localizing the midterms. >> reporter: democrats around the country are running ads with an unusual message. they don't blame me for policies of the obama administration. >> voted against the healthcare bill, against cap and trade. even voted against the wall street bail-out, not once but twice. >> bobby stands up to nancy pelosi. >> bobby bright opposed bail-out. >> bobby bright voted against the healthcare bill. he will repeal what is wrong with it. >> when nancy pelosi and obama pressured chet edwards, he stood up to them and voted no against the trillion-dollar healthcare bill and no to cap-and-trade. >> reporter: the democrats are stressing independence for good reason. the administration policies are unpopular in many places and democratic candidates don't want to be the fall guy. >> voters the end to see mid-term election as referendum of party in power. >> reporter: president obama has been on the campaign trail to excite voters. while it may increase turn-out, it also puts the focus on him and his policies. >> there will be independent swing voters who will be reminded his election is about president obama. >> it would be a mistake to try to make it a national election. i think it makes it more of a referendum on obama and the democratic majority. >> reporter: so democrats are advised to run against their individual opponents to localize election, rather than defending the administration or the democratic leadership. >> the democratic nominees are saying we understand you are unhappy with president obama. we understand you're unhappy about the economy. if only you had a good republican to vote for, but you don't. >> they say it's not about healthcare reform, or barack obama or nancy pelosi. this is about the two candidates who are running, the incumbent versus the republican challenger. here is why the challenger is unacceptable. >> reporter: the latest research poll shows in west virginia 55% of likely voters say the policies of the obama administration hurt the economy and 60% say their vote in the senate rate will be aimed at expressing opposition to the policies. that means joe manchin the democratic governor running for senate who opposed many of mr. obama's policies will have to bear the burden of them anyway. shannon? >> shannon: that race is going differently than people expected. >> reporter: very popular as governor, not doing well in the race. >> shannon: thank you. well, the republican candidate for governor in the golden state is spending a lot of gold to get elected. campaign finance report show meg whitman dished out $140 million so far, most from her personal fortune. democrat jerry brown reports he has spent less than $11 million. the gubernatorial candidate in connecticut clashed tuesday over the death penalty. democrat dan malloy said in the televised debate he supports abolishing execution for future crime and said the possible death sentence for man convicted tuesday of killikil killing a wife and two daughters would not be efeted. speaking of capital punishment, joe biden has severe consequences in mind for republicans who complain about the federal budget. he told an audience at minnesota fundraiser tuesday, "if i hear one more republican tell me about balancing the budget, i am going to strangle them." biden quickly added to the press "that's a figure of speech." white house correspondent mike emanuel reports on the hot rumor and whether there is anything to it. >> today's stories have you and biden swapping jobs. i'm not going to ask you -- >> reporter: secretary of state clinton offered that reaction to the latest washington feeding frenzy about whether she will replace biden as president obama's runningmate in 2012. >> i have absolutely no interest and no reason for doing anything other than dismissing these stories and moving on, because there is just -- we have no time. we have so much to do. i think both of us are happy doing what we're doing. >> reporter: later clinton's spokesman didn't want to talk about it either. >> she is not involved in politics and we don't take political questions at the podium. >> this started when reporter bob woodward who recently wrote a book said clinton and biden could change roles. it's on the table, we're told, and some of hillary clinton's advisors esee it as a possibility in 2012. white house senior advisor david axelrod fired back saying there is nothing to it. both are doing great work and mr. obama wants to keep them on the job. two years ago in the campaign, biden made a case for her. >> she is easily qualified to be vice president of the united states of america and quite frankly, it might have been a better pick than me. >> reporter: right before the inauguration, jill biden told oprah winfrey her husband had his choice of jobs. >> had the choice to be secretary of state or vice president. i said joe -- well,[ laughter ] . >> reporter: in a recent fox news opinion poll reveals two-third of democrats would prefer clinton as vice president, while only 25% prefer biden. democratic strategist says a biden-clinton swap makes sense. >> it gets people attention and allows barack obama to make the case again why he should continue in a second term. hillary clinton personally is very popular with a lot of the very voters that obama needs to get elected to a second term. independent voters, moderate, women, blue collar voters and union members. >> reporter: 27 days before an election this serves as an distraction. they t administration doesn't want to talk about what it will do for 2012 when it still has to deal with 2010. >> shannon: the kind of thing washington likes to buzz about. thank you, mike emanuel. as to who will be on the republican ticket in 2012, bret baier will have a series of reports after the mid-term about the possible contenders. one of them is louisiana governor bobby jindal. bret talked with him today. >> hi, i talked to governor jindal in baton rouge today. he is one of the possible 2012 republican candidates for the series of reports we're working on right after the mid-term elections. we'll get to that in a minute. i have do want to set the stage here in louisiana for the mid-term races. louisiana republicans appear to be intensifying, despite the fact that the democrats had hoped to take out a big republican incumbent, david vitter, because of high-profile scandals surrounding vitter. democrats hoped his involvement with a prostitution scandal in d.c. and domestic abuse charges against one of his staffers would be enough to take out the incumbent senator. but the democratic challenger melancon is not getting traction in the poll. the spread is at 15.3 points in the latest poll. democrats are expected to pick off one of the races that is held by a republican incumbent. only a handful of opportunities for the democrats when you look at the environment across the country. that is representative joseph gow. he won a special election in 2008. now he is an overwhelmingly democratic district in new orleans. >> new orleans needs cao. >> reporter: president obama cut his first commercial for cedric richmond. despite cao vote for the healthcare law and telling reporters he loves the president democrats are seeing they should be able to get this seat back. cao said he felt hurt by the president's endorsement of richmond. richmond had his law license suspended before he was zapped by a pair of ethical violations. arrested in a bar fight in 2007. he has ethical issues but the democrats are seeing a possible pick-up here. now to governor jindal, he says he is not running for president. he has a lot of detailed information about the economy in louisiana and also about to repercussions of the oil spill and the drilling moratorium. >> i was talking to the president about the moratorium, you know, his original response was look, people who lose their jobs can get a b.p. check. we pointed out b.p. may not pay them, he said they can get an unemployment check. with all due respect, our people don't want b.p. or unemployment checks. they want to work. that's what is at stake in this election cycle and the next couple of years. do we continue to be america land of the free, land of the opportunity, land where the american dream is that anybody through hard work can create a better quality of life for themselves and than even their parents had. >> governor jindal is one of the candidates we'll focus on in a series of ten reports that will start running the week after the mid-term elections november 2. we'll have a series of these reports. then an hour special on the possible republican field for 2012. loy be in baton rouge talking about the races here. i'll be back in washington tomorrow. shannon, back to you. >> shannon: thank you very much, bret. this brings us to our featured text to vote poll. here is tonight's question. which current governor would you most like to see run for president in 2012? you can text your answer to 36288. type sr1 for mississippi haley barbour. sr2 for mitch daniels of indiana. sr3 for bobby jindal of louisiana. or sr4 for minnesota's tim pawlenty. we will bring you the results at the end of the program. still ahead, a major setback for feds in thas to the venture card from capital one, we get double miles on every purchase. so we earned an la getaway twice as fast. we get double miles every time we use our card. 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[ indistinct suting ] what's in your wallet? >> shannon: gutmen in pakistan torched more than two dozen tankers today. the sixth attack on convey taking supplies to afghanistan for nato troops since the closing of a key border crossing a week ago. officials say a suspected u.s. drone fired two missiles at a house in northwestern pakistan, killing six militants. president hamid karzai has condemned what he called the "enemies of afghanistan." after roadside bombs killed nine people tuesday including five children. meanwhile, nato said the major shipment of drugs and bomb-making material was intercepted after a deadly gun battle. nato forces say they killed 16 militants in the past 24 hours. reconciliation talks between the afghan government and the taliban continue. the u.s. and britain have expressed support. the federal government's case against an accused terrorist took a big hit today. senior correspondent rick leventhal tells us what happened. >> reporter: prosecutors got off to a rough start in the first civilian trial of a guantanamo bay detainee. the judge ruled a key witness can't testify against alleged u.s. embassy bomber galani because investigators learned of the witness in questioning by the c.i.a. in a secret jail overseas, where they used enhanced interrogation techniques, which defense attorneys call torture. >> this case will be tried upon lawful evidence, not torture, not coercion. >> reporter: in his ruling, judge caplan said the court has nod reached this decision lightly -- >> reporter: the bombings of the two u.s. embassies in east africa in 1998 were wildly viewed as al-qaeda precursor to 9/11. 224 people were killed including a dozen americans. hundreds more were wounded. galani is alleged to have played a key role in the attack, scouting location, buying explosives and even bringing one of the suicide bombers to the site. after the attacks, he allegedly became osama bin laden's cook and bodyguard. when he was caught in 2004, the c.i.a. moved him to one of their so-called black sites overseas. that's where defense attorneys say he was tortured to reveal the source of the explosives. u.s. attorney general eric holder is still defending the decision to try galani in civilian rather than military court. >> courts have shown an ability to handle these kind of cases over the years. i don't think there is any reason to doubt that we can successfully do that in the future. >> reporter: golani's case has been delayed until next tuesday while prosecutors decide whether to appeal the judge's ruling. the fed says even if he isn't convicted of the bombing he can be held indefinitely as an enemy combatant. rick leventhal, fox news. on the job hunt tonight, a report that private sector employment fell by 39,000 jobs last month. the survey by employment firm adt says the september loss and seven straight increases. job numbers come out on thursday. stocks were mixed today. dow gained 3. s&p 500 dropped three-quarters of a point. nasdaq gave back 19. the office of management and budget says the administration is not accounted for $162 million of stimulus money. "usa today" reports 352 stimulus recipients failed to report how they spent it or how many jobs were funded. the white house responds that it has 99% compliance. and is pursuing each non-filer case aggressively. as we told you before, it seems some banks have been too aggressive in the foreclosure process. fox business network correspondent peter barnes reports the government is now paying attention. >> reporter: the department of justice says it may follow several states investigating faulty legal documents in tens of thousands of home foreclosures. the department is reviewing a letter from house speaker nancy pelosi and 30 other members of congress from california. the state is suffering from the most foreclosures. lawmakers are demanding the banks be "held accountable" for practices like robo signings where the banks spit out disclosure signing without financial records. >> we are aware of the charges that surfaced in the newspapers in the last couple of days. we are looking at them. >> reporter: the afl-cio wants a nationwide freeze on foreclosures until the questions are resolved. three big banks have already voluntarily frozen foreclosures in the 23 states that require court approval to evict a homeowner. all of this has some analysts worried about the housing market recovery. there are 2 million homes in foreclosure now with more coming. to fix the housing market and stabilize home prices, they all have to be sold eventually. but with the new legal uncertainties buyers are expected to sit on the sidelines. >> we're probably look at two, three, and possibly longer years before the foreclosure. inventory is gone. so by delaying that, you are causing a big delay in getting out of the problem. >> reporter: housing experts here say election year politics could push federal officials to get investigations rolling. along with a national foreclosure freeze. in washington, peter barnes, fox news. ohio attorney general is suge gmac mortgage for filing fraud leapt document -- fraudulent documents. ohio is asking for civil penalties of up to 26,000 per violation. where do you draw the law between free speech and harassment of a grieving family? the supreme court hearing arguments. nine-term democratic congressman experiences job insecurity. >> shannon: many of the so-called "reagan democrats" of the '80s are planning to vote republican next month. "associated press" press gsk poll of what are termed "working class whites," those without four-year college degree, shows 68-36 -- 58-36% of the g.o.p. it's four of ten voters nationally. a lot of these people live in georgia. tonight we look at a peach state district once considered safely democratic. jonathan serrie reports on a long-time congressman fighting for his political life. >> reporter: with nine terms under his belt it appeared bishop locked up the second congressional district, but this november he faces his best-funded g.o.p. challenger in years. >> i believe we're going to win. >> reporter: mike cowen, baptist preacher and state legislature is capitalizing on the conservative backlash to policies of the obama white house. >> when it comes to obama care, i think that if the republicans take the house and i'm a part of that majority in the house, if you are going to see repeal bill come out of the house. >> reporter: bishop support of healthcare reform disrupted the strong biracial coalition he built in a district that has a near even mix of black and white voters. >> there is a very strong racial polarization that i think is really symbolized by the healthcare issue. where white voters in the district would be opposed to the healthcare bill. black voters would be strongly in favor of this. >> reporter: bishop suffered bad press for directing thousands of dollars in congressional black caw cushion foundation scholarship funds to family members he later agreed to repay. >> i don't expect that out of my congressman. i expect him to tell the truth and be honest. >> cowen campaign is not immune to controversy. responding this week to the federal indictment of a chief strategist in a vote-buying scheme involving casino gambling in alabama. in a statement, keown campaign manager writes we were troubled by the allegation. jaywalker who had done consultanting work for sus no longer affiliated with the campaign effective immediately. fox news travelled to speak with bishop but he backed out of scheduled on-camera interview. mearle black says bishop still has the advantage in the southwest georgia district. >> if you can get a fifth or a fourth of white voters in the district and have a healthy turn-out among african-americans, then he should be able to hold the district. >> reporter: local barber duke johnson says his customers aren't focussed on this election. >> this is less excitement to me. i don't hear anybody saying i'm trying to go for this or that. >> reporter: keown may benefit from like-minded tea party conservatives who are energized by the mid-term election, eating away at bishop incumbency advantage. in albany georgia, jonathan serrie, fox news. >> shannon: change does seem to be a theme of this year's election. we go to colorado tonight for an example of a big change in how people vote. correspondent alicia acuna reports the days of everyone casting ballots on one big day are long gone. >> reporter: campaign commercials are ramping up. it may feel like election day is next week, but there is a reason. many votes are on the verge of being locked in well ahead of november 2. with mail-in ballots and early voting. >> they are causing a significant shift in the allegation of the resources. >> walt klein, consultant to republican ken buck campaign to unseat colorado senator michael bennett says it's more challenging now. >> so it makes the door-to-door canvassing you do, the mail that you send, the telephone calls that you make all of that targeting because harder. >> reporter: according to the national association of secretaries of secretary of state, up to 30 states will make mail-in ballots available in this general election. >> clearly, colorado is a leader in the use of mail ballots. there are two states washington and oregon, that are complete mail ballots. we're right behind them. >> reporter: colorado voters have a much wider range of time in which to cast their ballots which are scanned upon receipt, but not tabulated. however, records are kept showing how many people have voted in each county. allowing the campaign to literally chase ballots. >> instead of being one big general election, we view it as kind of a series of many elections. >> reporter: there are two to three peaks in mail-in election, when they first hit the mailboxes and at the end. lessen the impact of the last-minute campaign gotcha tricks. >> i talk to folks who run campaigns and they tend to not like the bail process. >> for the electorate it saves time and increases turn-out potentially. for candidate, it can be favorable or horrible depending on the news cycle. in colorado, number of headline-grabbing controversy hit