Some candidates mum on tough policy questions

King, the former Maine governor, is the ultimate non-answerer, vexing Republicans and Democrats vying for control of the Senate by running as an independent. He won't say which party he'd generally vote with if he wins.

House candidates have also gotten into the act. Several Republican contenders, leery of being tagged as open to cutting Medicare, have tried to avoid the topic of the budget outline passed by House Republicans this year.

Avoiding an answer has not worked as well for Republican Senate candidate Josh Mandel, running against Sherrod Brown in Ohio. Brown has made his backing of the auto bailout, which affected 800,000 people in his state, a focus of his campaign. Mandel, though he talks often about wanting more auto jobs, has repeatedly refused to say whether he would have supported the bailout.