November 2, 2006

Publishers are pushing their books into butcher shops, carwashes, cheese shops, even chi-chi clothing boutiques.

When Mark Foley resigned from Congress in disgrace five weeks ago, his Democratic challenger seemed headed for an easy victory. But in Florida, the least predictable of states, State Representative Joe Negron, right, Mr. Foley's Republican replacement, is getting some powerful help, and appears to be running almost neck-and-neck with Tim Mahoney, the Democrat. With the National Republican Congressional Committee pouring millions into the race and Gov. Jeb Bush campaigning at his side, Mr. Negron is hoping that even the misfortune of having Mr. Foley's name on the ballot instead of his can be turned to his advantage. BY ABBY GOODNOUGH, PAGE A23

Testing the power of the brand with new designers and a slightly altered vision.

Whitney Museum of Art seems to have identity crisis as it continually changes expansion plans; started with design by Rem Koolhaas in 2001 that was to expand their current Madison Avenue home but that was eventually rejected in favor of Renzo Piano design; after long battle to win approval from New York City's board of Standards and Appeals, museum has set it sights on site near High Line further downtown, to be designed by Piano; site may ultimately be best bet for museum, which will gain larger gallery spaces and mollify Upper East Side residents who were against original expansion plans; photos (M)

Nearly 70 percent of Americans say Pres Bush does not have plan to end war in Iraq, and substantial majority expect Democrats to reduce or end American military involvement there if they win control of Congress, New York Times/CBS News Poll; poll shows 29 percent of Americans approve of way Bush is managing war, matching lowest mark of his presidency, and 80 percent say his latest effort to rally public support for conflict is change in language but not policy; expect Republicans to maintain or increase troop levels to try to win war if they hold on to power on Capitol Hill; poll results seen as worrisome indicators for Republicans in final days of campaign; 50 percent of independent voters, closely watched segment of electorate, say they will vote for Democratic candidates, versus 23 percent who say they would vote for Republicans; although voters show clear expectation that Democratic-led Congress would produce change in Iraq policy, it is not clear how much influence that might have on Bush, who as commander in chief would retain final say; other poll results noted; charts (M)