001030.txt Final week before election presents an unusual dynamic By Melanie Fonder For The News-Chronicle WASHINGTON Congress stayed in session over the weekend, with a battle brewing between the Republican majority and Democratic President Clinton. Both sides were accusing the other of playing politics just a little over a week before Election Day. Weekend sessions had not been scheduled previously during the second half of the 106th Congress. The eighth extension needed to keep the government running was expected to be approved Sunday night. Congress' budget work should have been completed by Oct. 1. The last time Congress was still in session this late in an election year was in 1990. In other years, lawmakers have left in mid-October to campaign and returned after the election. So far, political pundits have disagreed over which party will benefit most from the late session scrambling. Typically, Republicans have lost when they have gone head-to-head with the president on budget battles. But this year, some argue that Republicans' legislation - including a tax package that contains proposals that were supported by Democrats earlier in the year - is stronger. ELECTORAL VOTES STILL MATTER If the number of visits to a state make the difference on Election Day, George W. Bush could win Wisconsin and be the first Republican to carry the state since Ronald Reagan. Since March, Bush has visited the state 11 times to Vice President Al Gore's seven visits, including today's trip to Green Bay with Sen. Joseph Lieberman and an entourage of Hollywood celebrities. The political focus on battleground states like Wisconsin - which has 11 electoral votes - is not going to let up during the final week of presidential campaigning. On the heels of the Republican ticket's visit to Fox Cities Stadium on Saturday, the Democratic nominees plan to make three stops in Wisconsin today, including Green Bay at noon, as part of their "Great Lakes Prosperity Tour." The state also has been pummeled with political ads this election season. Since June, the Republican National Committee and Bush have spent more than $1.5 million and the Democratic National Committee and Gore have spent just over $2 million. In the two-week period from Sept. 25 to Oct. 8, the GOP spent $354,212 to the Democrats' $150, 775. Wisconsin falls behind the other battleground states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Michigan and Missouri in advertising dollars. Among media markets, Green Bay viewers have seen the 10th-most ads with 5,076 airing since June 1. Milwaukee is 11th, with 4,948 and Philadelphia was first with 6,078. Gore and the DNC have aired more ads in all three markets. THOMPSON IN ANOTHER NAME GAME Much in the same way this column tracked the possibilities of Wisconsinites being named to either presidential ticket earlier this year, the guessing game of who would fill either president's cabinet is in full swing. GOP Gov. Tommy Thompson has made numerous lists in the last week - and if Bush wins - his chances would dramatically increase if he delivered the state for Republicans. The Washington publication National Journal and the New York Times' William Safire both mentioned Thompson in the last week. Potential positions for the governor include Secretary of Health and Human Services - a position currently held by Wisconsin's Donna Shalala - and education secretary. Thompson, whose term is up after 2002, has not ruled out considering such an offer. This column by Fonder, a staff writer for The Hill, a Washington-based weekly newspaper that covers Congress, appears every Monday in the News-Chronicle. You can send e-mail to her at melfonder@yahoo.com.