Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.news,americast.usa-today.news From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: news Tue, Nov 3 1992 Date: Tue, 3 Nov 92 04:59:46 EST Message-ID: DECISIONLINE: News USA TODAY Update Nov. 3, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network BATTLE GOES TO ELECTORATE: All national polls show Bill Clinton ahead in the presidential race, but the election will be won in state-by-state electoral battles Tuesday. Surveys by USA TODAY, ABC News and others show Clinton near or topping the 270 electoral votes needed to win. Early results to watch Tuesday night: New Jersey and Pennsylvania, states President Bush needs if he's to pull an upset. 12 GOVERNORS TO BE DECIDED: Twelve governors' races are at stake Tuesday. Six are now Republican, six are Democratic. Polls show Democrats should gain one to four seats, including the one in Missouri. Missouri Attorney General William Webster's attempt to become governor has unraveled over local issues, including testimony in a state injured-workers fund corruption case. Democrat Lt. Gov. Mel Carnahan is favored. HOUSE WILL BE BOMBARDED: The House of Representatives may look like a glass house Tuesday after angry voters finish throwing stones. Scores of incumbents, many once considered sure bets for re-election, face possible upsets in a year that already has seen 19 lawmakers defeated in primaries and 52 chose retirement. Among endangered species: House Speaker Thomas Foley, D-Wash.; Minority Whip Newt Gingrich, R-Ga. SENATE WILL GET MORE DIVERSE: The Senate that came under attack last year for being too male and too white may never be the same after Tuesday. Democrats, currently with a 57-43 majority, could pick up enough to break the magic number of 60 needed to block Republican filibusters. Some of the record 11 female candidates have good shots at breaking into the club that now has only two women. CEOS MAKING PICKS: Corporate leaders are tripping over each other this year to publicly endorse their favorite presidential candidate. So far, Bill Clinton and George Bush are neck-and-neck in the pinstriped popularity poll. Each claims hundreds of CEOs of large- and medium-sized companies are in his camp. Ross Perot won't release his list. Experts say CEOs should exercise free speech with caution. ELECTION COVERAGE BEGINS EARLY: Starting at 7 p.m. ET:4 p.m. PT, the networks begin Tuesday's election coverage. At CBS, Ed Bradley and Mike Wallace join Dan Rather, Charles Kuralt and Connie Chung. At NBC, Tom Brokaw and John Chancellor get help from Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric. ABC's Peter Jennings and David Brinkley are joined by Pierre Salinger with overseas reaction. CNN coverage starts at 4:30 p.m. ET. 14 STATES VOTE ON TERM LIMITS: Voters in 14 states will have a chance Tuesday to limit how long their senators and House members can stay in Congress. The proposal is the most prominent of 232 initiatives and referendums on the ballots in 42 states. Term limits have big leads in the 13 states where polls have been taken, but supporters fear late campaigns could cost them Washington, Michigan, Arkansas or California. RIGHT-TO-DIE, ERA ON BALLOTS: Important initiatives on the ballot Tuesday include California's "right-to-die" proposal which would make it legal for doctors to help patients commit suicide if they have less than six months to live. In Iowa, a proposed Equal Rights Amendment has drawn national attention and strong opposition from conservatives. And Colorado has a "school choice" initiative to allow a voucher system. CALIF. VOTES ON TAX PLAN: Fourteen years ago, California's Proposition 13 ignited a taxpayers' revolution that swept the nation. This time it's Proposition 167 - potentially as powerful as Proposition 13 but with far different goals. Instead of focusing on property taxes, Prop 167 takes aims at businesses and the rich. If passed, it could wind up as the biggest single state tax increase in U.S. history. POLLS HAVE DOMINATED NEWS: In the last two weeks, campaign news has been dominated by a surfeit of public opinion surveys conducted by any newspaper or TV news show. The point spread between President Bush and Bill Clinton was anywhere from 3% to 19%, alternately helping and hurting both candidates. Critics complain the media use polls for dramatic news stories. Others worry about varying methods among pollsters. SAVINGS BOND RATE PLUMMETS: The variable rate paid on Series EE Savings Bonds fell with a thud Monday. The Treasury Department cut the rate to 5.04% from 5.58%. The market-based rate is changed twice a year, Nov. 1 and May. 1. The drop was expected. The rate is set at 85% of the average market yield of five-year Treasury securities the previous six months, and that yield has been falling. MAGIC RETIRES AGAIN: Growing controversies about his comeback sent Los Angeles Lakers basketball star Magic Johnson back into retirement Monday. AIDS activists said it was a major setback in the fight against the disease. "Today tells us we have a long way to go," said Peggy Clarke of the American Social Health Association. Johnson said he quit because the message he wanted to deliver had been obscured. DOW JONES OPENS ON UPSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens at 3262.21 Tuesday after closing up 35.93 Monday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 232.48, up 1.91. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 382.70, up 0.98. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 607.57, up 2.40. RAW WEATHER IN THE MIDWEST: Voters in the Plains, Midwest, East and parts of Florida will see bad weather Tuesday. Rain is expected northeast from Oklahoma to the lower Great Lakes, with temperatures in the 40s and 50s. Some rain is expected in the Northeast. Colder air arrives in the southern Rockies, with a chance of snow in the mountains of New Mexico and Arizona by Wednesday. News Editor: Kate Coughlin. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution purposes violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM