REID TOOK RINGSIDE TIX: Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, who has criticized Republican ethics, accepted free ringside tickets to three professional boxing matches from Nevada officials who were trying to influence his federal legislation regulating the sport. Reid, D-Nev., took the free seats for Las Vegas fights between 2003 and 2005 from the Nevada Athletic Commission as he pressed legislation to increase federal oversight of boxing, including the creation of a government commission. Reid defended the gifts, saying they would never influence his position on the boxing bill and that he was simply trying to learn how his legislation might affect an important home state industry. "Anyone from Nevada would say I'm glad he is there taking care of the state's No. 1 businesses," he told The Associated Press. AP via Yahoo News: Senate Leader Took Free Boxing Tickets

"DELIGHT" AT THE PROSPECT OF "SPEAKER PELOSI": Hoping to win a Congressional majority in November, some optimistic Democratic lawmakers have taken to referring to Representative Nancy Pelosi as "speaker," as in speaker of the House. So have some optimistic Republicans... Ms. Pelosi, the California Democrat and House minority leader, lends herself to easy caricature by Republicans. She is an unapologetic liberal, with a voting record to match (the Republican National Committee chairman, Ken Mehlman, said she was neither a "New Democrat" nor an "Old Democrat" but a "prehistoric Democrat"). She is wealthy (married to an investment banker, she has assets listed at more than $16 million). She represents San Francisco, which Republicans love to invoke as a hotbed of counterculture decadence and extremism. New York Times: Talk of Pelosi as Speaker Delights Both Parties

"FORMIDABLE ODDS AGAINST A DEMOCRATIC TAKEOVER": The only thing that can be said with any certainty about the 2006 midterm elections is that none of the top campaign forecasters is flatly predicting Republicans will lose the House or Senate -- yet. President Bush's job approval polls are the lowest in his presidency; the Democrats are leading Republicans in the generic congressional election polls by an average of 13 percent; and voter surveys suggest a strong anti-incumbent tide is building. But leading analysts still think at this point that Republicans will hold on to majority control of both chambers, though with reduced numbers. "The 2006 midterm elections are a political analyst's nightmare. The national climate seems to portend big changes, yet race-by-race analyses reveal formidable odds against a Democratic takeover of either the House or the Senate," veteran elections tracker Charlie Cook says in his latest National Journal election preview. Washington Times: Takeover of House, Senate not likely

HASTERT TWO DAYS AWAY FROM HISTORY: With Republicans angrily splintered and facing a perilous fall election, House Speaker Dennis Hastert will make a little history Thursday as he becomes the longest-serving Republican speaker. Hastert, with nearly 7 1/2 years in the leadership post, will oust another Illinoisan from the record books: former Rep. Joseph Cannon, whose 7-year, 5-month tenure ended in 1911. Democrat Sam Rayburn of Texas was the longest-serving speaker of the House with a 17-year run over three periods from 1940 to 1961. But while Cannon, for whom one of the three primary House office buildings is named, was known for his profanity and a dictatorial style, Hastert has endured as the head of his party thanks to an affable, low-key manner and a concern for his GOP colleagues' views. Chicago Tribune: Hastert nears moment in history

SPEAKER HEARS "GRUMBLING" FROM GOP OVER RAID REACTION: In making his stance against the FBI raid, [Dennis] Hastert has been stuck between his two roles - that of the constitutional officer in charge of the House, and that of the leader of House Republicans. While his actions make sense to many Members in the context of that first role, some lawmakers and aides outside of his office have questioned whether he has served the Conference well in the second role by taking a stand that likely will not resonate well with the public. Even within the Republican leadership, the issue has become a point of debate at Member- and staff-level strategy meetings, according to several sources, with some staffers arguing that Hastert and his aides should not have made their fight so high-profile and public. Roll Call: Hastert Hears Grumbling

FRIST "OKAY" WITH RAID: After a week of bipartisan outrage over an FBI raid on a congressman's office, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist weighed in [Sunday], saying that he was "okay" with the search and saw no constitutional problems with it. "No House member, no senator, nobody in government should be above the law of the land, period," Frist said of the search of the office of William J. Jefferson (D-La.), who has been accused of bribery. Frist (R-Tenn.) said on "Fox News Sunday" that he had studied the provision in the Constitution regarding the separation of powers, and consulted with Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. He concluded that the FBI acted appropriately when it used a warrant to search the office of a sitting lawmaker for the first time in history. Washington Post: Senate Leaders Profess Less Outrage on FBI Raid

WILL SAFAVIAN TRIAL BRING BAD NEWS FOR REP. #1? Testimony in the trial of a former White House budget aide accused of lying about his contacts with the lobbyist Jack Abramoff is expected to result in new scrutiny of Representative Bob Ney, an Ohio Republican caught up in the influence-peddling scandal centered on Mr. Abramoff. Mr. Ney's former chief of staff, Neil G. Volz, who has pleaded guilty to conspiring with Mr. Abramoff to give illegal gifts to Mr. Ney, has been called to testify this week at the trial of David H. Safavian, the White House aide. Mr. Volz is expected to describe how Mr. Abramoff organized a $130,000 golf trip to Scotland by private jet in August 2002 for a group that included Mr. Ney and three House aides. New York Times: Trial Is Expected to Bring New Scrutiny of Lawmaker

KNOWLES TO SEEK THIRD TERM IN AK: Former Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles said Monday he will run for a new term, challenging the nation's oldest governor for a chance to return to office. If he defeats 73-year-old Gov. Frank Murkowski, Knowles would become the state's second three-term governor. In Alaska, a person can serve a third term as governor if it does not immediately follow the previous two. Murkowski is seen as an unpopular governor who could be vulnerable in a Republican primary. He has been widely criticized for program cuts early in his administration and for appointing his daughter, Lisa, to take his former Senate seat. Knowles challenged her and lost in 2004. AP via Yahoo! News: Ex-Alaska governor to seek new term

MOMENTUM FOR D.C. HOUSE VOTE: The District of Columbia is making historic and startling progress in its effort to gain full voting rights in the House of Representatives, as a compromise between Democrats and Republicans to permanently increase the size of the House to 437 members gains momentum. A Republican, Representative Tom Davis of Virginia, is brokering a deal that would give the district's delegate full representative status , a change that would give the overwhelmingly Democratic district a vote in the House. In exchange, another seat would be awarded to Utah, a heavily Republican state expected to gain a new seat in Congress after reapportionment following the 2010 Census. The size of the House has been fixed at 435 since 1911, except for 1959-1963, when it was increased to 437 to give new states Hawaii and Alaska a vote each. The House returned to 435 members after districts were redrawn based on 1960 Census data. Boston Globe: D.C. closer to gaining a full voice in House

FOR SUCH A "POLARIZING" FIGURE, HER POLITICS ARE UNCLEAR: Hillary Rodham Clinton has fashioned a political persona that generates intense passions but defies easy characterization. She is viewed as a hawk on Iraq and national security, stamped as a big-government Democrat for her work on health care in the 1990s, and depicted as seeking the middle ground on abortion. After three decades in public life, New York's junior senator is one of the most recognized women in the world, her every move and utterance interpreted amid the assumption in Democratic circles and her own circle that her reelection campaign this fall will pivot into a run for president in 2008. Yet for all her fame, there are missing pieces to the Clinton puzzle: What does she stand for? And where would she try to take the country if elected? Washington Post: Clinton Is A Politician Not Easily Defined

"BACKLASH" FROM MANHATTAN LIBERALS: Some Manhattan Democratic clubs are launching a backlash against Sen. Hillary Clinton amid some of her recent shifts toward the right. Once a liberal favorite, Clinton is being shunned in her reelection bid by four local Democratic groups furious over her vote in favor of the Iraq war and her newly cozy relationship with conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch. The defections among the activist left of the city's Democratic Party - long considered a loyal chunk of Clinton's political base - suggest that her recent rush to the political middle ground and beyond may exact a price... Other established political clubs in Manhattan - including the upper West Side's Three Parks Independent Democrats and downtown's Gramercy Stuyvesant Independent Democrats - chose in recent weeks to endorse no one for Senate rather than support Clinton. New York Daily News: Hillary pays a price