Hmmm ...  It hasn't gotten much attention outside of the Boston suburbs and truly hardcore political junkies.  But there was a congressional election today.  The topline is that the Democrat, Nikki Tsongas, wife of the late Massachusetts senator and presidential candidate Paul Tsongas, won.

Voters unhappy with Bush and Congress  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Deepening unhappiness with President George W. Bush and the U.S. Congress soured the mood of Americans and sent Bush's approval rating to another record low this month, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.

Birth-Control Foe To Run Office on Family Planning  —  The Bush administration again has appointed a chief of family planning programs at the Department of Health and Human Services who has been critical of contraception.  —  Susan Orr, most recently an associate commissioner in the Administration …

Timing of gifts stirs 'earmark' debate  —  WASHINGTON — Days after a Senate committee approved $1 million for a Woodstock concert museum, the project's Republican billionaire backer and his family contributed $29,200 to help the Democrats who requested the money, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles Schumer.

Many GOP Donors Yet to Open Wallets  —  More than a third of the top fundraisers who helped elect George W. Bush president remain on the sidelines in 2008, contributing to a gaping financial disparity between the GOP candidates and their Democratic counterparts.

Pelosi sours on Senate  —  Frustrated by lack of legislative progress in the Senate, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is increasingly touting Democratic achievements in the House.  —  Her statements represent a significant shift from the stance she took six months ago.

Sarah Maria Santorum's tears inspire song  —  This is the story of a defeated senator, his crying daughter, a Nashville songwriter and Martina McBride, the country music star.  —  It begins in Pittsburgh on election night 2006.  Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), losing to Democrat Robert P. Casey Jr …

TERROR LAWYER SAYS SHE'D 'DO IT AGAIN'  —  Disbarred terror lawyer Lynne Stewart held court at Hofstra yesterday - unrepentant about the help she gave to a World Trade Center bombing conspirator.  —  Stewart was convicted in 2005 of smuggling secret messages out of prison for Islamic terrorist Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman.

Syrian officials admit site attacked by Israel nuclear  —  Israeli reps at UN Disarmament Commission meeting overhear Syrian official say facility targeted by Air Force last month nuclear  —  Syrian officials have admitted that the site attacked by the Israeli air force last month was a nuclear facility …

Africans are less intelligent than Westerners, says DNA pioneer  —  Fury at James Watson's theory: "All our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours - whereas all the testing says not really"  —  One of the world's most eminent scientists was embroiled …

Gore rules out presidential bid  —  Ex-VP says he is now running 'a different kind of campaign' for environment  —  OSLO, Norway - Former Vice President Al Gore has ruled out joining the U.S. presidential race after winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his work fighting climate change.

Rudy Roughs Up Arabs  —  Now comes "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week."  —  David Horowitz's conservative Freedom Center has designated next week the time to "break through the barrier of politically correct doublespeak that prevails on American campuses, if you want to help our brave troops, who are fighting the Islamo-Fascists abroad."

As violence falls in Iraq, cemetery workers feel the pinch  —  NAJAF, Iraq — At what's believed to be the world's largest cemetery, where Shiite Muslims aspire to be buried and millions already have been, business isn't good.  —  A drop in violence around Iraq has cut burials …

Does Obama's Message Match the Moment?  —  Reconciliation May Be Hard Sell to Angry Party  —  WASHINGTON, Iowa — A hush fell over the crowd as Sen. Barack Obama crossed the field, his white shirt glowing in the sun, waves of cornstalks rustling behind him.

Specter: No Retroactive Immunity for Telecoms  —  As the ACLU worries that Senate Democrats in the intelligence committee will give retroactive immunity to telephone companies for collaborating with the administration's warrantless surveillance program, the two senior members of the judiciary committee …