Day: November 7, 2006

Republican control of Congress was on the line Tuesday in an election colored by voters’ dismay over the Iraq war and misbehavior in Washington.

At stake in the midterm election were all 435 House seats, 33 in the Senate, 36 races for governor, ballot measures on gay marriage, embryonic stem cell research, the minimum wage and more — plus the overarching fate of President Bush’s agenda in the last two years of his presidency.

The closer the election came to the finish line, the more President Bush’s aides battled the perception he was doing his party as much harm as good and was unwanted in many districts.

On Monday, Bush jetted to a conservative corner of Florida’s Panhandle, about as far as he could get from the state’s three in-play House districts. To the White House’s embarrassment and irritation, Republican Charlie Crist, whom Bush came to help in his bid to succeed the president’s brother as governor, decided at the last minute to skip the chance to be by the president’s side.

Early returns in Tuesday’s midterm elections should offer hints of what’s to come, the first whiff of whether Democrats can seize the House and possibly the Senate.

Most of the heavily contested, down-to-the-wire races are east of the Mississippi River, in states with relatively early poll closing times. If a Democratic rout is going to happen, it will be clear from the first votes.

Democrats took aim on Monday at ending Republican control of the U.S. Congress, as a bitter election fight fueled by discontent with President George W. Bush and the Iraq war ticked down to the last frantic hours.

Both parties fired up get-out-the-vote operations designed to bring core supporters to the polls on Tuesday, and sent out their biggest stars to appeal to swing voters who could tip the balance in close races around the country.

A half-dozen Republican congressmen ushered into office in the 1994 GOP tidal wave that tossed Democrats from power may be swept out on Tuesday, casualties of a Democratic surge fueled by voter anger over the Iraq war.

On the eve of the midterm elections, Republicans are hoping their acclaimed get-out-the-vote operation will ensure majority control. But some say privately they have a slim chance of retaining the House after a grueling campaign centered on turmoil in Iraq, President Bush’s sagging approval numbers, political scandals and corruption investigations.

By KEVIN DIAZ
Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune

Minnesota Democrat Coleen Rowley doesn’t know the difference between a Nazi and a U.S. Marine. Her Republican opponent, incumbent John Kline, has been corrupted by special interests.

That, at least, is what they say about each other.

In the final days of the midterm congressional elections, candidates across the nation are getting down to what they think voters really ought to know.