Congress

Democrats celebrated Stephanie Herseth's capture of a Republican-held seat in South Dakota on Wednesday, their second takeaway of the year, and claimed it portends greater gains in the battle for control of Congress.

House Democrats do not usually like to talk about 1994, the year of their exile into the minority. It has been a bad memory, best left undisturbed.

The second-ranking Democrat in the House sees parallels between now and 1994, when his party -- entrenched in power but shaken by dissension in the ranks and tied to a president in political trouble -- suffered a stunning defeat in the November elections.

The top three House Democratic leaders sent a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., Monday requesting he call for committee hearings to investigate the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal.

Stephanie Herseth and Larry Diedrich are local candidates in a campaign with national stakes, South Dakota rivals in a congressional race that pits the political parties in a struggle as intense as their own.

Drawing parallels to the months leading up to the GOP congressional sweep in 1994, House Minority Whip Hoyer said today the lackluster economy, the Iraq war and stalled legislative action create a political environment favorable to Democrats in 2004.

Congressional Democrats — bolstered by Americans’ worries about the war in Iraq — have opened their largest lead in so-called generic-ballot tests since the summer of 1998, giving party leaders more optimism than they could have imagined having just a few months ago.

Top House Democrats, including House Minority Leader Pelosi and House Minority Whip Hoyer, today will highlight major bills Congress has failed to pass this session.