UPI: Election 2002: What's at stake Nov. 5 Question: What is at stake in November?

UPI Political Analysts Peter Roff and Pye Chamberlayne face off on opposite sides of this critical question.

Chamberlayne: War is at stake in the elections Nov. 5.

So is the economy, health, Social Security and issues including abortion, gun control, taxes and possibly whether a conservative abortion opponent, Dr. W. David Hager, who prescribes prayer as a headache remedy, joins the Food and Drug Administration panel on reproductive health. He recommends women read scripture to ward off premenstrual syndrome.

The White House says to offset the cost of the war and the deficit, it will reduce other spending across the board. That's everything from veterans benefits to education, from the FBI to healthcare and Social Security.

Roff: War is in the offing; in fact it already is here. That's what Sept. 11 was, the beginning of a war that augers a long term U.S. international commitment. The election is, in one way, about whether the American people want to move ahead quickly, by ratifying GOP control of the House and restoring it to the Senate, or by adding to the divisions in the upper chamber.

I know how I voted.