Limbaugh Says Actor Fox Exaggerates Effects of Disease in Ads  —  Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh attacked actor Michael J. Fox for inserting his halting voice into the U.S. Senate campaign in Missouri, suggesting Fox was "acting" in a commercial where he's shown shaking …

Poll: Senate within Dems' grasp, but pitfalls remain  —  Control of the chamber could hinge on the outcomes in Missouri, Tennessee and Virginia.  —  Washington — Democrats are within range of capturing a Senate majority, but face potentially decisive resistance from rural voters …

The Note: Pending: Six Days of November Surprises  —  It Isn't a "Surprise" If You Expect It  —  By MARK HALPERIN, DAVID CHALIAN, TEDDY DAVIS, TAHMAN BRADLEY, and EMILY O'DONNELL with KARUNA SESHASAI, MONA RAPHAEL, and MICHELLE DUBERT  —  How the (liberal) Old Media plans to cover the last two weeks of the election:

It's the Politics, Stupid  —  Gail Collins couldn't do bupkis for women in journalism.  That's because there's only so much journalists themselves can do about the problems of women and punditry.  —  Gail Collins stepped down earlier this month as editor of the New York Times opinion pages.

Correction: Joe and 'Stay the Course'  —  Senator Joseph I. Lieberman has used the phrase "stay the course" several times in discussing the war in Iraq in recent years, echoing a key phrase of the White House, contrary to an article published today in The Times.

Some Voting Machines Chop Off Candidates' Names  —  Computer Glitch Affects Voters in 3 Jurisdictions; Error Cannot Be Fixed by Nov. 7  —  U.S. Senate candidate James Webb's last name has been cut off on part of the electronic ballot used by voters in Alexandria, Falls Church and Charlottesville …

Rep. Reynolds set to face ethics panel  —  WASHINGTON - The House Republican campaign chairman and the speaker of the House are likely to be at odds this week as they testify about the handling of ex-Rep. Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record)'s come-ons to male pages.

Bush's new tack steers clear of 'stay the course'  —  Phrase became liability for GOP in election year … Today show  —  President Bush and his aides are annoyed that people keep misinterpreting his Iraq policy as "stay the course."  A complete distortion, they say.

Obama Offers More Variations From the Norm  —  Senator Barack Obama, the Illinois Democrat who said Sunday that he was considering running for president in 2008, created a little sunlight on Monday between himself and both Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton.  —  For one thing, he said that as a youth he had inhaled.

Solidly Republican, Suddenly in Doubt  —  COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — It is, perhaps, the political equivalent of hell freezing over in the interior West.  —  This red state where conservative Republicans routinely wipe the floor with hapless Democrats has a Republican running for Congress who just might lose.

U.S. Officials: Iraqi Security Could be Ready in 12-18 Months  —  Ambassador Says Iraqi Political Leaders 'Must Step Up'  —  Top U.S. officials in Iraq today predicted that Iraqi security forces could be largely self-sufficient within 12 to 18 months and said the Iraqi government is building …

Seats in Danger, Democrats Proclaim Their Conservatism  —  Listening to Congressional candidates in middle Georgia, it is easy for someone to think that he is in a different year and, possibly, a different country.  —  Democrats defend themselves against accusations that they are rubber stamps for their party's leadership.

Elections could be most costly in US history  —  Next month's midterm elections will be the most costly congressional races in US history, with business interests contributing three-quarters of the estimated $2.6bn that will be spent, says a non-partisan research group.

Remember Global Cooling?  —  Why scientists find climate change so hard to predict.  —  Hot and Cold: Signs of global warming at a dried-up pond in China in August 2006 (left) and a 1975 NEWSWEEK report on the threat of global cooling.  —  In April, 1975, in an issue mostly taken …

Rumsfeld Agrees Bush Is 'Not Backing Away From Stay The Course'  —  Faced with widespread disappoval of its Iraq policy, the Bush administration launched a coordinated effort this week to convince Americans it has never had a stay-the-course strategy in Iraq.  On Sunday, President Bush said, "We've never been stay the course."

Three Choices, Mr. President  —  The Least Bad Option on Iraq: Disengagement and Damage Control  —  Dear Mr. President:  —  As soon as the midterm elections are over — and regardless of their outcome — you will have to make the most consequential decision of your presidency …