U.S. Investigates Voting Machines' Venezuela Ties  —  The federal government is investigating the takeover last year of a leading American manufacturer of electronic voting systems by a small software company that has been linked to the leftist Venezuelan government of President Hugo Chávez.

Poll Puts Maryland Democrats In the Lead  —  Races Are Much Closer, GOP Candidates Say  —  A strong Democratic tide in Maryland threatens to swamp Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s reelection bid and bolsters the party's efforts to retain control of an important U.S. Senate seat, according to a new Washington Post poll.

ACLU drops Patriot Act challenge  —  DETROIT - The American Civil Liberties Union on Friday dropped a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the USA Patriot Act.  —  The ACLU said it was withdrawing the lawsuit filed more than three years ago because of "improvements to the law."

To help U.S. win in Iraq, Rummy and Cheney must go  —  The Vietnamization of Iraq.  If you Google that phrase, you'll find a slew of articles dating as far back as March 2003.  They talk about quagmire, guerrilla war, and the difficulty of getting Iraqi forces on line.  Mainly, they are expressions of despair.

As Elections Near, Dueling With Dollars  —  Party Operatives Try To Influence Races  —  John Lapp, a 35-year-old Democratic strategist in charge of spending $60 million to defeat Republicans, had reason to feel aggressive.  Internal party polls late last week showed 30 GOP House incumbents tied or behind.

Michael J. Fox Fires Back at Critics  —  Actor Tells ABC News That Parkinson's Community Was Hurt by Limbaugh's Comments  —  Actor Michael J. Fox jokes that he may be short in stature, but he's still enough of a "big boy" to withstand criticism over his backing of embryonic stem cell research …

Poll: Iraq hurting GOP chances  —  As U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum makes fighting global terrorism his closing pitch of the campaign, the latest Temple/Inquirer Poll shows that growing doubts about the Iraq war continue to erode support for Republicans.  —  More voters than a month ago say the war …

Lieberman Up by 8  —  According to this diary, Lieberman is now up 8 points on Lamont according to the latest Rasmussen.  —  Lieberman (I) 48%  —  Lamont (D) 40%  —  Schlesinger (R) 9%  —  It looks like Schlesinger is taking votes from Lieberman, and that the Q-Poll was an outlier.

This is Baghdad.  What could be worse?  —  There was an almost forgettable exchange earlier this month in the Iraqi National Assembly, itself on the fringe of relevance in today's disintegrating Iraq.  Lawmakers debated whether legislation should be submitted to a committee to determine if it was compatible with Islam.

Poll shows tight Idaho races  —  With 10 days left before Election Day, many voters are still undecided on key races  —  For the first time since the early 1990s, the outcome of a statewide election appears in doubt with just 10 days to go.  —  An Idaho Statesman/Today's 6 poll says races for governor …

GOP at a loss?  Karl Rove has an 11th-hour plan to win  —  He taps government resources to boost candidates in need.  —  During a whirlwind five-hour trip to bolster an endangered GOP congressman's reelection prospects, White House political guru Karl Rove last week delivered a fiery speech …

Where We Went Wrong  —  Somewhere along the road to a "permanent majority," the Republican Revolution of 1994 went off track.  For several years, we had confidence in our convictions and trusted that the American people would reward our efforts.  And they did.

Clinton Shills For Bad Energy Policy  —  Energy: Bill Clinton's back, now touting tax hikes for ethanol to California voters.  "If Brazil can do it, so can we," he said, claiming an ethanol switch ended Brazil's need for foreign oil.  Once again, he's telling whoppers.

Bush's lonely election season  —  Editor's note: The following is a summary of this week's Time magazine cover story.  —  Time.com "Stay the course" is a time-honored rallying cry in politics.  But it has always been more a slogan than a strategy, meant to show the steadfastness of the person …

Only choice on war is to win or lose it  —  I was on C-SPAN the other morning, and a lady called in to complain that ''you are making my blood pressure rise.'' Usual reason.  The host, Paul Orgel, had asked me what I thought of President Bush and I replied that, whatever my differences …