October Surprise

A last-minute "October surprise" - a dramatic news event that shakes up the U.S. election - could be a wild card in the final three weeks of the fight for control of Congress. With Democrats threatening to sweep Republicans out of power in Congress in the Nov. 7 elections, a late-breaking foreign crisis, terrorist attack or another Washington scandal could change the debate and shape the ultimate outcome. The possibilities are numerous, as President Bush juggles multiple foreign threats like North Korea's nuclear tests, Iran's nuclear ambitions and civil war in Iraq, along with mushrooming Republican scandals at home. "There is a huge potential for some sort of October surprise that changes the dynamic, something that reminds everyone just how unstable the world is," pollster John Zogby said. The October surprise has a long history in U.S. political campaigns, from the collapse of hostage negotiations with Iran before President Jimmy Carter's 1980 loss to Ronald Reagan to the airing of an Osama bin Laden video before President Bush's re-election in 2004.