REDSKINS FALTER LATE, LOSE IN DETROIT, 37-25 D1 ABCDE Mostly sunny 53/37 • Tomorrow: Mostly sunny 53/38 • details, b6 ELECTION2010


Hard times in Midwest endanger


Democrats Region went blue in 2006, but economic slump may turn the tide toward GOP


BY SHAILAGHMURRAY AND PAUL KANE


columbus, ohio — On Oct. 6, 2006, Senate candidate Sherrod Brown stood before a crowd of Ohio State University students and predicted the political up- heaval that was about to take place. “This year, when you knock on doors,


when you go around your dorms, when you go around your communities, you’re going to matter,” the Democrat pledged to the cheering audience. “You’re going to change the direction of this state. And if we change the direction of Ohio, we change the direction of theUnited States of America.” That’s more or less how history trans-


pired — at least for the four short years that Democrats would dominate the Midwest. The party’s 2006 victories in the area set the stage for President Obama’s sweep of the region in 2008. But just as quickly as Midwestern


voters embraced Obama and the Demo- crats, they are now recoiling from them. The sagging economy has a lot to do with it, of course.MoreMidwestern manufac- turing plants have shut down over the past two years than when George W. Bush was president, and Democratic candidates here are struggling. On Tuesday, Obama and Democrats


will find out whether voters who live along the industrial corridor traced by Interstate 70 from Kansas City through Pennsylvania still hold out hope that the president and his party can revive a region now 30 years past its glory days. Republicans are betting not. GOP poll- ster Glen Bolger predicts the Midwest will be a “killing field” for Democrats in 2010. It wouldn’t be the first time. The


rust belt continued onA6 CAMPAIGN FINANCE


Feingold feels pinch of high court’s rulings As Roberts-led bench has changed the game, longtime reform advocate sees millions go to his rival for Senate. A8


IN STYLE


‘Dirty’ dealings? Running for Congress in Arizona, Ben Quayle is dogged by rumors that he used to be a gossip-slinging blogger. C1


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POSTPOLITICS.COM 50-state preview


An individual look from every state at the contested House, Senate


and gubernatorial races of Tuesday’s elections.


TEDSORENSEN 1928-2010 JFK’s speechwriter, confidant, counselor and a keeper of the Kennedy flame 82.


BY MARTINWEIL AND EMMA BROWN


Ted Sorensen, the admired longtime


assistant to President John F. Kennedy who provided his chief with many of the words and thoughts that still resonate through American life, died Sunday at New York Presbyterian Hospital of com- plications from a recent stroke. He was


Of those before and since who have


served any American president, none has been given greater credit for his or her contributions to an administration or its legacy than Mr. Sorensen. No aide in recent times has had more influence on a president’s message or on how it was expressed, said Princeton University his- torian Sean Wilentz. Amply endowed with the qualifica-


tions required for an intimate adviser at the highest levels, Mr. Sorensen was regarded as a man of ideas and ideals, keen intellect and a passion for public service. FromMr. Sorensen—or from his close


and fruitful collaboration with his presi- dent—came the words by which Kenne- dy called on the nation to achieve such goals as placing a man on the moon and providing civil rights to all Americans.


INSIDE SPORTS1


Bradosky breaks out Jacob Bradosky and Janet Cherobon are victorious at the Marine Corps Marathon. D4


OPINIONS


Commentary from three finalists in our America’s Next Great Pundit contest. A21


BUSINESS NEWS.........A17-18 CLASSIFIEDS...................E1-8 COMICS..........................C8-9


EDITORIALS/LETTERS.....A20 FED PAGE.........................A19 GOING OUT GUIDE............C10


KIDSPOST........................C10 LOTTERIES.........................B3 MOVIES..............................C4


RELIABLESOURCE1 No tricks, just treats


The first couple didn’t dress up but still celebrated Halloween at the White House. C1


POLITICS&THENATION Ariz. immigration law at appeals court


A panel will hear the state’s challenge of a lower ruling that blocked the most-contested provisions. A3


OBITUARIES....................B4-5 TELEVISION.......................C6 WORLD NEWS.............A12-16


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DAILY CODE Details, B2


8 5 1 9 THEWORLD


Iraqi worshipers, troops killed





Commandos storm a church in Baghdad where a band of suicide bombers had been holding parishioners hostage. A12


The Washington Post Year 133, No. 331


CONTENT © 2010 “Sorensen,” historian Douglas Brin-


kley wrote two years ago, “was the administration’s indispensable man.” The image of theKennedy administra-


tion as an American Camelot, presided over by the wise, graceful and just, can be traced in considerable degree to Mr. Sorensen’s alluring language, through which the administration presented it-


sorensen continued onA5 A: Disappointed A: Necessary


AmericaVotes. T


PHOTOS AND TEXT BY MELINAMARA Hear their stories atwashingtonpost.com/photo


A: Self-achieving A: Freedom-robbing MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2010


Q: If you had to use a single word to describe your feelings about the federal government, what would that one word be?


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2 bombs were built to explode ‘in flight’


U.S. OFFICIAL CITES NATURE OF DESIGN


Incident brings questions about screening cargo


BY PETER FINN The twopackagebombs interceptedby


authorities in Britain and Dubai last week appear to have been built to deto- nate “in flight” and to bring down the planes carrying them, PresidentObama’s top counterterrorismadviser said. “At this point we, I think, would agree


with the British that it looks as though they were designed to be detonated in flight,” said the adviser, John Brennan, speaking Sunday on the CBS program “Face theNation.” The assessment, combined with the


revelation that one of the packages trav- eled on passenger flights in the Middle East, underlined just how narrowly au- thoritieshadavertedapotential catastro- phe. It also raised puzzling questions aboutwhythepackages,whichcontained bombs skillfully packed inside modified printer cartridges,were addressed to two synagogues in Chicago, a potentialwarn- ing flag given that the packages originat- ed in Yemen. On other Sundaymorning talk shows,


Brennan was more circumspect about the ultimate targets of the attack.He said on the ABC program “This Week with Christiane Amanpour” that authorities have “to look very carefully atwhether or not they were going to be detonated on


planes continued onA16


Fed at precipice as it moves to boost economy


U.S. recovery, central bank’s reputation at stake with action expected this week


hrough portraits and three questions, ordinary voters address their thoughts on government and a contentiousmidtermcampaign season. All the voters live in areas of Pennsylvania and Ohio with key congressional races. The questions used were from a survey, titled “TheRole ofGovernment,” developed byTheWashingtonPost, theKaiser Family Foundation andHarvardUniversity. These faces come fromvariedwalks of life:


Matt Erwin, a dairy farmer; SusanMcIntyre, a home-schooling tea party activist; Owen Benhail Crownie, a small-business owner and immigrant fromthe Caribbean; and Brian Staulbrayan, vice presidentof theKentStateUniversityCollegeDemocrats.PagesA10-11


BY NEIL IRWIN The Federal Reserve is preparing to


put its credibility on the line as it rarely has before by taking dramatic new action this week to try jolting the economy out of its slumber. If the efforts succeed, they could


finally help bring down the stubbornly high jobless rate. But should the Fed overshoot in its


plan to pump hundreds of billions of dollars into the economy, it could pro- duce the same kind of bubbles in the housing and stock markets that caused the slowdown. Or the efforts could fall short and fail to energize the economy, leaving a clear impression that the mighty Fed is out of bullets — thus adding even more anxiety to an already dire situation. The meeting of Fed policymakers


Tuesday and Wednesday is set to be a defining moment of Ben S. Bernanke’s second term as chairman of the central bank. Although he helped win the war against the great financial panic of 2008 and 2009, he now risks losing the peace if he fails to end the protracted econom-


fed continued onA18


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