"Washington lobbyists are being deployed in droves to tight congressional races and presidential battleground states around the country," reports The Hill. "Both parties have been recruiting," but some Republican officials have set "participation quotas, requiring [firms] to supply a certain number of volunteers." The pressure is high; "People who didn't go may be looked on negatively" after the election, said one lobbyist.

A quiet revolution in journalism is taking place, according to Mark Glazer, with the emergence of "hyperlocal online publications that promise to publish nearly every article, opinion and photo that any Joe Blow might submit. In a small corner of small Bakersfield, California, a bold publisher launched the Northwest Voice online and in print in May and has already had nearly 500 people submit articles or photos.

The American Chemistry Council is giving the Environmental Protection Agency $2 million for a study to explore the impact of pesticides and household chemicals on young children. The trade association, which represents nearly 150 chemical and plastics manufacturers and has a $100 million budget, spent more than $2 million on lobbying in 2003.