Free Republic

On the dry, sun-baked afternoon of Aug. 21, 1858, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas stepped onto a hastily constructed platform in the main square of the Illinois River town of Ottawa and began a series of seven one-on-one debates that bored a smoldering hole straight into the heart of American politics. Both men were candidates for the U.S. Senate, and both were veterans of the conventional give-and-take of politics. But these debates would carry Lincoln and Douglas far above the conventional. They would focus on an issue that promised a whirlwind of catastrophe for America, and they would end...

WASHINGTON -- Four months before the midterm congressional elections, Democrats are mired in a ferocious battle for control of the House and Senate. Among themselves. A feud within the ranks of party leaders is creating concern and consternation about Democrats' ability to capitalize on the bountiful political advantages the GOP has dealt them. Democrats are beset by competing messages, quarreling messengers and conflicting visions for the future of the party, all of which could complicate and impede their fall election strategy.