The candidates in Connecticut's Fourth Congressional District have their preferences. Democrat Diane Farrell likes the poll that has her 7 percentage points up; nine-term Republican Rep. Christopher Shays prefers a sampling that says he's leading by 9. Farrell touts the endorsement she copped from the New York Times (long a Shays fan); Shays the ones he got from the New York Daily News and the local Bridgeport Post.

It looked good last week for Republican Chris Shays: The Connecticut congressman's internal campaign poll showed him 7 points ahead of Democratic challenger Diane Farrell.

Republican Rep. Christopher Shays, in a dead-heat race for re-election in Connecticut's 4th District, was furiously backpedaling Friday from his characterization of prisoner abuses at Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison as a "sex ring," not torture.

GOP Congressman Christopher Shays, a steadfast supporter of President Bush's decision to wage war in Iraq, took a dramatic step Wednesday and called on Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to resign. Shays, who is locked in a bitter battle with antiwar Democrat Diane Farrell, said Rumsfeld and the Defense Department have refused to cooperate with the House subcommittee Shays chairs, which deals with national security, emerging threats, and international relations. "To me, he has crossed the line," Shays told the Associated Press. "I am losing faith in how we are fighting this war."

Rep. Christopher Shays, a Republican moderate in a close congressional race, has called for the resignation of any congressional leader who had previously been aware of Rep. Mark Foley's conduct. Democratic challenger Dianne Farrell, making no mention of Shays, used the Foley incident as an opportunity to call for a change in House leadership — one of her consistent campaign themes.