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ABCDE Democrats bracing for losses


TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2010 ELECTION2010


GOP likely to win back House and narrowly miss capturing the Senate


BY DAN BALZ The campaign of 2010 ended as it


began: loudly. But the nationwide barrage of last-


ditch attack ads and the sniping among the country’s political leaders appeared to have little effectonthe dynamics of the year. Republicans enter Election Day confident that they will recapture control of the House as Democrats struggle to face what appears likely to be a signifi- cantly smaller majority in the Senate. On the day before an election that


could throw a roadblock in front of his agenda, President Obama stayed put at the White House, having completed his campaign travels over the weekend. His day included a round of radio interviews, including one with Ryan Seacrest of “American Idol.” Obama hoped to spur Democrats in


battleground states to go to the polls to offset highly energized Republican vot- ers.


HouseMinority Leader John A. Boeh-


ner (R-Ohio), poised tobecomespeaker if Republicans take control of the chamber, lashed out at the president in a radio interview and in the prepared text of a speech he planned to deliver Monday night in Cincinnati. Boehner seized on a line from an


interview Obama gave on Oct. 25 to Univision Radio, in which he indicated that Republicans are “enemies” of Lati- nos.


“Mr. President,” he retorted, “there’s a


word for peoplewhohave the audacity to speak up in defense of freedom, the Constitution and the values of limited governmentthatmadeourcountry great. We don’t call them enemies.We call them patriots.” Although Obama was in Washington,


first lady Michelle Obama hit the cam- paign trail on the final day of the race. She appeared with embattled Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and asked frustrated and anxiety-ridden voters to be patient. “We expected all this change to come


at once,” she said, according to the Las Vegas Sun. “Truth is, it’s going to take a


midterms continued onA8 6 on postpolitics.com


Get the latest news, results, analysis and discussion on all local and


national elections Tuesday.


VFor updates on your mobile phone and 1Washington Post associate editor


Robert G. Kaiser discusses and analyzes the returns at 9 p.m. IUpdated photo galleries and videos throughout the night.


a state-by-state election guide, log onto m.washingtonpost.com.


FLORIDA GOVERNOR Alex Sink (D) vs. Rick Scott (R)


1Polls close at 8 p.m. ET: This is the marquee gubernatorial race for Democrats, as each side has spent millions in an effort to replace Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running for Senate as an independent.


NEWMEXICO GOVERNOR DianeDenish (D) vs. SusanaMartinez (R)


1Polls close at 9 p.m. ET: Martinez appears likely to make history in the Land of Enchantment as the state’s first Hispanic woman to be elected governor.


COLORADO SENATE Michael Bennet (D) vs. Ken Buck (R)


1Polls close at 9 p.m. ET: This could be the closest race in the country after Bennet hammered Buck as an extremist and Buck worked to link Bennet to President Obama’s unpopular policies.


WEST VIRGINIA SENATE Joe Manchin III (D) vs. John Raese (R)


1Polls close at 7:30 p.m. ET:Manchin, the state’s popular governor, has had a rocky road, but polls suggest that he has inched ahead in a state where President Obama and national Democrats are unpopular.


OHIOGOVERNOR Ted Strickland (D) vs. JohnKasich (R)


1Polls close at 7:30p.m.ET: This race has been a focal point of both national parties for months, and althoughKasich, a former congressman, has long led, hismargin appears to have narrowed to almost nothing.


ILLINOIS SENATE Alexi Giannoulias (D) vs. Mark Kirk (R)


1Polls close at 8 p.m. ET: The race for President Obama’s former seat has been a bloody battle, with both candidates stuck in the lows 40s in head-to-head matchups.


TRANSFERS BEGIN IN SOUTHWEST


Marines will remain nearby to provide emergency backup


BY RAJIV CHANDRASEKARAN


nawa, afghanistan — U.S. Marines have begun handing over some of their small bases to the Afghan army in this once-volatile district in the country’s southwest, a transition that top military commanders intend to cite as proof that theObama administration’s troop escala- tion and counterinsurgency strategy are succeeding. The transfer, which calls formostMa-


rines towithdrawfrompopulatedpartsof Nawa andconsolidate ina series ofdesert bases by the spring, would allow the overall number of U.S. troops in the dis- trict—now about 1,000—to be reduced by next summer. Senior Marine officers said that insurgent attacks in Nawa have declinedsignificantlyandthat thecapaci- ty of theAfghanarmy to operate indepen- dently has increased. But the Marine plan still envisages a


NEVADASENATE HarryM.Reid (D) vs. Sharron Angle (R)


1Pollscloseat10p.m.ET:Surveys suggest thatneitherReid, theSenatemajority leader, norAngle,aformer stateAssemblymember, isall thatwell liked.Soforwhichonewill votersholdtheirnoses tosupport?


CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR Jerry Brown (D) vs. Meg Whitman (R)


1Polls close at 11 p.m. ET: Despite spending $142 million of her own money, former eBay executiveWhitman looks likely to come up short to Brown, who first served as governor in the 1970s.


ALASKA SENATE Scott McAdams (D) vs. Joe Miller (R) vs. Lisa Murkowski (write-in)


1Polls close at midnight ET: Murkowski’s decision to run for reelection as a write-in candidate after losing to Miller in the Republican primary makes this one of the nation’s most unpredictable contests.


CooperationwithDemocratsmay haunt firms


Companies that boosted parts of Obama’s agenda could feel wrath of a new majority


BY YLAN Q.MUI AND JIA LYNN YANG Republicans have a message for the


businesses that worked closely with the Obama administration over the past two years on key controversial issues: We


PATHSTOJIHAD Out of suburbia, the online extremist


The Internet gave Chesser an introduction to radical Islam and the platform to preach it “Your fingers glide over cold steel


BY TARA BAHRAMPOUR F


or months, the radical young Mus- lim convert had been waging war online, championing violent jihad


from his computer inNorthern Virginia. Zachary Adam Chesser often wrote


scathingly about people who voiced sup- port for the mujaheddin but who made no move to join them. The fact that he remained safely in the United States clearly troubled him as 2009 gave way to 2010. InMarch, Chesser begged the fighters


already abroad to “not forget those of us who have lagged behind.”


whilst mine merely grace the empty plastic of my keyboard,” the 20-year-old white suburbanite posted to hisWeb site, themujihadblog. “If I die in this land then what will I say to Allah? ‘O Allah I was just going to wait until the mujahideen reached America. I swear I would have joined them, but they took too long.’ ” Chesser, who pleaded guilty in federal


court Oct. 20 to supporting Somali ter- rorists and threatening the creators of “South Park” for mocking the prophet Muhammad, hadn’t been aMuslim long. He converted to Islam in 2008, soon after graduating from Oakton High School in Fairfax County.


His emergence online as a Muslim


extremist followed at warp speed. By the time federal agents arrested him in July for trying to travel to Somalia and join the Islamist insurgent group al-Shabab, he’dgone from breakdancing high school kid to bearded radical in little more than two years. For Chesser, it was the latest — and


perhaps most unlikely — in a series of identities he’d experimented with, then discarded. Other attempts to define himself had


proved harmless. “If he’d lived in L.A.,” observed one person close to him, “he


path continued onA4 INSIDE


POLITICS& THENATION


Powerful bombs


German authorities say the devices found on cargo flights were deadly and sophisticated. A3


OPINIONS


David Ignatius: How a hunted al-Qaeda is morphing and mobilizing. A19


BUSINESS NEWS.........A13-16 CLASSIFIEDS...................F1-4 COMICS..........................C7-8


EDITORIALS/LETTERS.....A18 FED PAGE.........................A17 GOING OUT GUIDE.............C4


KIDSPOST........................C10 LOTTERIES.........................B4 MOVIES..............................C6


OBITUARIES....................B6-7 TELEVISION.......................C9 WORLD NEWS.............A10-12


2SPORTS Giants win World Series


Tim Lincecum strikes out 10 over eight innings to lead San Francisco past the Texas Rangers, 3-1. D1


1TOM BOSWELL: After 52 years of waiting, the City by the Bay gets a baseball championship. D1


STYLE As the ‘MariaWorld’ turns


Maria Shriver, soon to be ex-first lady of California, isn’t fond of talking about what’s next for her. C1


Printed using recycled fiber


DAILY CODE Details, B2


2 7 3 2


2HEALTH& SCIENCE


Saving lives in war


With advances in the treatment of bleeding, wounded soldiers are far more likely to survive. E1


6 Interactive graphic


Explore a combat medic’s gear in an





interactive graphic at washingtonpost.com/health.


The Washington Post Year 133, No. 332


CONTENT © 2010 Former congressman Gary A. Condit,


who has been at the center of the Chan- dra Levy case from the day the former federal intern disappeared nine years ago, took the witness stand in public Monday but refused to answer one key question. Asked at least three times in D.C. Superior Court whether he had an inti- mate relationship with Levy, Condit re- mained defiant. He readily answered other questions.


He raised his right hand and swore he didn’t killLevy.He said he had nothing to do with her disappearance.He described her as a friend and constituent. But he


won’t forget. Take the case of Wal-Mart, the behe-


moth big-box retailer that liberals have long loved to hate. Several years ago, it began to break ranks with industry groups by speaking out in favor of an increase to the minimum wage and health-care reform.And, for the first time in its history, it gave more money to Democrats than the GOP for Tuesday’s elections. The corporation’smoves caught the eye


of Republican Rep. Dave Camp ofMichi- gan. During a phone call with company lobbyists last year during the fight over


the health-care bill, Camp bluntly re- mindedWal-Mart of its unpalatable posi- tion on the issue, according to sources familiarwith the conversation. Now, Wal-Mart’s political team finds


itself in an awkward position. Camp is poisedtobecomethenextchairmanof the powerful House Ways and Means Com- mittee. Companies thatworkedwith theDem-


ocratsover thepast twoyearswouldfacea far less sympathetic audience from Re- publicans, who are expected tomake sig-


companies continued onA16


significant U.S. military presence in the desert and in the district’s main town to provide emergency backup toAfghansol- diers, mentor the fledgling police force and interdict insurgents seeking to enter the area. MarineMaj. Gen. Richard P.Mills, the


topU.S. andNATO commander in south- western Afghanistan, said he is planning a “thinning out, as opposed to an exit,” to maintain the ability “to respond to pre- vent catastrophic failure.” ThesituationinNawasuggests that the


handovermight lead to the same kinds of differing interpretations that have cloud- ed recent reports of progress in the war, particularly the killing of insurgent com- mandersbycoalitioncommandosandthe talksbetweenafewseniorTalibanleaders andmembers of the Afghan government. Military officials have hailed both as im- portant steps forward, but intelligence analysts and diplomats have been more skeptical of their effect onthe conflict. TheMarines’ assessment that they are


needed in Nawa beyond next summer — the two-year mark for U.S. forces in the district—could influence aWhiteHouse reviewof thewar set forDecember.Senior administration officials said military leaders had promised President Obama late last year that it would be possible to


afghan continued onA12


Condit refuses to testify about whether he had affair with Levy


BY KEITH L. ALEXANDER


steadfastly refused to go any further. “I don’t believe it’s relevant,” Condit


said at one point. “I am not going to respond to that question out of privacy formyself and Chandra.” The relationship between Condit, then


a Democratic congressman from Califor- nia, and Levy made her disappearance international news in 2001. For months, Condit was the main suspect, and his picture and Levy’s were featured on magazine covers and TV broadcasts. Po- lice cleared him and later focused on Ingmar Guandique, 29, who is on trial in Levy’s death. Guandique’s name was not mentioned


during Condit’s two hours on the stand. levy continued onA12


The Fix’s keymidtermraces to watch TheWashington Post’s Chris Cillizza analyzes the critical races. Follow him today and all the election returns at postpolitics.com.


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U.S. bases shifting to Afghan control


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