THREE DAYS TO GO – at 8:40 a.m. ET:  There are questions as to whether yesterday's terror incident is truly over, or will extend through this weekend if more suspicious packages are found.

And with those questions inevitably come the assessments of how this incident might affect the outcome of Tuesday's elections.  Al Qaeda has struck just before election days in several countries, most notably in Spain in 2004, an attack on commuter trains that sent the pro-American government out of power and brought in a leftist government far less supportive of our war on terror. 

We said yesterday that we really didn't know how the incident will affect Tuesday's results, but that my hunch was that it would have no effect.  But watch for the possibility that the threat will continue, with new elements discovered, and Obama posing as commander-in-chief, possibly rushing back to Washington from a campaign trip.  Stranger things have happened in the last days of a campaign. 

Just make a note of the news coverage.  We have many Senate and House races with razor-thin margins.  Even Fox's Carl Cameron noted last night how many close races there are.  One incident, one factor, might move almost all of them in one direction on the last day.  This is inevitably speculation, but I wanted to bring it out.

October 30, 2010