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The Reporters: US mid-terms

James Westhead

Sex and money


Sex and money - two essential ingredients in the best political dramas, and this mid-term election is proving no different. We have certainly heard plenty about the first, given former congressman Mark Foley's internet intercourse with teenage boys.

rove_203ap.jpgWhat about the second? Well, the scale of spending required in even a mid-term US election is quite staggering to an outsider like me. I was astounded to hear that even - the Bush spinmeister - has personally raised $12 million by appearing at 92 Republican fund-raisers over the last few months. That is a record for a mere White House staffer and surely confirms him as among the most celebrated political strategists in US history.

Yet even his contribution is dwarfed by that of his boss. President Bush has managed to rack up $185.7 million at 77 such events. You wonder how they've found time to govern the country. However unlike in past elections, this time the Democrats aren't too far behind. Indeed according to the very useful website , which tracks such things, the two parties are almost neck and neck with around half a billion dollars each in the kitty for this election.

That may sound like good news for the - and it is - but whatever problems the are having with sex, never underestimate the "incumbent factor" with money. In other words, it costs a lot more to win a seat than it costs to keep it!

James Westhead is a Washington correspondent for 大象传媒 News.

Nick Miles

Foley fallout


Politics is anything but predictable. Just a couple of weeks ago, the issue that most pundits and hacks thought would dominate the upcoming elections was .

foley203ap.jpgThen came Foleygate, the Foley Affair, call it what you will - the lewd e-mails and messages sent by now ex-congressman James Foley to teenage boys. It is haunting Republicans. The is digging into which senior Republicans knew about it and what action they took, or failed to take.

Everybody it seems - but mostly politicians and journalists, of course - is trying to work out what impact this could have when voters go to the polls in November. Well, over the last few days the have come out since the scandal broke.

Republicans shouldn't read them before going to bed.

Take a poll by the Opinion Research Corporation. It asked voters whether the Foley matter has made them less likely to vote for Republican candidates for Congress this year. Almost a third said it had.

A Gallup poll revealed that more than half the people it questioned thought senior Republicans had sat on information about the Foley emails for political purposes.

Of course it's one thing to take the moral high ground when you're asked a direct question by a pollster. In the privacy of the polling booth, voters may take a more pragmatic line. Never forget that more than 90% of incumbents get re-elected and most people vote on local issues. We're all watching the polls but know they've got to be treated with a healthy degree of scepticism.

Nick Miles is a Washington correspondent for 大象传媒 News.

The Reporters

Mid-term elections news


New York Times: The fallout over ex-Rep Mark Foley and his e-mails to teenaged pages may be affecting a race in Ohio - where other scandals are already hurting the Republicans.

Washington Post: Cartoonist Tom Toles jabs at how the Foley scandal is threatening to drag down House Speaker Dennis Hastert.

Chicago Tribune: President Bush makes his first public appearance with Mr Hastert since the Foley scandal broke.

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