Bush's New Tack Steers Clear of 'Stay the Course'  —  President Bush and his aides are annoyed that people keep misinterpreting his Iraq policy as "stay the course."  A complete distortion, they say.  "That is not a stay-the-course policy," White House press secretary Tony Snow declared yesterday.

Polls: Democrats closer to taking Senate control  —  But polls show no evidence of a national Democratic 'tidal wave' … Today show  —  NBC News Election Unit  —  NEW YORK - Two weeks out from the midterm elections, a second round of MSNBC/McClatchy polls, conducted by Mason-Dixon in eight states …

Democrats Urge Their Flush Candidates to Share the Wealth  —  The balance in the campaign account of Representative Martin T. Meehan, Democrat of Massachusetts, is $4,886,325.  It is a muscular sum for a member of the House, and ordinarily it would be hailed as an exhibit of fund-raising savvy.

Debate Madness  —  The debate was very high temperature from the get — take a look at the YouTube of Lamont supporters marching with the Kiss Float beforehand.  There were people in the debate hall who were singing and distrupting both Lieberman and Lamont, and they were evidently Lyndon LaRouchites …

Michael J. Fox Records TV Ad for Cardin  —  Actor Questions Steele's Stance on Funding for Stem Cell Research  —  Appearing grimly unsteady from his long bout with Parkinson's disease, actor Michael J. Fox is inserting his halting voice into the campaign for the U.S. Senate …

Self-Defense: CNN Asks Rep. Hunter If People Have the 'Right to Know What War is Like'  —  Feeling the heat from critics in Washington and across the country over airing video handed to it by an Iraqi terrorist group called the Islamic Army of God, CNN offered air time to Congressman Duncan Hunter …

Wyo. opponent says incumbent made threat  —  CHEYENNE, Wyo. - Thomas Rankin, the Libertarian running for Wyoming's lone U.S. House seat, said Rep. Barbara Cubin (news, bio, voting record), R-Wyo., threatened to slap him after a televised debate.  —  During a debate Sunday …

Poll: War Evens Up Race In 4th District  —  The race between incumbent Republican Chris Shays and Democrat Diane Farrell for Connecticut's 4th Congressional District is now tied and is being driven more than ever by the war in Iraq, according to a new poll commissioned by The Courant.

Men who use mobile phones face increased risk of infertility  —  Men who use mobile phones could be risking their fertility, warn researchers.  —  A new study shows a worrying link between poor sperm and the number of hours a day that a man uses his mobile phone.

RNC anti-Ford ad, deconstructed  —  A Republican National Committee ad has got Harold Ford Jr.'s campaign screaming "racism" in Tennessee.  They wouldn't be screaming if the ad wasn't so effective — and funny:  —  Here's the script (H/T Hotline), highlighting the blond bimbo's comments.

Women Scarcer On Evening News  —  B&C Contributing Editor Andrew Tyndall analyzed the first six weeks of Katie Couric's tenure atop the CBS Evening News and found that woman have gotten fewer assignments.  —  When former Today host Katie Couric arrived at the anchor chair of the CBS Evening News …

Chicago Voter Database Hacked  —  Civic Group Claims It Could Have Tampered With Voter Roles  —  As if there weren't enough concerns about the integrity of the vote, a non-partisan civic organization today claimed it had hacked into the voter database for the 1.35 million voters in the city of Chicago.

This Time, It's Not the Economy  —  In many ways, the economy has not looked so good in a long time.  —  The price of gas at the pump has tumbled since midsummer.  Unemployment has fallen to its lowest level in more than five years.  On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average …

Democrats fight historical labels  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — On the cusp of an election that could overturn the Republican majority on Capitol Hill, I jokingly asked a senior Democratic aide whether he had ordered new business cards to reflect majority status.  —  "Don't underestimate our ability to blow it," he said.

Peace activist jailed for attack on singer  —  A smirking peace activist who left a rising rock star fighting for his life after a row over his girlfriend was jailed for eight months today.  —  Christiaan Briggs, 30, attacked 19-year-old singer Billy Leeson and left him in a coma …

The Don't Show Me State  —  The liberal assault on voter ID laws.  —  People in the good state of Missouri need photo identification to cash a check, board a plane or apply for food stamps.  But the state Supreme Court has ruled that a photo ID requirement to vote is too great a burden on the elderly and the poor.