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Conservative Christian leaders met in Memphis this past weekend to talk about their role in the upcoming elections. The movement, which turned out millions of voters in the 1994 elections and has been considered pivotal in some races, appears to be experiencing some growing pains. NPR's Lynn Neary reports that members are divided over the best tack to take in the presidential elections, especially if the Republican nominee is not committed to their strong anti-abortion views.

NPR's Brian Naylor reports that Bob Dole's position on the Republican platform's abortion plank has set the stage for a renewed fight this summer at the party's national convention in San Diego. Conservative state party activists are trying to ensure that delegates to the convention are committed to keeping the plank as it is, calling for a constitutional amendment to ban abortion. Dole supports that position, but would like to include language recognizing that there are differences within the party on this issue.

NPR's Claudio Sanchez reports that thousands of people, many of them children, assembled on the National Mall today. "Leave no Child Behind" was the slogan for the day -- in an event organized by Marian Wright Edelman, founder of the Children's Defense Fund. Children and adults from across the country were there -- no official crowd estimates yet. Conservatives criticized the event, saying it was just a party where liberals could push for more government spending.

Linda Wertheimer went to northeastern Ohio last week to talk to conservative voters about Robert Dole. Tonight we hear from businessmen who say they plan to vote for Dole, but there's little enthusiasm for him. They say he's not articulating his message, that he's being manipulated by the media and being badly advised. They say he's trying to be a salesman like President CLinton, but they want sincerity in their candidate, not political posturing.

Mexico's top two presidential candidates are each claiming victory in the country's highly polarized election -- and their parties have accused one another of election fraud. An official tally of the contest, in which 30 million Mexicans voted, isn't expected for days. Though sharply divided by ideology, leftist Andres Manual Lopez Obrador and conservative Felipe Calderon are separated by less than one-tenth of one percent.

Egyptian Sayyid Qutb's writings were the foundation for al Qaeda and other radical Islamic movements. But the America he visited in 1949 -- the conservative town of Greeley, Colo. -- doesn't really seem like the soulless, materialistic place that would inspire such hatred of the West. NPR's Robert Siegel visits Greeley to talk about the town as it was and as it is today. Read excerpts from Qutb's book about Greeley, and view photos of the town.

Tens of thousands of students have marched through the streets of London in Britain's largest protest so far against the government's new austerity program. The march was specifically organized to protest the tripling of university tuition fees, with many students saying the increase would mark the end of opportunity for children from poorer families. Although largely peaceful, some of the protesters tussled with police and broke windows in the headquarters of the Conservative Party, the senior partner in Britain's coalition government.

Over the last two years, Wisconsin seems to have become an epicenter of national politics, and even more so conservative politics. Currently, Mitt Romney's vice presidential pick Paul Ryan is directing political heat Wisconsin's way and earlier this week, long-time Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson overcame a competitive primary battle. Guest host Cheryl Corley discusses politics in the Badger State with NPR's Don Gonyea.

Blue Dog Democrats are offering a budget compromise that could be accceptable to both the Republicans and the White House. Blue Dogs are fiscally conservative democrats. Linda Wertheimer talks with one of these Blue Dogs.... Representative Gary Condit of California. He and the other blue dogs, have offered a moderate budget plan that could appease both the Republicans as well as the White House. The Blue Dogs hope their budget is introduced in Congress as a possible solution to the budget debate deadlock.

Tomorrow's primaries, called Junior Tuesday, include New England states and Georgia. One western state is also being contested, Colorado. NPR's Mark Roberts reports that the property rights and land use issues that dominated conservative campaigns in the past are no longer an issue. Instead, the candidates are offering the same one-size-fits-all message that everyone else gets. Many Coloradans find it hard to find an issue that moves them.

NPR's Pam Fessler reports on the progress being made by the White House and Capitol Hill in attempting to end the appropriations process and send lawmakers home to campaign. President Clinton's signing of the Interior Department's appropriations bill meant that money spent on conservation projects will double next year. But the House also voted to override the President's veto of an energy and water bill, meaning that much contentiousness remains before the 106th Congress comes to a close.

NPR's Don Gonyea reports on the latest personnel announcements of President-elect George W. Bush, starting with Missouri Senator John Ashcroft for Attorney General. Ashcroft, a strong conservative, was defeated in his bid for re-election last month by the late Mel Carnahan. He's also a former two-term governor and state attorney general. New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman was chosen to head the Environmental Protection Agency.

NPR's Nina Totenberg reports on a very conservative appeals court that made a series of important and controversial decisions that made it to the Supreme Court this past term. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals was upheld by the Supreme Court on its ruling that a key part of the Violence Against Women Act was unconstitutional. But the Supreme Court rejected the 4th Circuit's decision that the Miranda warnings to a criminal suspect were not necessary if a court were confident the defendant's confession was given voluntarily.

NPR's Greg Allen reports on the re-election campaign of Arkansas Sen. Tim Hutchinson, who is thought to be the most endangered GOP senator on the ballot next week. Hutchinson, who ran six years ago as a "family values" conservative, divorced his wife and married an aide shortly after his election. Further, Hutchinson's Democratic opponent, Attorney General Mark Pryor, is the son of one of the state's most revered political figures.

Novelist Tim LaHaye is the co-author of the popular Left Behind series. The books are apocalyptic Christian thrillers. The tenth and latest book is The Remnant, which debuted at the top of the New York Times bestseller list. LaHaye is also the former co-chairman of Jack Kemp's presidential campaign, was on the original board of directors of the Moral Majority and was an organizer of the Council for National Policy which has been called "the most powerful conservative organization in America you've never heard of."

Robert talks with Ralph Reed, Jr., the director of the Christian Coalition. The Coalition is directing most of its resources toward the retention of a Republican majority in Congress, and election of state and local candidates who support the conservative ideals of the Coalition's membership. Reed says that this retargeting of Coalition resources does not mean that they've written off Bob Dole's chances of election, or that they don't support a Dole candidacy...but that their focus has always been on state and local politics and grass-roots involvement in political issues.

Ever since Mapplethorpe and Serrano put the National Endowment for the Arts into the spotlight, arts advocates have come to Washington, D.C., on Arts Advocacy Day to try to convince memebers of Congress to continue federal funding of the arts and humanities. But when Republicans took over Congress, the more conservative members came to an informal agreement with the leadership that funding for the National Endowment for the Arts would be reduced over two years and zeroed out in the third. This is the third year...so this year's advocates have their work cut out for them. NPR's Dean Olsher reports.

Vice President Dick Cheney says there are no quick fixes to the electricity crisis in California. In a speech that previewed the Bush administration's energy policy, Cheney didn't address the state's most pressing concern -- the prospect of blackouts this summer. Instead, he said that additional power plants and new sources of fossil fuel are needed to provide a reliable supply of power for the long term. Critics say Cheney downplayed the importance of conservation and ignored the flawed deregulation plan that prompted California's power problems. NPR'S Richard Gonzales reports.

Texas native Sally Semrad always dreamed of being a musician. So several years ago, she packed up her red guitar and moved to Los Angeles to follow that dream. Her debut CD Left of Me is a fusion of Texas-style country and California roots-rock. Listen to tracks from the CD, and hear her conversation with All Things Considered guest host Liane Hansen. (8:00) The CD is on Stanley Recordings, available from http://cdbaby.com. More information about Sally Semrad is at http://stanleyrecordings.com.

In the first of a series of reports on single working mothers in Maine, NPR's Noah Adams visits TJ's restaurant in Auburn for a conversation with two waitresses, Tammy Ogden and Deborah Simpson, and a dishwasher, Rebecca Brown. The wait staff are paid $3.18 an hour, half of Maine's minimum wage, plus tips. They like the spilt shift work, which allows them to spend time with their youngsters in the late afternoon. Simpson now works just half of the year at TJ's, so she can serve in the Maine House of Representatives, which pays $9,000 and provides health insurance. As a lawmaker, Simpson was able to vote for her own waitress pay raise when Maine increased its minimum wage.