Polls: Dems' lead shrinking, but still strong  —  WASHINGTON — A national USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds remarkable parallels between the congressional elections Tuesday and the watershed elections in 1994 that swept Republicans into control of the House and Senate.

Bush Trumpets Hussein Verdict to Rally Support  —  President Bush on Sunday seized on the conviction of Saddam Hussein as a milestone in Iraq, seeking to rally Republican voters with the issue of national security as some polls suggested that his party might be making gains in the final hours of the campaign.

Soldiers in Iraq Say Pullout Would Have Devastating Results  —  For the U.S. troops fighting in Iraq, the war is alternately violent and hopeful, sometimes very hot and sometimes very cold.  It is dusty and muddy, calm and chaotic, deafeningly loud and eerily quiet.

DICK CHENEY TO SPEND ELECTION DAY HUNTING  —  Vice President Dick Cheney is shown while quail hunting in South Dakota.  —  Vice President Dick Cheney is shown while quail hunting in South Dakota.  —  WASHINGTON — U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney will spend Election Day Tuesday …

Webb and Allen Dead Even  —  Allen (R) 49% Webb (D) 49%  —  The latest Rasmussen Reports poll of the bitterly fought U.S. Senate race in Virginia shows the contest too close to call, with both Republican Senator George Allen and Democratic challenger James Webb collecting 49% (see crosstabs).

America's referendum on war  —  Pelosi's countdown: She ticks off a list of changes, including a new Iraq strategy  —  (11-05) 04:00 PST Glenside, Pa. — House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi warned that a Republican victory Tuesday would prolong the U.S. involvement in Iraq another 10 years …

Hastert May Face Post-Election Unrest  —  Foley Scandal Just One of Speaker's Problems  —  House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert's future is in doubt even if the Republicans retain control of the House because of unease among GOP lawmakers about his handling of the Foley page scandal …

Bush Says U.S. Pullout Would Let Iraq Radicals Use Oil as a Weapon  —  During the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, President Bush and his aides sternly dismissed suggestions that the war was all about oil.  "Nonsense," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld declared.

Disgraced Haggard: I am a "deceiver and a liar"  —  In a letter of apology read to the congregation of New Life Church Sunday morning, Ted Haggard confessed to sexual immorality and described himself as "a deceiver and a liar."  But in baring his soul to an outside investigative board …

New Telemarketing Ploy Steers Voters on Republican Path  —  An automated voice at the other end of the telephone line asks whether you believe that judges who "push homosexual marriage and create new rights like abortion and sodomy" should be controlled.  If your reply is "yes," …

Allow 'active euthanasia' for disabled babies, doctors urge  —  Doctors are urging health regulators to consider allowing the "active euthanasia" of severely disabled newborn babies.  —  The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecology has put forward the option of permitting mercy killings …

It's Game Time  —  Mary Matalin, a Republican who has been at this game for years, is obviously very smart when it comes to elections.  So, too, is Paul Kirk, a Democrat who has been at it even longer.  —  It is a bit odd, then, that when asked for their most coldly objective expertise …

"Operation Infiltration?"  —  Something rotten going on in Ohio?  Check out left-wing Buckeye State Blog, which appears to be trying to infiltrate GOP get-out-the-vote efforts:  —  Conservative website Free Republic is investigating and monitoring.