Political Scene

CHICAGO

Emanuel to consider family in mayor bid

President Obama’s top political adviser says White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is really drawn to the idea of running for Chicago mayor.

David Axelrod says family considerations are a big factor, and he says Mr. Emanuel is working through those issues.

So what’s Mr. Axelrod’s bet that Mr. Emanuel will go for it? “I never bet on national television,” Mr. Axelrod tells ABC’s “This Week.”

Mr. Obama has said Mr. Emanuel would be “a terrific mayor,” though he thought Mr. Emanuel would wait until after the Nov. 2 elections before deciding. Election rules give candidates until Nov. 22 to file petitions to run.

Mr. Axelrod says Mr. Emanuel has always thought that being mayor “was the greatest job there is.” Longtime Mayor Richard M. Daley isn’t running again.

DELAWARE

’SNL’ comedians mock O’Donnell

With the new season of “Saturday Night Live” comes a fresh batch of political satire and Delaware Senate hopeful Christine O’Donnell is the first target.

The Republican candidate’s past statements were fodder for the opening sketch on Saturday night’s broadcast on NBC.

The sketch involved actors portraying the “tea party” darling Ms. O’Donnell and two Republican officials concerned about her past statements, including speaking out against masturbation.

The actress playing Ms. O’Donnell says she is no longer against masturbation and, in fact, masturbates constantly. She also says she once ran a dog-fighting operation and burned down somebody’s house.

The sketch ends with the actress donning a witch hat and flying away on a broom, a reference to Ms. O’Donnell’s claim years ago that she dabbled in witchcraft in high school.

OIL SPILL

BP says its study lacked evidence

BP’s lead investigator into the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has told an independent panel of experts that the company’s internal probe has limitations.

Mark Bly, head of safety and operations for BP PLC, says a lack of physical evidence and interviews with employees from other companies limited BP’s study.

Mr. Bly appeared before a National Academy of Engineering committee on Sunday. The April disaster killed 11 people and released an estimated 172 million gallons of oil.

BP’s study said eight separate failures led to the oil-rig accident. The report said BP and other companies were mainly responsible.

But the conclusions were made without examining the drilling rig or a key piece of equipment, the blowout preventer.

BLACK CAUCUS

More scholarships went to lawmaker’s friends

The discord over charity scholarships awarded by Rep. Sanford Bishop’s office is growing.

Mr. Bishop acknowledged earlier this month that his stepdaughter and niece received financial scholarships from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. The Georgia Democrat says he would repay the foundation more than $6,000 to refund the cost of those grants.

Now, interviews and public documents show four more students with ties to Mr. Bishop and his wife also received scholarships.

Two were children of employees who work for Mr. Bishop’s wife. A third student is related to a Bishop staffer, and the fourth interned for the lawmaker’s office.

A government watchdog group says those awards look like cronyism. Mr. Bishop campaign spokesman Tim Turner said the scholarships met rules set by the charity.