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A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds American voters split at 43% each on which party they say they will vote for this fall. But among those most likely to vote, Republicans hold a dramatic 49% to 40% advantage.

Key finding: Only 26% think the economy is going to get better in the next year, down markedly from 47% a year ago. In addition, 61% think the country is on the wrong track, up from 48% a year ago.

"One hope for Democrats is this: There are enough pro-Democrat, pro-Obama voters available to help the party head off disaster -- if they can be persuaded to show up and vote. In the survey, those who expressed the very highest levels of interest in this year's election preferred a Republican Congress by a margin of 53% to 35%. Among all other, less interested voters, Democrats are preferred by a 20-point margin."

A new Washington Post/ABC News poll finds that for the first time in more than four years, Republicans now "run about evenly with Democrats on the question of which party they trust to handle the nation's biggest problems. Among registered voters, 40% say they have more confidence in Democrats and 38% say they have more trust in Republicans. Three months ago, Democrats had a 12-point advantage."

"Among all voters, 47% say they would back the Republican in their congressional district if the election were held now, while 45% would vote for the Democrat. Any GOP advantage on this question has been rare in past years -- and among those most likely to vote this fall, the Republican advantage swells to 53% to the Democrats' 40%."

Meanwhile, President Obama's approval rating is at a new low with just 46% of all Americans giving him positive marks and 52% negative ones.

A new CNN/Opinion Research poll shows Republicans have a slight edge over Democrats on the economy, with 46% of Americans saying that Republicans in Congress would do a better job and 43% saying that Democrats would do a better job.

The Republicans three point edge is a big shift from last year, when the Democrats held a 52% to 39% advantage.

There are still 60 days to go before Election Day but the smart money -- lots of it -- is on the GOP winning very, very big

More than 600 candidates are running for office out of Afghanistan's capital because it isn't safe to campaign in the provinces

Beijing has entertained Fiji's pariah military dictator while doling out lots of cash and support to other impoverished countries in Australia's backyard

Pushing for electoral reform is tricky when the strongman in power is also a key ally against extremist violence

By attending the Arab Food Industries & Franchising Forum 2010 you will be able to:

- Gain a thorough understanding of the regional and international Food and franchising markets.
- Identify new international trends in marketing, quality and performance management.
- Review the latest legal and regulatory frameworks.
- Find the right set of quality tools for your business needs.
- Hear it from the experts.
- Catch up with your industry partners.
- Assess your markets personally rather than hear about them.
- Measure the impacts of the current economic crisis on your business.
- Get introduced to exciting potential industry partners.
- Meet new clients over a relaxed, yet positive business environment.
- Explore the opportunities Food Industry can bring to your institution.
- Get your words heard by international media coverage.
- Indulge yourself in the exquisite surroundings of the Dead Sea while doing business.

In response to rising regional and international demand for food and franchising industry, Jordan is proud to host the Arab Food Industries & Franchising Forum 2010. More than 600 participants, primarily from the Middle East, and from Asia, North & South America and Europe, will enjoy rich networking opportunities throughout this two-day event. Highly-respected and internationally renowned speakers are scheduled to share cutting-edge concepts and progressive industry practices. In addition, a number of public institutions, private companies and non-governmental organizations will also present their own rich input, enabling participants to accomplish personalized conference objectives by establishing enduring business ties and unlimited professional opportunities.

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Thus, your success in business would be based on three basic topics: financial performance, sustainability, and brand equity.

we americans need to truly wake up from our deep sleep.we americans are sleep walking and dont even know it.the american people are still dull and un feeling from the bush administrations mess ups that they cant see what we democrats are accomplishing.democrats are once again lowering the deficit and putting our economy back in order peice by peice and people are blind to it cause of the crap they got used to during the bush administration.president obama is sticking to his guns and i thank him for it no matter what the polls say or the republicans say.people need to see the rebuplicans are a say no to everything party and democrats are for getting things done even tho some of the things they get done are hard to do.president obama is doing right by getting our men and woman out of iraq.we went into iraq for wrong reasons and tried to change iraq but iraq will never change cause they are too lost as far as knowing peace.all they know is war and plus god says in his word they shall never know peace anyway in the middle east.president obama is doing right by concentrating on our country more and less on foreriegn policy.we need to fix ourselves first so we can see clearly to fix other countries.all u democrats out there need to get to the voting places and vote democrat so we can continue to move our great country forward and please vote for the most important democrat of all,president barack obama.

first off id like to say im proud to be a democrat.ive always believed the democrats truly are for the people of this country.not like republicans who are for the rich n powerful.im very happy n proud of how president obama is doing his best to fix the problems the republicans left behind when they left office.president obamas plans for the economy are just n fair.they do focus on the people and not just on the rich n powerful.we democrats need to continue to support our president 100% and continue to work together to get our country back on track and become a nation to truly be proud of.may god forgive us all of our sins and bless us all with continued togetherness and working towards our goals of making america the best country in the world.also,i will be casting my vote in the mid elections this november.

President Obama proposed a $50 billion plan Monday to fix the USA's infrastructure, part of an effort to deal with high unemployment.

Al-Qaeda militants in Iraq are turning to bank robberies and other thefts to make up for a drop in cash from outsiders.

The U.S. military's new armored trucks in Afghanistan are significantly reducing troop deaths in roadside attacks.

Rothenberg Political Report: "National and local polls continue to show further deterioration in Democratic prospects. Given that, we are increasing our target of likely Republican gains from 28-33 seats to 37-42 seats, with the caveat that substantially larger GOP gains in the 45-55 seat range are quite possible. The next few weeks will be crucial, as Democratic incumbents seek to drive up Republican challengers' negatives and strengthen their standing in ballot tests."

Wisconsin Democrats are struggling to keep gubernatorial and congressional seats in a reflection of how job anxiety is affecting elections.

From California to Ohio, unemployment is the issue. USA TODAY looks at four key races.

When Joe McGinniss moved in next door to Sarah Palin it set off a controversy when she suggested the author was spying on her for his new book. Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury comic strip even had cartoon reporter Roland Hedley move in next to McGinniss to spy on the alleged spy.

McGinniss now tells the Anchorage Daily News that his publisher is considering having Trudeau do the cover for his upcoming book, due out next year.

His work done, McGinniss is now moving back home.

Back on My Feet is a support group for the homeless meant to help them instill discipline and improve their health through running.

"They talk about me like a dog."

-- President Obama, quoted by the New York Times, about Republicans, adding "That's not in my prepared remarks, but it's true."