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Sen. Bill Nelson in Florida's Senate race, he'll probably owe Mitt Romney a thank you. Should former Gov. Tim Kaine hold off former Sen. George Allen in the Senate contest in Virginia, President Barack Obama may deserve a share of credit.
• The fates of Obama and Romney in November are likely to impact more than the White House. They will help shape a number of key Senate and House races. The prospect of presidential coattails -- or the opposite, a drag -- is factoring into the way races down the ballot are being run, especially in close contests.
• "There's obviously a down-ballot impact from the performance of the top of the ticket," said Sen. John Thune, the No. 3 Republican in the Senate. So Senate Republicans are pulling for Romney and doing all they can to help him, Thune said. Of Romney, he added: "We need him to do well."
• Democrats feel the same about the top of their ticket. Leaders in the Senate, including Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York and Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, said Democratic Senate candidates were certain to benefit from a stronger Obama performance in November. They said they'd also benefit if Romney stumbles.
• "One of the reasons our Senate numbers have gone up in the last few weeks is distaste for Romney," Schumer said last week.
• ___

• LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Probation officials openly worried about actor Johnny Lewis' mental health and his danger to others in recent months, and this week their worst fears came true.
• The man who died a violent death on "Sons of Anarchy" three years ago apparently beat and strangled his landlady and attacked neighbors before falling or leaping to his own death in neighborhood near Hollywood on Wednesday afternoon.
• They were the final violent acts of a man who in the previous 10 months had been repeatedly arrested, sent to counseling and had left jail only five days before his demise.
• Court records and his attorney detailed attempts to help Lewis but not in time to help 81-year-old Catherine Davis, who neighbors reported screaming inside a home near the outskirts of Los Angeles' Griffith Park. The home had been ransacked, glass was shattered and a dead cat was also found inside, and Lewis' body was found in the driveway.

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