Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party is heading for a solid victory in the Oct. 22 general election while the party led by Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike is lagging behind even after grabbing the spotlight upon its launch, a Kyodo News survey showed Wednesday. The LDP and its coalition ally Komeito party are expected to win over 300 seats in the 465-seat lower house, the survey suggests. Koike's Party of Hope may win around 60 seats, while another new face, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, may take 30 seats or more. The telephone survey was conducted after official campaigning for the House of ... (full story)