Here's tonight's run-down of the Congressional races:

AFL-CIO Takes Aim At Bachmann
The AFL-CIO is now going into the race against Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), smelling blood in the water thanks to her McCarthyist rant on Hardball and new poll data showing her narrowly losing to conservative Democrat El Tinklenberg. Here's their new mailer:

"Michele Bachmann helped break the economy," the mailer says sternly. "Working families can't afford another term."

Obama Tapes Ad For Merkley
Barack Obama has taped an ad for Jeff Merkley, the Dem nominee against Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR), asking the voters in this blue state to "choose real change" with Merkley:

This is the first ad that Obama has done for a down-ticket candidate during the general election, and was likely done in direct response to Smith's own efforts to tie himself to Obama and other major Dem names like Ted Kennedy and John Kerry.

GOP Rep.'s Ad Ties Rabbi Opponent To Iran
Check out this truly amazing ad from Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ), calling his Dem opponent Dennis Shulman an extremist and tying him to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad:

The problem with associating Shulman with Islamist terror is that Shulman is himself a Jew. Not only that, he's a rabbi. In fact, Shulman is such a rabbi that he literally ran against Bacon in the primary.

Georgia Senate Race Could Carry Fight For 60 Seats Into December
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports on the potential ramification of a December runoff election in the Georgia Senate race, which will be required if neither GOP Sen. Saxby Chambliss nor Dem challenger Jim Martin can get 50% + 1 of the vote on November 4. "This becomes the center of the universe for the next four weeks, if Georgia is the 60th seat," said University of Georgia professor Charles Bullock. "You'll have Barack Obama campaigning here. You'll have Sarah Palin campaigning here."

Yet Another Poll Shows Tight Race In Georgia
The newest Strategic Vision (R) poll in Georgia shows Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R) with a 46%-44% lead over Dem challenger Jim Martin, within the 3% margin of error. Libertarian candidate Allen Buckley weighs in at 5% -- making it quite likely that this race could go to a December runoff.

Mahoney Skips Debate After, Opponent Debates Empty Podium
Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-FL), who thanks to his sex scandal is now the only Congressional Democrat who is practically guaranteed to lose re-election, skipped a debate today after the hosts refused his request to have the TV cameras removed. Instead, GOP nominee Tom Rooney got to debate against an empty podium.

Poll: GOP Rep. Kirk Trailing
A new Research 2000 poll shows Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) trailing 2006 Dem nominee Dan Seals by 49%-43%. The polls on this race have been mixed -- so the question here is whether Seals can successfully ride Barack Obama's coattails to a win here, or whether Kirk will be able to keep up his moderate image and manage to win a tight race in Obama's home state.