Redistricting is a deeply political process, with incumbents actively seeking to minimize the risk to themselves (via bipartisan gerrymanders) or to gain additional seats for their party (via partisan gerrymanders).

In the House, Republican prospects have been buoyed by several successful rounds of redistricting, which have sharply reduced the number of competitive seats and given the Republicans a national advantage of at least a dozen seats.

The only religious way to think of death is as part and parcel of life.

Speech is civilization itself. The word, even the most contradictions word, preserves contact - it is silence which isolates.

Responsibility for overseeing the implementation of election law typically resides with partisan officials, many with public stakes in the election outcome.

But presidential approval also became a surrogate measure of national unity and patriotism.

The public's evaluation of the job George W. Bush is doing as president changed dramatically as a result of the horrific attacks of September 11 and his response in leading the country on a campaign against terrorism.