Big Metros Show Severe Declines in Latest Circ Report  —  NEW YORK The Audit Bureau of Circulations FAS-FAX report for the six-month period ending September 2006 released this morning confirmed yet again that major metros are struggling to show growth.  The losses are steep while the gains are meager.

Zawahiri Was Target in U.S. Attack on Religious School in Pakistan  —  Alexis Debat Reports:  —  Ayman al Zawahiri was the target of a Predator missile attack this morning on a religious school in Pakistan, according to Pakistani intelligence sources.  —  ABC News has learned the raid …

Are You Kidding Me?  —  What in the hell is wrong with the left today?  What makes them think this is acceptable?  ANOTHER incident of putting someone in blackface. … This is sick.  —  UPDATE: Would-be commeters really should read the comment policy on the "About" page.

Write-in tightens race in District 22  —  Sekula-Gibbs running close to Lampson for the seat DeLay held  —  The Republican write-in effort to hold former Rep. Tom DeLay's congressional seat, once viewed as a long shot, has created a tight race, according to a Houston Chronicle-11 News poll.

The Story Behind the Polls  —  What's with the polls?  —  In 2004, the electorate that went to the polls or voted absentee was, according to the adjusted NEP exit poll, 37 percent Democratic and 37 percent Republican.  In party identification, it was the most Republican electorate since …

Midterm Vote May Define Rove's Legacy  —  Big Losses Could Dim Aura of Bush Adviser  —  By many calculations, Democrats are ready to make big gains in the midterm elections, enough to take over the House and possibly the Senate.  But White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten …

Hunter set to announce presidential bid  —  Some surprised by lawmaker's timing  —  WASHINGTON - With his prized committee chairmanship very much in peril, Rep. Duncan Hunter is poised to announce today that he is considering a long-shot run for the White House.

In Key House Races, Democrats Run to the Right  —  In their push to win back control of the House, Democrats have turned to conservative and moderate candidates who fit the profiles of their districts more closely than the profile of the national party.  —  One such candidate, Heath Shuler …

Bush Appointee Said to Reject Advice on Endangered Species  —  A senior Bush political appointee at the Interior Department has rejected staff scientists' recommendations to protect imperiled animals and plants under the Endangered Species Act at least six times in the past three years, documents show.

'Go Ahead, Put Marks on Me'  —  Second Dancer: Alleged Duke Lacrosse Rape Victim Said to Bruise Her  —  ABC News Law & Justice Unit  —  The second dancer in the Duke rape case has said for the first time that the accuser told her to "go ahead, put marks on me" after the alleged attack.

U.S. Is Said to Fail in Tracking Arms for Iraqis  —  The American military has not properly tracked hundreds of thousands of weapons intended for Iraqi security forces and has failed to provide spare parts, maintenance personnel or even repair manuals for most of the weapons given to the Iraqis …

Diversity's Oppressions  —  Why Iraq has proven to be so hard to pacify.  —  Iraq is not the first war with ugly surprises and bloody setbacks.  Even World War II, idealized in retrospect as it never was at the time—the war of "the greatest generation"—had a long series of disasters …

Johnson Losing Her Hold?  —  Courant/UConn Poll Paints Picture Of Vulnerable Incumbent, Gives Murphy 4 Percentage Point Lead In 5th District  —  U.S. Rep. Nancy Johnson's vulnerability as an incumbent - a subject of intense speculation all year in her central Connecticut district …

Liberal Republican Suburb Turns Furious With G.O.P.  —  The M.B.A.'s have had it.  The engineers are fuming.  —  For as long as anyone here can remember, Bellevue has been a stronghold of socially liberal Republicanism.  First, it was a prosperous Seattle bedroom community …

Debate Puts Steele on Defense  —  Republican Michael S. Steele struggled to soften his long-held views on touchstone social issues yesterday after being challenged repeatedly on his conservative beliefs during his final televised debate in the campaign for Maryland's open U.S. Senate seat.