http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article1959036.ece After one of the hardest-fought election campaigns of recent years, America will vote in the midterms tomorrow, with the latest polls suggesting that Democrats will seize control of the House of Representatives and possibly take the Senate as well. Such a result would be devastating not just to the Republicans but also to President George Bush, whose widespread unpopularity over the war in Iraq has put his party on the defensive across the nation.
In public, senior Republicans still argue that they will retain control of both houses of Congress. But in private, the party appears to be preparing for defeat - almost certainly in the House, where Nancy Pelosi would become the first female speaker, and possibly in the second chamber, though polls show that battle tightening.
"It's the worst political environment for Republican candidates since Watergate," Glen Bolger, a Republican pollster who has worked on many of the election's closest races, told The New York Times.
Strategists for both parties believe that the outcome will depend heavily on how effective each will be at getting out their voters. Events such as the Mark Foley scandal might be thought likely to dissuade some conservatives from voting.-snip-