Congressional Races Off And Running

(CBS)  It's said that all politics is local, but many experts say it's the war in Iraq that will have the biggest impact on the congressional elections in November, reports CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson.

Labor Day marks the traditional start of the fall campaign season, with the elections exactly nine weeks away. Democrats are hoping for big gains, while Republicans are counting on voters to trust them the most when it comes to handling foreign affairs.

Incumbent Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., was the first high-profile casualty of growing dissatisfaction with the war in Iraq. He lost the Democratic primary to anti-war opponent Ned Lamont.

Lieberman is now running as an independent, but Democrats are hoping it will be Republicans who are hurting on Election Day.

Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania is considered one of the most vulnerable Republican incumbents in the Senate.

Right now, Republicans call most of the shots in Congress because they hold the majority of seats in the Senate and House.

Democrats need a net gain of six seats to seize control of the Senate. They see opportunities in at least seven states.

In the House, they think their chances are even better. There, the balance is 231 Republicans, 201 Democrats with one independent and two vacancies. Democrats need to net 15 extra seats to take control.

If they do, it will be the biggest win of all for California Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic House leader. She would become the first woman speaker of the House and promises big changes in Washington.

"I hope that if the election turns out the way I like, that we would be able to start the new year in that way for the American people, a new direction for the American people," says Pelosi.

A Quinnipiac University national poll released today shows, however, that Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, who will become Majority Leader if the Democrats take control in November, "are neither well thought of, nor widely known, to most Americans."

Republicans say that new direction would be a hard left turn — left as in liberal, which would make things more difficult for the president who could count on little to no cooperation from the House on his agenda.

"Right now it's clear the election has already been pretty well nationalized," says Amy Walter, senior editor of the Cook Political Report on CBS News' The Early Show. "The war in Iraq is a very big issue with voters and it sits like a fog over this election and permeates the electorate.

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[newsjeff-2009]

I have read an article on Yahoo News about how Congressional leaders have appeared to have given up on immigration reform, even though they just had a vacation about a few weeks ago. I do not personally have a problem will all the immigrants here and the ones coming to America, all many voters like myself want is for employers and U.S. companies to stop encouraging illegal immigration just to obtain "cheap labor", American want fair,living wages,job security,secure retirement,benefits,etc. for all workers regardless of age,religion,***,race,etc. What I do not like is how our GOP controlled congress,senate,house, etc. and the RNC wants to distance themselves from President Bush while campaigning this year, The GOP has controlled the house,senate,congress, and several governor's offices for several years. With the GOP majority they should have been able to raise minimum wage,pass immigration reform,get Bin Laden,ban flag-burning,fought the rising crime and illegal drug use rate in this country. If they could not do these things it was just as much if not more their fault, not President Bush.