In Swing Districts, Democratic Enthusiasm Is Harder to Come By

The scandal-plagued conservative has raised little money, and his party wants him to bow out.

Rep. Barbara Cubin (Wyo.)

Approximately 300 people are eyeing this potential open seat -- and that's just on the Republican side.

Bloomberg's Billions

New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg just keeps getting richer.

According to Forbes magazine's annual look at the 400 most affluent Americans, the media mogul is worth $11.5 billion -- a total that's good for 25th place on this year's list.

It's quite a leap from last year, when Bloomberg placed 44th with a net worth of a now-paltry $5.3 billion.

Bloomberg continues to insist that he has no plans to run for president in 2008 as an independent. But the talk persists. And now that he has another $6.2 billion to play with . . .

16 days: After months of waiting and anticipating, former senator Fred D. Thompson (R-Tenn.) takes the stage -- ahem -- to debate his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination. The scene? Dearborn, Mich. The script? A focus on economic issues.

45 days: A slew of presidential candidates gathers in New York City to raise money for someone other than themselves. The beneficiary is the Bob Woodruff Family Fund, a group formed by the ABC reporter injured while covering the war in Iraq. Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), as well as former senator John Edwards (D-N.C.) and former governor Mitt Romney (R-Mass.), are helping to raise cash for wounded military men and women.