Morning Brief, Tuesday, November 7

Election 2006 Finish line, here we come. The last 24 hours have been a blitz of advertising around the country as candidates make their final pitches before the polls close, and voters seem fed up with the most intrusive tactics. The president stumps for a candidate who doesn’t show up, and the Democrats are panicked ...

606317_votingbooth5.gif
606317_votingbooth5.gif

Election 2006

Election 2006

Finish line, here we come. The last 24 hours have been a blitz of advertising around the country as candidates make their final pitches before the polls close, and voters seem fed up with the most intrusive tactics. The president stumps for a candidate who doesn’t show up, and the Democrats are panicked that even their gains may be greeted as a failure if they don’t match the pundits’ high expectations. Whatever today’s outcome, remember that we’ll all start talking 2008 tomorrow.

Iraq

In court for a separate trial for genocide, Saddam Hussein urges Iraqis to seek reconciliation with one another.

Anne Applebaum on the Saddam trial: “For the first time, an Arab dictator was held accountable for crimes against his people.” And Alan Dershowitz: “[T]he Baghdad trial, though far from exemplary, must receive a passing grade, especially considering the circumstances in that city blighted by violence.”

Gaza

The Israeli military killed eight Palestinians after pulling out of a Gaza town today. The leader of Fatah and Hamas are in talks for the second day on establishing a national unity government.

Elsewhere

Ortega looks headed for a victory in Nicaragua. London buses may not be getting cheap gas from Venezuela after all.

China goes full throttle into the car manufacturing business. Vietnam is admitted to the WTO. Police respond to demonstrations in the capital of Kyrgyzstan with tear gas.

Kristof names Barry Diller, America’s highest-paid CEO, America’s laziest man. And Reporters Without Borders names countries that are “enemies of the Internet.”

Carolyn O'Hara is a senior editor at Foreign Policy.

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