U.S. to Hand Iraq a New Timetable on Security Role  —  The Bush administration is drafting a timetable for the Iraqi government to address sectarian divisions and assume a larger role in securing the country, senior American officials said.  —  Details of the blueprint …

Cleland  —  It's not the biggest deal in the world, per se, but continuing liberal obsession with Max Cleland strikes me as a bit odd.  Josh Marshall hails a witty Cleland line at a campaign event for John Tester and remarks: "If the Dems take Congress, that image will bookend the era …

Rank Would Guide Pelosi As She Chose Chairmen  —  If Democrats win control in November, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) has decided to award committee chairmanships based almost entirely on seniority, ensuring that the House would feature far more minority faces, and some liberal firebrands, in key posts.

Ford Jr. shows up at Corker event uninvited  —  Harold Ford Jr. showed up uninvited at a campaign event for rival Republican Bob Corker at a private charter airstrip in Memphis this morning.  Corker had scheduled the media event earlier this week.  —  News reporters were surprised …

We are biased, admit the stars of BBC News  —  It was the day that a host of BBC executives and star presenters admitted what critics have been telling them for years: the BBC is dominated by trendy, Left-leaning liberals who are biased against Christianity and in favour of multiculturalism.

Vote Early and Often  —  A Democratic takeover will be a setback for moderates and conservatives.  —  David Kuo, once an official of President Bush's faith-based initiative, published a book this month that attacks the White House for privately ridiculing evangelical Christians while cynically manipulating how they vote.

Tight race for Hyde seat, latest poll shows  —  Incumbent Bean leads in 8th Congressional District  —  The candidates for the west suburban congressional seat being vacated by retiring Republican Rep. Henry Hyde are locked in a tight contest while first-term Rep. Melissa Bean holds …

Wilder advises Webb to make stance clear  —  RICHMOND — Mayor L. Douglas Wilder, a former governor and one of the state's leading Democrats, has some advice for his party's U.S. Senate nominee James H. Webb Jr. — let voters know what you stand for.  —  "The question is …

Limits on Aide in Leak Case Are Protested by Democrat  —  The senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee yesterday sharply protested the chairman's decision to suspend a Democratic staff member's access to classified information in a leak inquiry.  —  The congresswoman …

How Foley Skirted Rules To Pursue Relationships  —  Former Pages Describe Lawmaker's Advances  —  They met on the House floor.  He was a 16-year-old political junkie, dressed in the drab navy blazer and gray slacks of a congressional page, rushing phone messages to the members he served.

"They Should Beat Them Lightly"  —  The words of Mahmoud Shalash, an imam from Lexington, Kentucky, as quoted by Asra Q. Nomani in an op-ed in the Washington Post.  That is the answer she got when she protested to the imam about his lecture to about 100 men about how to treat their wives.

Al-Qa'eda is winning the war of ideas, says Reid  —  John Reid has issued a dire warning that the Government risks losing the "battle of ideas" with al-Qa'eda.  —  The Home Secretary spoke out at an emergency meeting of ministers and security officials amid an ever-growing threat from home-grown Islamist terror groups.

Prelude to an Indictment  —  It looks like my congressman, Crazy Curt Weldon, let his crazy self shine yesterday when he debated his Democratic rival, Joe Sestak: … This obsessive concern with his "children" (they're fully grown lobbyists now) reaches for the hypocritical heights …

The genteel revolt that is remaking US policy on Iraq  —  Republican veterans push for end to interventionist approach  —  A "polite rebellion" is under way among previously loyal allies of President Bush aimed at persuading him to change course in Iraq and quietly abandon the foreign policy doctrine …

Growing Absentee Voting Is Reshaping Campaigns  —  At Pulaski Park in Chicago, above, five voting machines have been available since Oct. 16, the first day Chicagoans could cast ballots under a new early voting law.  Voters can choose from among 26 city locations.  —  For millions of Americans, Election Day is already over.

Democrats Strengthen Chances For Senate  —  Democrats in the past two weeks have significantly improved their chances of taking control of the Senate, according to polls and independent analysts, with the battle now focused intensely on three states in the Midwest and upper South: Missouri, Tennessee and Virginia.

The Halliburton Scam: You Can Do Better Than That, BusinessWeek  —  (Sign and photo courtesy of the Freeway Blogger.)  —  Hi everybody, I'm here pinch-hitting for Matt O., who's busy trying to help someone win an election or some such silliness.  —  But that doesn't mean you'll miss …

Marriage Made In Hell  —  Wake up before you watch this.  Or, if you can't wake up, watch this.  It will wake you up.  —  Those poor Americans fighting in Iraq seem like decent guys who are doing a thankless task.  But if you were an Iraqi you'd hate their guts.