Politico - Earlier this month, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made a personal appeal to Barack Obama: Help me grow the Democrats’ Senate majority by sharing some of the $77 million you’ve got in the bank.

AP - Four years after losing his party's bid to unseat President Bush, John Kerry is asking Democratic voters to back him for another term in the Senate.

AP - Former POWs and civilians who were tortured or held hostage during the 1991 Gulf War could pursue lawsuits against Iraq under legislation the House has approved.

Reuters - The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on Tuesday on a comprehensive energy package that would open most of the U.S. coastline to offshore drilling, a Democratic aide said on Monday.

AP - The House moved toward a vote Tuesday to end the longtime ban on oil drilling in Atlantic and Pacific waters. Republicans called it a Democratic ruse that would leave most untapped offshore oil out of bounds.

AP - Rep. Charles Rangel will not step down as chairman of a powerful tax-writing committee as he undergoes an ethics investigation by fellow lawmakers, his lawyer said Tuesday.

AFP - John McCain Monday insisted US economic "fundamentals" were strong despite a banking crisis and Wall Street meltdown, prompting a scathing rebuke from his White House foe Barack Obama.

Reuters - With financial markets reeling from a weekend of stunning changes on Wall Street, Democrats in the House of Representatives pushed on Monday to aid the faltering economy with a new stimulus package.

AP - Rep. Charles Rangel emerged from a private meeting with fellow lawmakers Monday night having survived another day as chairman of the House tax-writing committee, despite lingering questions about his personal finances and unpaid taxes on a beach house.

AFP - It took a real-world crisis to wrench the White House race away from lipstick and pigs, with the Wall Street meltdown offering a sudden chance of a breakout moment for Barack Obama or John McCain.