NYC mayor’s campaign takes voter targeting to the extreme with extensive ‘robocalls’

NYC mayor takes voter targeting to the extreme

Resignation of embattled Ensign would set up political two-step for Nevada’s US Senate seat

Ensign resignation would set up Nevada scramble

Exit polling can continue near NJ polling places; judge suspends rule to create buffer zone

TRENTON, N.J. — Exit pollsters and journalists can continue to approach voters near polling sites in New Jersey after a federal judge on Friday suspended a state court ruling to ban the practice within 100 feet of voting sites.

Obama raises campaign cash for anemic Democrats during New England fundraising swing

BOSTON — President Barack Obama lent his popularity and cash-raising abilities to embattled fellow Democrats on Friday, defending White House allies whose potential losses would deliver embarrassments to the president.

Houston’s low-key mayoral candidates pitch planning, mass transit for city reinventing itself

HOUSTON — The nation’s fourth-largest city, once dominated by Big Oil, is warming to greener options as it chooses a new mayor.

Obama hits campaign trail for NJ Gov Jon Corzine in tight re-election race

HACKENSACK, N.J. — President Barack Obama on Wednesday urged New Jersey to keep Democrat Jon Corzine as governor, calling him an honorable man who puts the people’s interests first.

Poll: Corzine, Christie tied in NJ governor’s race with with 2 weeks till Election Day

TRENTON, N.J. — In another indication that the New Jersey governor’s race will go down to the wire, a new poll finds Gov. Jon Corzine and Republican Chris Christie tied among likely voters at 39 percent each.

Virginia governor’s race provides a snapshot of America’s attitudes a year before midterms

PURCELLVILLE, Va. — Just a year after this one-time Confederate state helped elect a black man president, Democrats are desperately trying to hang onto the governorship.

News group to ask federal court to stop enforcement of new exit-poll buffer zone in NJ

TRENTON, N.J. — Six major media outlets who use Election Day polling to gauge the mood and attitudes of the nation asked a federal judge on Friday to stop enforcement of a state court ruling that bans exit polling near voting sites.

Biden a political workhorse for White House, traveling coast to coast to boost Democrats

WASHINGTON — Vice President Joe Biden successfully pressed former Senate colleague Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania to abandon the GOP and become a Democrat. The vice president also helped ensure that newly appointed New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand won’t face a Democratic primary.

How the Greek general election works

A look at how Greek voters chose their government and members of parliament in Sunday’s election:

Socialists favored to topple conservatives in Sunday election amid economic, security concerns

ATHENS, Greece — Greeks cast ballots Sunday in a snap general election likely to produce a change in government, as voters angered by scandals and a foundering economy were expected to reject the conservatives in favor of the opposition Socialists.

Experts doubt NJ court ruling on polling place buffer zones will withstand challenge

TRENTON, N.J. — A court decision that bars exit polling within 100 feet of New Jersey polling places is unlikely to stand because federal courts around the country have consistently rejected such restrictions, according to legal and polling experts.

Maine ethics commission approves probe of anti-gay marriage fundraising

AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine’s campaign oversight board overruled a staff recommendation Thursday and authorized an investigation into fundraising by groups supporting the campaign to repeal the state’s gay marriage law in a Nov. 3 referendum.

British Prime Minister Brown denies he is going blind; long-time foe urges him to quit

NEW YORK — British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Wednesday dismissed reports that he is slowly going blind, as a longtime critic in his governing Labour Party urged him to stand down as leader to save the party from a mauling at the next general election.

Ex-pro wrestling CEO running for US Senate in Connecticut: I didn’t always smack down my vote

HARTFORD, Conn. — Linda McMahon’s wrestling empire urged young adults to vote in 2008, but the former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO didn’t always follow suit.

Spending cuts, political fallout loom in Britain as government borrowing hits record in August

LONDON — The recession’s toll on British government finances was highlighted Friday by official figures showing the government borrowed a record 16.1 billion pounds ($26.3 billion) in August, just days after Prime Minister Gordon Brown conceded that whoever wins the next election will have to take an axe to spending.

Britain’s Conservative Party considering bank privatization plans in case of election victory

LONDON — Britain’s Conservative Party, which holds a hefty lead over the governing Labour Party in the opinion polls, is looking at ways of selling off the British government’s equity stakes in Lloyds Banking Group PLC and Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC to ordinary shareholders should it win the next general election, a spokesman for Conservatives said Monday.

Greece’s conservatives, seeking mandate for economic reforms, call early election on Oct. 4

ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s Conservative prime minister on Wednesday called an early general election for Oct. 4, seeking a renewed mandate to impose tougher economic reforms and deal with the international financial crisis.

Greece’s conservatives, seeking mandated for economic reforms, call early general election

ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s Conservative prime minister on Wednesday called an early general election, seeking a renewed mandate to impose tougher economic reforms and deal with the international financial crisis.

Crist has the $$, but Meek leads with FB friends, Rubio dominates Twitter in Fla. Senate race

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Republican Senate candidate Marco Rubio was recently frustrated trying to get a cell phone signal on a rural stretch of Interstate 10, so he tweeted it.