SWITCH AND FIGHT. When two-term Congressman Eugene Atkinson changed his affiliation from Democrat to Republican a year ago, prospects for his re-election seemed rosy. His new G.O.P. friends promised to fill his coffers with cash and gerrymander his Fourth Congressional District in Pennsylvania to suit his new identity. They came through. Republican national organizations contributed $57,000 to his race against unknown Democrat Joseph Kolter, 56, and the state legislature cut the district's 45,000 Democratic edge in half. But few foresaw the ravages of recession in this steel-mill area, where unemployment has hit 20.4% in Beaver County. Kolter, a state legislator and...
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