Americans Widely Disappointed With Democrats in Congress  —  Majority more displeased than content with handling of seven issues  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Amidst a swirl of public dissatisfaction about the Iraq war, the economy, government corruption, and with President Bush more generally …

Iraqis Wasting An Opportunity, U.S. Officers Say  —  With Attacks Ebbing, Government Is Urged to Reach Out to Opponents  —  CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq — Senior military commanders here now portray the intransigence of Iraq's Shiite-dominated government as the key threat facing the U.S. effort in Iraq …

The Icebergs Ahead For the Democrats  —  As the Democratic presidential race finally gets down to brass tacks, two issues are becoming paramount.  But only one of them is clearly on the table.  —  That is the issue of illegal immigration.  A very smart Democrat, a veteran of the Clinton administration …

Pardon Me?  —  Hillary Clinton Takes Cash From Recipients of Husband's Controversial Pardons  —  Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., speaks about her health care policy on Sept. 18, 2007.  An examination of Clinton's fundraising donors reveals three donors …

Is a Unified Field Theory of Hillary Hatred Possible?  —  Ross Baker gives a quote to the NYT about Hillary that shows why political scientists make bad political strategists: … That's a devastating accusation all right—but it's devastating to the candidate who makes it.

Jefferson case could change bribery laws  —  Congress moves to redefine 'official acts'  —  WASHINGTON — Bribery has been around as long as politics, but recent provocative legal challenges have prompted Congress to look at rewriting the laws to spell out more clearly what it means to be on the take.

Romney, Searching and Earnest, Set His Path in '60s  —  In December 1968, Mitt Romney returned home from a Mormon mission in France to find a changed country.  —  While assassinations, race riots, sit-ins and marches transformed his generation, Mr. Romney spent more than two years cloistered …

Saudi punishes gang rape victim with 200 lashes  —  A court in the ultra-conservative kingdom of Saudi Arabia is punishing a female victim of gang rape with 200 lashes and six months in jail, a newspaper reported on Thursday.  —  The 19-year-old woman — whose six armed attackers …

U.S. Is Looking Past Musharraf in Case He Falls  —  Almost two weeks into Pakistan's political crisis, Bush administration officials are losing faith that the Pakistani president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, can survive in office and have begun discussing what might come next, according to senior administration officials.

NEW CLINTON QUESTIONS?...  As Hillary Clinton aims to regain momentum in tonight's presidential debate, new videos have surfaced on YouTube with young voters asking her questions that are similar to the fake question posed by a Grinnell college student last week.

Foreclosures Hit a Snag for Lenders  —  A federal judge in Ohio has ruled against a longstanding foreclosure practice, potentially creating an obstacle for lenders trying to reclaim properties from troubled borrowers and raising questions about the legal standing of investors in mortgage securities pools.

O'Malley draws line with Democrats  —  Backing abortion rights candidates 'borders on scandal'  —  BALTIMORE - Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley of Boston, saying the Democratic Party has been persistently hostile to opponents of abortion rights, asserted yesterday that the support of many Catholics …

1968: The Long Goodbye  —  Can America rise above the divisions of the 1960s?  Not yet.  —  It's too bad Barack Obama wasn't able to meet Abbie Hoffman.  I don't know if Hillary Clinton ever met Hoffman, who died in 1989, but like any young person up and running in America in the late 1960s, she knows him well.