Here's this morning's run-down on the Congressional races: The Dems' chances of taking a key Senate seat have just gone up considerably, and the party overall is spending heavily in key races.

Polls Show GOP Sen. Dole Losing Re-Election
Two new polls show that Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) is trailing her Democratic opponent Kay Hagan, a rare opportunity for a Democratic pick-up in a Southern Senate seat. The numbers from Public Policy Polling (D): Hagan 46%, Dole 41%, with a ±3% margin of error. And from Rasmussen: Hagan 51%, Dole 45%, with a ±4.5% margin of error.

Coleman: Bailout Isn't Really A Bailout
Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) is praising the proposed Wall St. bailout, in which the government would buy $700 billion in mortgage debts with little or no oversight or penalties for the firms that made that loans in the first place. Coleman alleges that the buyout is "not an infusion of cash" to the firms, but is in fact an investment by the government: "The government could make 10 or 20 times what it pays on this, possibly." Needless to say, this is economic nonsense.

Dem Chances Go Up For House Seat In Deep-Red Alaska
CQ has changed its rating on the Alaska House race from "No Clear Favorite" to "Leans Democratic," in the wake of scandal-plagued GOP Rep. Don Young's narrow primary victory. The last time Alaska was in any way represented by Democrats at the federal level, Jimmy Carter was president -- but it looks like they could win both the House seat and a Senate seat this year, thanks to ethics scandals on the parts of the incumbents.

Franken: Okay, I Accidentally Co-Wrote SNL Sketch Making Fun Of McCain
Al Franken's campaign initially denied reports that he co-wrote this weekend's Saturday Night Live sketch making fun of the lies in John McCain's attack ads -- obviously an ethical snafu for a candidate for public office. Franken has now acknowledged that the concept for the skit originated from him having a joking conversation with his old friend Lorne Michaels, but that he was not aware it would make it to TV and that he did not directly write any of the lines.

National Dems Spend $205,000 On House Races Over The Weekend, GOP Nothing
The DCCC shelled out about $205,000 for independent expenditures on seven House races over the weekend, according to FEC filings, with the single biggest item being $94,000 for the open GOP-held House seat in Minnesota. The NRCC did not file any expenditures over the weekend.

DCCC Ad: Forget Golf Courses, Tee Up New Leadership
And speaking of that open House seat in Minnesota, here's the ad the DCCC is paying to air, attacking GOP nominee Erik Paulsen for spending taxpayer money on a public golf course at the same time as he cut proposed spending on veterans benefits:

"This election, we need to tee up some new leadership," the announcer says.

Hagan Ad: Dole Votes 92% For Bush, Against North Carolina
Here's Kay Hagan's (D) new attack ad against Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), hammering the kinds of economic issues that have helped her take the lead in the latest polling:

"Sen. Dole votes with George Bush 92% of the time," one person says, followed by another: "But in North Carolina, that's more than a statistic."