CYA
I have no doubt that elements of al Queda are plotting something horrendous for the time leading up to elections. But it's interesting to see such information being presented by heavy hitters like Ashcroft and Ridge--without raising the level of warning from yellow to orange. This from the NYTimes:

"There's no real new intelligence, and a lot of this has been out there already," said one administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "There really is no significant change that would require us to change the alert level of the country."