Oakland, Calif., police plan to deploy extra traffic officers and riot-control units, as well as have SWAT teams on standby, the Washington political publication said Wednesday.

"Are we anticipating it will be a riot situation? No. But will we be prepared if it goes awry? Yes," said Oakland Police Department spokesman Jeff Thomason.

Democratic strategists and advocates for black voters say they understand the need for maintaining the peace, but warned that an excessive police presence could intimidate voters.

Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP's Washington bureau, said a predicted record voter turnout could tax polling places and raise tensions.

"What are local election officials doing to prepare for what people think will be record turnout at the polls?" Shelton asked, adding that police must maintain order at polling stations without frightening voters.

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The White House said the summit would seek agreement on common principles for regulation and reduce any duplication of efforts.

"It will be time to start identifying what the underlying causes were, what progress has been made to date, and the principles for reform going forward," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters. "They will then task out to working groups to make sure that we get it right."

Perino said the winner of the Nov. 4 U.S. presidential election would likely be welcome to attend although his presence was not written in stone.

"We think it's important not to wait to have this meeting," Perino said. "The time will be just about right to have it then because a lot of the emergency measures that these countries have put forward are hopefully starting to have an impact on unthawing the credit markets."

The G20 includes Mexico, Canada, China, Saudi Arabia and 16 other developed and developing nations. The group was formed in 1999.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- More Democrats are taking advantage of early voting before the U.S. Election Day, reversing a pattern that favored Republicans previously, states reported.

State and country officials said figures indicate trending toward Democratic candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., over Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was apparent in battleground states of Ohio, North Carolina, Iowa, Nevada and New Mexico, USA Today reported Wednesday. The information was based on election data and interviews.

"This is like a mirror image of what we've seen in the past," Paul Gronke of Reed College's Early Voting Information Center told the newspaper. "This cannot be good news for John McCain. It's the 100-yard dash, and Obama is already 20 yards ahead."

Republicans said they have the edge among absentee voters in Florida but Democrats are voting in greater numbers at early voting polling places, figures indicate. The early voting trend is about even in Colorado.

Election officials cautioned against drawing any conclusions. "We've still got a long ways to go," says Gary Bartlett, director of North Carolina's Board of Elections.

Gronke told USA Today that up to one-third of all voters were expected to vote before Election Day, up from 20 percent in 2004.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Police departments across the United States are beefing up plans to prepare for possible Election Day unrest after the historic presidential contest.

A stronger police presence will be necessary after voting ends with either the first black president -- Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama -- or the first female vice president -- Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin -- being elected, some police officials told The Hill.

Oakland, Calif., police plan to deploy extra traffic officers and riot-control units, as well as have SWAT teams on standby, the Washington political publication said Wednesday.

"Are we anticipating it will be a riot situation? No. But will we be prepared if it goes awry? Yes," said Oakland Police Department spokesman Jeff Thomason.

Democratic strategists and advocates for black voters say they understand the need for maintaining the peace, but warned that an excessive police presence could intimidate voters.

Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP's Washington bureau, said a predicted record voter turnout could tax polling places and raise tensions.

"What are local election officials doing to prepare for what people think will be record turnout at the polls?" Shelton asked, adding that police must maintain order at polling stations without frightening voters.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Hopes for last-minute ads disparaging his Democratic rival have dimmed for Republican John McCain partly because of the U.S. financial crisis, strategists say.

Party insiders had hoped third parties would bankroll negative campaign ads against Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in the final two weeks before the presidential election, Politico reported Wednesday.

"It's October 21st, and if you can't say it by October 21st, then chances are you're not going to say anything," said Chris LaCivita, the strategist behind the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in 2004 who now works for American Issues Project, a new conservative third-party group.

Donors ponied up funds for ads linking Obama and 1960s radical William Ayers and pledged to do so for other ads -- but that never happened, LaCivita said.

"Donors just weren't willing to give the money," LaCivita told the Washington publication. "They were hurt badly in the market crash and they were always concerned about how McCain would react."

Some anti-Obama spots on judicial issues and abortion will air before Election Day, said Greg Mueller, a GOP strategist who worked with the Swift Boat operation that questioned 2004 Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry's Vietnam war record.

LaCivita said there's a slight chance a wealthy benefactor will emerge.

"Some guy could wake up and call me and say, 'here is $20 million,'" LaCivita said. "But I don't see it happening."

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- The Republican National Committee spent more than $150,000 on new clothes for U.S. vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and her family, records show.

Financial disclosure records indicate the RNC spent $49,000 on clothes and accessories for the Alaska governor at Saks Fifth Avenue stores in St. Louis and New York as well as $75,000 at a Neiman Marcus store in Minneapolis, the Washington publication Politico reported Wednesday.

The expenditures raised questions among campaign finance experts about their legality under Federal Elections Commission advisories against using political contributions for personal expenses, Politico said.

After first declining to answer questions about the clothes spending, GOP officials issued a statement saying, "With all of the important issues facing the country right now, it's remarkable that we're spending time talking about pantsuits and blouses. It was always the intent that the clothing go to a charitable purpose after the campaign."

Politico said its review of similar records for the campaign of Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and the Democratic National Committee turned up no similar spending.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- The fate of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens is with a federal jury, which will decide whether the Alaska Republican lied on his Senate financial disclosure forms.

Stevens, the longest-serving Senate Republican, pleaded innocent to felony charges that he didn't include more than $250,000 in gifts and renovations to his home in Alaska on the forms.

During closing arguments Tuesday, prosecutors said the senator took extraordinary measures to hide renovations by a now-defunct oil services company, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

"This trial has exposed the truth about one of the longest-serving senators, the gifts he received and what he tried to conceal and the lengths he would go to keep his secrets hidden," U.S. prosecutor Brenda Morris said.

Defense attorneys said Stevens was a man who paid bills presented to him and never lied on Senate financial disclosure forms.

Prosecutors "are trying to convict an innocent man on the interpretation of evidence that is so far from real life that it would make you sick," defense attorney Brendan Sullivan said.

Stevens, indicted in July, requested a speedy trial to clear his name before the November election. He is seeking a seventh full term in office.

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"This is like a mirror image of what we've seen in the past," Paul Gronke of Reed College's Early Voting Information Center told the newspaper. "This cannot be good news for John McCain. It's the 100-yard dash, and Obama is already 20 yards ahead."

Republicans said they have the edge among absentee voters in Florida but Democrats are voting in greater numbers at early voting polling places, figures indicate. The early voting trend is about even in Colorado.

Election officials cautioned against drawing any conclusions. "We've still got a long ways to go," says Gary Bartlett, director of North Carolina's Board of Elections.

Gronke told USA Today that up to one-third of all voters were expected to vote before Election Day, up from 20 percent in 2004.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Police departments across the United States are beefing up plans to prepare for possible Election Day unrest after the historic presidential contest.

A stronger police presence will be necessary after voting ends with either the first black president -- Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama -- or the first female vice president -- Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin -- being elected, some police officials told The Hill.

Oakland, Calif., police plan to deploy extra traffic officers and riot-control units, as well as have SWAT teams on standby, the Washington political publication said Wednesday.

"Are we anticipating it will be a riot situation? No. But will we be prepared if it goes awry? Yes," said Oakland Police Department spokesman Jeff Thomason.

Democratic strategists and advocates for black voters say they understand the need for maintaining the peace, but warned that an excessive police presence could intimidate voters.

Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP's Washington bureau, said a predicted record voter turnout could tax polling places and raise tensions.

"What are local election officials doing to prepare for what people think will be record turnout at the polls?" Shelton asked, adding that police must maintain order at polling stations without frightening voters.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Hopes for last-minute ads disparaging his Democratic rival have dimmed for Republican John McCain partly because of the U.S. financial crisis, strategists say.

Party insiders had hoped third parties would bankroll negative campaign ads against Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in the final two weeks before the presidential election, Politico reported Wednesday.

"It's October 21st, and if you can't say it by October 21st, then chances are you're not going to say anything," said Chris LaCivita, the strategist behind the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in 2004 who now works for American Issues Project, a new conservative third-party group.

Donors ponied up funds for ads linking Obama and 1960s radical William Ayers and pledged to do so for other ads -- but that never happened, LaCivita said.

"Donors just weren't willing to give the money," LaCivita told the Washington publication. "They were hurt badly in the market crash and they were always concerned about how McCain would react."

Some anti-Obama spots on judicial issues and abortion will air before Election Day, said Greg Mueller, a GOP strategist who worked with the Swift Boat operation that questioned 2004 Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry's Vietnam war record.

LaCivita said there's a slight chance a wealthy benefactor will emerge.

"Some guy could wake up and call me and say, 'here is $20 million,'" LaCivita said. "But I don't see it happening."

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- The Republican National Committee spent more than $150,000 on new clothes for U.S. vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and her family, records show.

Financial disclosure records indicate the RNC spent $49,000 on clothes and accessories for the Alaska governor at Saks Fifth Avenue stores in St. Louis and New York as well as $75,000 at a Neiman Marcus store in Minneapolis, the Washington publication Politico reported Wednesday.

The expenditures raised questions among campaign finance experts about their legality under Federal Elections Commission advisories against using political contributions for personal expenses, Politico said.

After first declining to answer questions about the clothes spending, GOP officials issued a statement saying, "With all of the important issues facing the country right now, it's remarkable that we're spending time talking about pantsuits and blouses. It was always the intent that the clothing go to a charitable purpose after the campaign."

Politico said its review of similar records for the campaign of Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and the Democratic National Committee turned up no similar spending.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- The fate of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens is with a federal jury, which will decide whether the Alaska Republican lied on his Senate financial disclosure forms.

Stevens, the longest-serving Senate Republican, pleaded innocent to felony charges that he didn't include more than $250,000 in gifts and renovations to his home in Alaska on the forms.

During closing arguments Tuesday, prosecutors said the senator took extraordinary measures to hide renovations by a now-defunct oil services company, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

"This trial has exposed the truth about one of the longest-serving senators, the gifts he received and what he tried to conceal and the lengths he would go to keep his secrets hidden," U.S. prosecutor Brenda Morris said.

Defense attorneys said Stevens was a man who paid bills presented to him and never lied on Senate financial disclosure forms.

Prosecutors "are trying to convict an innocent man on the interpretation of evidence that is so far from real life that it would make you sick," defense attorney Brendan Sullivan said.

Stevens, indicted in July, requested a speedy trial to clear his name before the November election. He is seeking a seventh full term in office.

JERUSALEM, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas are set to sign an Egyptian-brokered set of principles meant to pave the way to reconciliation, sources say.

Representatives of the two factions will go to Cairo to sign the principles Nov. 9, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz said without naming sources. It said the document isn't a comprehensive deal to unite Fatah, which dominates the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, and the militant Hamas, which holds sway in the Gaza Strip. Instead, it's meant as a first step, the newspaper said.

The agreement reportedly recommends that elections for both the president and the parliament be conducted simultaneously, envisions reforms in Palestinian institutions and calls for a unity government including both Fatah and Hamas.

Five committees would be formed after the signing of the agreement to draft the terms of a permanent reconciliation deal, Haaretz said, adding that Fatah officials are worried the committees could turn into tools for Hamas to delay relinquishing of its control of the Gaza Strip and increase its influence in the West Bank.

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