Kateri A. Jochum

Competitive three-way races continue to be a rarity, but the introduction of the Tea Party has increased those numbers this election season. In states where they are taking place, third-time has not proved a charm for political analysts.Instead, it has skewed the numbers and may lead to surprising results in some critical races.

In Alaska, analysts see Tea Party Republican candidate Joe Miller splitting the moderate to liberal Republican vote between incumbent Lisa Murkowski, running as a write-in candidate, and Democrat Scott McAdams. Florida may prove a mirror-image to Alaska's three-way race: Republican Tea Party candidate Marco Rubio polls as the most likely to win the Senate seat, but after a nod from former President Bill Clinton, Gov. Charlie Crist looks set to take some ballots away from Democratic candidate Kendrick Meek.

The bombs found in UPS and FedEx packages last week have raised the issue of security screening for international cargo carriers. Since August 1st, 2010, all cargo loaded onto passenger planes in the U.S. is subject  to mandatory screening, but that isn't the case in many other countries. Only some of the packages traveling on cargo-only flights, on the other hand, are generally screened. Should UPS, FedEx and other shippers be doing more to safeguard air transport?

Nestor Kirchner, former Argentine president and husband to Argentina’s current leader, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, died suddenly of a heart attack Wednesday. He was 60 years old. Kirchner served as president from 2003-2007, and pulled Argentina out of severe economic crisis. He also encouraged judicial changes that brought hundreds of dictatorship-era figures who had previously benefited from an amnesty to trial. While his wife Cristina Fernández de Kirchner won the presidential election in 2007, analysts say Nestor was the power behind the throne and expected him to run in the up-coming election in 2011.

With so many tight political races around the country, it can be hard to determine which are the bellwethers, which ones to watch. But there are a few Senate races whose dramatic stories have resonated across the country. Their outcome will not only change the actors on the political stage, but also the narratives taking place in Washington for years to come.

In 2008, African-American voters came out in record numbers to vote for Barack Obama. This week, President Obama began a media push to reach out to those same voters, appearing as a call-in guest on The Tom Joyner Show and the Al Sharpton Show, among others. But will it be possible to convince previously excited "Yes We Can" supporters to vote, even without Obama on the ballot?

His was one of the most divisive cases in the so-called war on terror. Now, Omar Khadr, the youngest and last Western detainee at Guantánamo Bay has pleaded guilty to committing war crimes. The 23 year old was originally detained when he was 15 years old; he has spent one-third of his life at Guantánamo Bay. According to the plea bargain, next year he will be sent back to his native Canada to serve the rest of his sentence, another eight years in prison.

Voters in Florida have been party to two unusual races this election season. The Senate race has the incumbent Republican Governor Charlie Crist is in a three-way race as an independent against Tea Party-supported Marco Rubio and Democratic Congressman Kendrick Meek.

Vying for the governor's office are Republican candidate Rick Scott, running head to head against the state's chief financial officer, Alex Sink, the only Democrat to come this close to the office in decades, in a race that has the candidates accusing one another of fraud.

This against a backdrop of a state in dire straits. Florida's unemployment is fourth highest in the country at 11.9 percent, the foreclosure rate is second highest in the country. More than 20 percent of the state's residents are uninsured.

There are more than 1.6 million people currently incarcerated in the United States — and more than 7.3 million people on probation, in jail or on parole. Yet people "on the outside" know very little about what goes on in American prisons. A new website developed by the MIT Media Lab is giving prisoners the opportunity to blog about life in jail. 

The whistle-blowing site WikiLeaks has released a second set of documents out of Iraq — the “Iraq War Logs.” While the nearly 400,000 field reports detailing events seen and heard by the U.S. military troops on the ground in Iraq offer little information about the inner-workings of American detention facilities, they show that the U.S. military was not only aware of torture carried out by the Iraqi army and police — and perhaps even condoned and facilitated it.

A record number 37 states are holding gubernatorial races this election year. With 17 of those races looking to upend the incumbent party, more seats could change hands than ever before in history. Jobs and the economy are on the top of the agenda everywhere, but that isn't the only reason the governor's races will affect politics well beyond their own borders. In 2011, the states will remap their voting districts and in most places, governors have redistricting veto power.

Earlier this week, we spoke to Gail Sheehy of The Daily Beast about what she and Maureen Dowd have labelled the "mean girls" in this election — Republicans like Linda McMahon, Sharron Angle, and the "Mama Grizzly" herself, Sarah Palin. But is that term fair? Or does it just show that the political, mud-slinging political playing field has been leveled?

We've been asking you to send in your primary day reports, particularly your experience with the new ballot design. You tell us your stories when you text BALLOT to 30644 and we call you back.

Your reactions so far have been mixed: Some people found the new paper ballots simpler - Jim Petzke said it was as "easy as eating a piece of pie."  We had lots of reports of nearly empty polling stations and people who were "in and out in five minutes."

But many of you reported problems. Organisational issues at the polling stations included missing ballots, broken optical scanners and long lines. Wayne Alan Blood wrote to our Facebook page to say that he had been "unceremoniously turned away" because the ballots never arrived.

There were lots of complaints about the paper ballots themselves. Voters called the print "tiny", and the design confusing and difficult to understand.

But the most outrage was voiced over what many of our listeners felt was a lack of ballot secrecy: Meryl Salvinger said poll workers told her to scan her ballot face up "which seems kind of crazy, with a poll worker standing standing right there, looking at it. I didn't really care, but that could be a problem for some people." Another caller, Greg Hofer, was livid:

"My voting booth was two pieces of manila file folders taped together at the end of the poll workers table. Anyone could have walked behind me and seen how I voted. In the forty years that I have voted, and I have never missed an election, this is the first time I felt exposed ... and I was absolutely appalled."

And it's not just the IAFC crowd that is finding trouble, Mayor Bloomberg has called the voting troubles a "royal screw-up."

Below is a running list of the reports we've received, updated throughout the day...

Voters in Turkey passed a package of 26 constitutional reforms on Sunday, which included changes to the judiciary, giving more control to parliament to appoint judges, and making the military more accountable to civilian courts.

Tennis fans will be glued to their screens this weekend to watch the final rounds of the 2010 U.S. Open. The Women's Singles semi-finals will be held on Friday, with top seed Caroline Wozniacki taking on Vera Zvonareva and Venus Williams looking to get revenge against Kim Clijsters for the Belgian's victory over Serena Williams last year. But the real money is on the men: Will arch-rivals Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer meet at the net for the first time at a U.S. Open Final?

Pastor Terry Jones has backed down from his plan to burn copies of the Quran in Gainesville, Fla. on the anniversary of 9/11. We asked you, What has this controversy taught us — if anything?

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet," according to Shakespeare's Juliet. But would it look the same, too? Does language shape the way we see the world? And how do culture and language influence one another?

After 21 years in office, Chicago’s Mayor Richard M. Daley announced on Tuesday that he would not be running for re-election this year. The announcement, made during a surprise press conference yesterday, came as a shock to Democrats and political analysts across the country.

Daley is the second longest serving mayor in Chicago history after his father, Richard J. Daley, who died in office in 1976. All eyes are on Chicago to see who will fill the political void left by Daily. Pundits and political observers are already speculating as to who will succeed Daley. Everyone from local aldermen to congressmen to President Obama's chief of staff Rahm Emanuel are thought to be potential candidates.

We asked Takeaway listeners to weigh in on President Obama's plan to spend $50 billion on infrastructure to stimulate the economy. If you had the money to spend, where would you send the check? 

Lindsey Swift wrote on our Facebook page:

“Water resources and management, waste disposal, upgrade ports, high speed internet everywhere, diversify transportation options, establish comprehensive energy smart grid.”

The Justice Department announced Thursday that it has filed a lawsuit against Arizona Sheriff Joseph Arpaio, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and Maricopa County for failing to turn over documents in an investigation into alleged discrimination, unconstitutional searches and seizures, and jail policies that discriminate against people with limited English skills. In their complaint, the government agency says the sheriff's office has failed to turn over documents relating to the case and has refused to cooperate. It is the first time in decades a lawman has refused to cooperate in one of the agency's probes. Sheriff Arpaio says the government is targeting him - and Arizona.

All eyes are on the Department of Labor's monthly jobs report, scheduled to be released this morning. Economists predict the report will show small gains in the jobs market - between 40,000 and 70,000. But they are concerned that if job creation numbers are too low, the overall unemployment rate could still rise - making the report an indicator that the economy could be heading for a "double-dip" back into recession.

What is your personal jobs report? How would you characterise YOUR job situation? Is it scarier or safer than last month? Let us know in the comments below or text the word TAKE to 69866.