And The Good News:

USATODAY.com - GOP lags in key races for Senate:

As the Labor Day weekend launches a final nine weeks of campaigning, USA TODAY/Gallup Polls in five key states show Democrats poised to gain Senate seats but facing an uphill battle to regain control.

Democrats seem more likely to carry the House in the Nov. 7 elections, which are being shaped by voters' unease over Iraq, jobs and health care and a sense that the nation is on the wrong track.

'The environment for the majority party is extremely bad,' says political scientist David Rohde of Duke University. 'There's certainly plenty of time for things to be shaken up ... (but) it would take something really huge' to turn around GOP fortunes.