Iran's raucous election campaign goes quiet
Iran's raucous election campaign fell silent a day before the vote as rallies were barred Thursday to give the public time to reflect on whether they want to keep hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in power or replace him with a reformist more open to closer ties with the West.The campaign reached a crescendo in the past few days with dueling rallies by supporters of Ahmadinejad and his main challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi, that drew tens of thousands into the streets of Tehran. Fervent, youthful supporters of Mousavi accused the president of undermining Iran's international standing with his confrontational style and of devastating the economy.