POLITICS . . . GOP EDGE BLUNTED, POLL SAYS

President Clinton's recent quip that Democrats "didn't want to peak too soon" going into the mid-term elections -- now just two weeks away -- may have been timely. A new ABC News-Washington Post poll finds that the edge among voters likely to vote Republican in congressional races -- two weeks ago a GOP margin of 47 percent to Democrats' 43 percent -- has flipped: the Dems now lead, 50-45. But among likely voters, the Democratic edge is a statistically insignificant two points, making the election a toss-up.Meanwhile, President Clinton's string of foreign policy successes has buoyed his approval rating, now 49 percent from a low of 44 percent in August and September. But Clintons uptick may not save many Democrats, since 58 percent of the 1,011 people surveyed said they would vote against incumbents.