Do Terrorists Have an Interest in Tuesday's Elections?

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

"Greater Defeat Than Vietnam"

A report in the online publication World Net Daily says some leaders of terrorist organizations are openly encouraging Americans to vote for Democrats… in order to hasten a U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq.

Jihad Jaara — a senior member of the Palestinian Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade — says "of course Americans should vote Democrat." He went on to say a withdrawal from Iraq would mark the beginning of the collapse of what he called the U.S. "tyrant empire" — and would deal the US "a greater defeat than Vietnam."

Abu Ayman — a leader of Islamic jihad in Jenin — tells World Net Daily he is "emboldened" by Americans who compare Iraq to Vietnam. And the senior leader of that Palestinian group — says Democratic predictions that a withdrawal would end the insurgency are incorrect — and that a pullout would "prove the resistance is the most important tool — and that this tool works."

Votes and Vaccines

A program in Houston offered flu shots to people who showed up to vote early. But critics said it was a veiled attempt to entice Democratic voters to the polls, which could violate state law against offering anything of value in exchange for a vote.

So, Houston's Democratic Mayor Bill White put a stop to the program, which was being offered in predominately Hispanic and black neighborhoods. He denies it was an effort to turn out Democratic votes, but says he didn't want to waste money on a "baseless lawsuit."

“That One’s Not a Fan"

A school bus driver who was fired for "flipping off" President Bush is trying to get her job back. The driver was spotted giving the finger to the presidential motorcade as it stopped traffic in Seattle in June. A spokeswoman for Congressman Dave Reichert, who was with the president, said Mr. bush saw the gesture and said "that one's not a fan."

The driver was dismissed in September and filed a union grievance last month — alleging wrongful termination. A spokeswoman for the Issaquah school district says the driver was fired after bragging to her colleagues about what she'd done.

The district says the firing was not politically motivated — that she would have been fired for making the gesture to anyone... in view of children on her bus.

Stopping Traffic

And given what's going on with North Korea these days you'd expect lawmakers in the South to have more pressing concerns —but South Korea is in the final stages of revising its indecency law to allow women to wear hot pants and miniskirts.

The current law was once enforced by police with rulers who measured skirts — but as society opened up, the rules were widely ignored. One report notes miniskirts now are as common as traffic jams in the capital of Seoul.

—FOX News Channel's Martin Hill contributed to this report.