama.