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Iraq, War on Terror Cloud U.S. Elections

Midterm stakes higher than usual as two parties push for solid majorities in House, Senate

Tuesday, September 3, 2002
By Paul Koring
The Globe and Mail

"There is increasing support for President George W. Bush," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said yesterday. Indeed, the President's approval rating is still high. Recent polls show that a majority of Americans are willing to back him if he wages war against Iraq, but it is unclear whether that will translate into more Republican votes in the midterm elections.

WASHINGTON -- G&M
The battle for the U.S. Congress -- a big-money, high-stakes duel fought during a season of pork and politicking -- got its traditional Labour Day launch yesterday as both Republicans and Democrats began wooing votes in earnest.

November's midterm election will be contested against the drumbeat of real conflict, with the war on terrorism continuing and the United States girding for another front in Iraq. It may even determine the fate of the President's first term.

With George W. Bush's Republicans holding the 435-seat House of Representatives by a wafer-thin lead of six seats and the Democrats controlling the 100-seat Senate by a single vote, electioneering may overshadow the supposedly heavy legislative agenda facing Congress in the next six weeks.

"The tendency is to focus more on scoring political points than on making progress," Mr. Bush said during a recent radio address. "I hope the Congress will reject this approach."
(More: GlobeAndMail.CA News Source)
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Dan