Here's today's run-down on the Congressional races:

Bachmann Rolls Out Attack Ads Against Tinklenberg -- With Fake Citations
Michele Bachmann has unleashed a new wave of attack ads against El Tinklenberg, the relatively-conservative Democrat who has taken a narrow lead in the polls in the wake of her disastrous appearance on Hardball. Here's one of them, alleging that he broke the law and rigged contracts when he was the state's commissioner of transportation:

Meanwhile, Minnesota Public Radio says the facts contradict Bachmann's claims, right down to the claim that the Minneapolis Star-Tribune said Tinklenberg broke the law: "But the stories did not claim Tinklenberg broke the law." Furthermore, a 2003 report from the state's legislative auditor, which looked into the bidding processes of several government agencies, never mentioned Tinklenberg himself or alleged any crimes.

CQ: Dems Poised For Historic Second Wave
CQ's latest House race ratings show the Democrats headed for a historic second consecutive wave election, with double-digit gains in the House. If the 25 races currently rated as toss-ups are split evenly between the two parties -- an essentially neutral and cautious assumption -- the Dems would have an overall net gain of 18 or 19 seats, for a total of 254 or 255 seats.

Two New Polls Have Good News For Franken
After two polls that came out over the last few days showing Al Franken running behind Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN), two new polls this morning have him up. From the University of Minnesota: Franken 41%, Coleman 37%, and Independence Party candidate Dean Barkley at 17%, with a ±4.6% margin of error. And from Public Policy Polling (D): Franken 45%, Coleman 40%, and Barkley 14%, with a ±3% margin of error.

Coleman: Franken's Attacks Are Ridiculous
Meanwhile, Coleman has rolled out a negative ad against Franken -- contradicting his early pledge to run only positive ads. With this one, though, he's found his loophole in that he's calling out Franken's attacks as false and then rebutting them:

"Those last-minute attacks on Norm are getting pretty ridiculous," the announcer says, as a slide is shown on screen denouncing "Franken's Negative Ads."

Two More Polls Show Dole Trailing Hagan
A new poll from North Carolina-based Civitas (R) shows Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) trailing Dem challenger Kay Hagan 45%-43%, with a ±4.2% margin of error. And a new Elon University poll shows Hagan ahead 44%-37%, with a ±3.5% margin of error.

Poll: GOP On Track To Hold Open Seat
A new SurveyUSA poll in the open seat of Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-NY) gives GOP candidate Chris Lee a hefty lead of 48%-34% over Democrat Alice Kryzan. This race once looked like a top Democratic pickup opportunity, but Kryzan emerged as a relatively unknown and under-funded nominee after the two previous Dem frontrunners destroyed each other with attacks.

Dems Still Promoting Kryzan In Ad
The DCCC doesn't seem too deterred by the bad polling data, though. Here's their new ad in the race, attacking Lee and praising Kryzan:

The Dems might be hoping that Barack Obama's complete dominance of the Northeast could bring Kryzan in on his coattails. But the GOP should still be seen as the favorites to hold the seat.