Today's Times
- Having a career in Congress used to be worn as a badge of honor, but this year many House candidates are deciding not to mention their service in Washington while campaigning for re-election, Jennifer Steinhauer writes. It is a sign of the dim view that a vast majority of voters have of Congress.
- Though their Republican governors oppose it, state administrators are working to have insurance exchanges ready before next month's deadline to comply with the new health care law, Abby Goodnough reports.
- A whisper campaign is bursting into the open through the halls of Congress and beyond: Take Representative Paul D. Ryan out of the passenger seat and let hi m take the lead on fighting President Obama and the Democrats, Trip Gabriel and Jonathan Weisman write.
- Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. has an old-fashioned style about touching voters at campaign events, which turns out to suit him well in an age in which a photograph of a spontaneous encounter with a voter can spread through social media and deliver the impression that politicians are just like us, Trip Gabriel writes.
- In separate interviews for the CBS program “60 Minutes,†the two presidential contenders carried out a shadow debate that offered a likely preview of the tone for their first face-to-face debate, John M. Broder reports.
Happenings in Washington
- Both President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will travel to New York for the United Nations General Assembly. President Obama will also tape an appearance on “The View†while in New York and Mrs. Clinton will meet with the presid ents of Pakistan, Libya and Afghanistan.
- Felipe Calderón, president of Mexico, will be at the Council on Foreign Relations to discuss dealings with the United States.
