taosplaza.com

And it's back on the horse for the Wrap after a blissful two-week respite all over the Western United States. And to refire the engine here, we have Republican hypocrisy, free-spending fiscal conservatism, and a little smattering of data to kick off the week.

So, as we have done so many times before, and will do again until November rolls around, let's get after it with the Monday edition of the Wrap....

THE U.S. SENATE

CT-Sen: Wrestling fatality brings McMahon day job back into focus
After enduring the first wave of scrutiny about the corporate titan that made her a multi-millionaire, a tragic event might refocus the political media on the business that made GOP nominee Linda McMahon wealthy. Over the weekend, 29 year-old Lance McNaught, who wrestled in McMahon's WWE for several years under the name Lance Cade, passed away due to heart failure. This is likely to put the working conditions at McMahon's shop under renewed scrutiny.

FL-Sen: Meek leads new primary poll, gets Big Dog to stump for him
Democratic Congressman Kendrick Meek appears to be pulling away from free-spending billionaire Jeff Greene, according to a new survey from Susquehanna Research (a GOP firm that also does public polling). Meek holds a 45-30 lead over Greene, according to the poll. Meek also was the beneficiary of some love from former President Bill Clinton today, as he stumped in three locations on Meek's behalf. President Obama also is headlining a fundraiser in support of Meek, despite persistent whispers that the White House had no qualms with Independent Charlie Crist taking the seat.

KY-Sen: Conway lands big endorsement, lends another one
It was a pretty busy Monday for Democratic Senate nominee Jack Conway. He accepted the support of the Kentucky chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police this morning, a big get for the Democrat (although Paul did nothing to try to earn the endorsement, refusing even the common courtesy of returning the organization's questionnaire). In the afternoon, Conway lent his voice to another cause--urging President Obama to appoint Elizabeth Warren as the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Conway signed onto the PCCC's petition asking Obama to appoint Warren to the position.

THE U.S. HOUSE

AZ-08: Primary shrinks with days to go
Late in the week last week, the field in the Republican primary to challenge sophomore Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords was reduced by one, with the exit of Brian Miller from the field. Miller, in all probability, was the third wheel in any event, as most observers agree that the battle in the district is between NRCC fave Jonathan Paton and the more conservative option, veteran Jesse Kelly.

MI-01: Primary ends with concession, despite vote margin in the teens
This is pretty shocking, and no doubt disappointing for Michigan Democrats who would have likely welcomed a protracted recount. But state senator Jason Allen has conceded the GOP primary for Congress in the district long occupied by Democrat Bart Stupak, congratulating teabagger favorite Don Benishek on his fifteen vote victory. Allen determined that he didn't want to put either campaign through the expensive and time-consuming process, which would have taken weeks and siphoned six figures, in all likelihood, from both Republican campaigns. Benishek now advances to face Democratic state legislator Gary McDowell, who had the Democratic field cleared for him and has been able to conserve resources for the general.

NV-03: Freshman Democrat Titus leads, but just barely, in new poll
It is hard to say that this is a cause for optimism, but I suppose it is better than being behind. A new Mason Dixon poll of the suburban 3rd district gives rookie Democratic Rep. Dina Titus a lead of a single point (43-42) over Republican state legislator Joe Heck. This is scarcely changed from the last M-D poll of the district, which gave Titus a lead of two points over her GOP challenger.

PA-07: Lentz seeks to define GOP challenger with new website
Nice to see some hardball from a Democratic campaign that is under the gun. Democrat Bryan Lentz, who is fighting a somewhat uphill battle to keep Joe Sestak's House seat in the blue column, has launched a clever new website getting after GOP nominee Pat Meehan. The site, patterned after Meehan's actual campaign website, exposes the "real record" of the GOP frontrunner.

THE GUBERNATORIAL RACES

AL-Gov: Artur Davis doubles down on GOP meme reinforcement
Nearly a month ago, "Democratic" Congressman Artur Davis made minor waves when he pissed on Democratic nominee Ron Sparks while offering praise for Sparks' GOP gubernatorial rival, state legislator Robert Bentley. Apparently, Davis wasn't quite done spewing invective both at his party and the man who beat him for the Democratic nomination in June. Davis penned an op-ed over the weekend which was sharply critical of both Sparks and the Democratic Party. In it, Davis vowed that he will not provide support to Sparks in the Fall. Sore loser much, Artur?

CA-Gov: Whitman finally scales the nine figure spending plateau
Congratulations, I suppose, are officially in order for California GOP gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman, who has now eclipsed Michael Bloomberg as the most profligate non-presidential campaign in history. By tossing another $13 million of her own cash into the kitty, she has self-funded an eye-popping $104 million for her bid. Add the millions she has raised through traditional means, and Whitman seems to have easily exceeded the $109 million-plus spent by Bloomberg in his NYC Mayor re-election bid last year.

FL-Gov: Sink waits for opponent, levels both of them in new ad
This is clever, and potentially shrewd: Alex Sink has to wait another week or so to learn the identity of her GOP challenger for November. Therefore, Sink has unveiled a new ad that takes a run at both of her potential suitors. The ad, entitled "Get Real", paints Sink (as the Orlando Sentinel put it) as the "adult supervision" amid the increasingly acrimonious war between Republicans Rick Scott and Bill McCollum. The ad even includes actors meant to portray the two Republicans bickering in the background. Nicely done.

IA-Gov: GOP poll puts Dems at huge disadvantage
During Saturday's Wrap, I laid out a humongous mess of polling data released over the last two weeks. As it turned out, one poll did get missed. A Republican poll from Voter/Consumer Research in the Hawkeye State, not surprisingly, gives some huge numbers for Republicans in the state. The poll, taken for the conservative in-state blog, gave Republican Terry Branstad a 53-35 lead over incumbent Democrat Chet Culver. The poll also looked at the Senate race, giving incumbent GOPer Chuck Grassley a huge lead (59-33) over Democrat Roxanne Conlin. Also, during my two-week hiatus, we learned that conservative insurgent Bob Vander Plaats had elected to stay on the sidelines, focusing instead on ousting some members of the state Supreme Court.

MI-Gov: Bernero wants debates, Snyder seems less eager
There is little surprising about this, but as we kick off the first few weeks of the general election in Michigan, there is a clear difference between the two candidates on the issue of debate scheduling. Democrat Virg Bernero, who starts the general election as the underdog, has already accepted three debate invitations, and is eagerly anticipating more opportunities. Republican Rick Snyder, meanwhile, is pursuing the frontrunner debate playbook: with no formal acceptances and plans to only participate in three debates over the course of the campaign.

OH-Gov: Kasich loves big college budgets, as long as they go to him
Irony/hypocrisy alert! GOP gubernatorial nominee John Kasich has been calling for belt tightening in the state's college and university system throughout his campaign. But that did not stop him from cashing in, to the tune of four thousand dollars per visit, on a visiting speakers program known as "presidential fellows". The payments occurred earlier in the decade, within a year or two of his leaving Congress. Other politicos, including GOP Senate nominee Rob Portman, would teach the periodic courses for free. Not so for Kasich, who earned as much as $50K per year from the periodic visits.

OR-Gov: DGA affiliate seeks to define Dudley in advance of election
Nice to see, with polls in a bluish state showing a far closer race than it probably ought to be, a little offense being played in the state of Oregon. The DGA-Oregon has launched a site, called "You Don't Know Dudley", which works hard to define the GOP nominee. It even takes a run at Dudley for his tenure with the Portland Trailblazers (indeed, one of the few things most Oregonians know him for), noting that he lived in Washington State during his time with the Blazers in order to avoid Oregon income taxes.

PA-Gov: Conservative third-party challenger drops out of race
In what has to be a mild disappointment for Democratic nominee Dan Onorato, independent candidate John Krupa has shuttered his campaign, amid a ballot challenge from the state GOP. Krupa's spokesman conceded that his candidate had been unsuccessful in gaining the proper number of signatures. Krupa has claimed the banner of the Tea Party, and could have been expected to draw any support largely from the column of GOP nominee Tom Corbett.

WI-Gov: Sparks fly amid the backdrop of an Obama visit
The gubernatorial race in Wisconsin has long been in the background of the state's potentially explosive Senate race. That may well have changed today, even as President Obama arrived in Wisconsin. GOP frontrunner Scott Walker, the Milwaukee County Executive, used the opportunity to tweak both Obama and Barrett. Decrying "out of control taxing and spending" in Washington and Madison, Walker went with a train metaphor, vowing to "stop this train."

Alas, it was a train metaphor of another kind that might have landed Walker in some hot water. Walker's spokeswoman, tweaking Obama on the issue of high speed rail (part of the stimulus package, and one of the ancillary reasons Obama was in-state), posted a mocking video. The problem: the video was from a Soul Train-esque dance show from the 1990s (the tie-in: the song being played is the Quad City DJ's classic "C'mon Ride It (The Train)". This lead to a swift condemnation from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, who particularly criticized the racial overtones of choosing that video in particular.

THE RAS-A-POLL-OOZA

If there are two states in the Union, I would love to see someone NOT named Rasmussen poll, it is the states of Maine and North Dakota. In 2010, only Rasmussen has polled general elections in either locale, and they are back at it today. The nums, as you would expect, are excellent for the GOP.

CT-Gov: Dan Malloy (D) 48%, Tom Foley (R) 33%
ME-Gov: Paul LePage (R) 38%, Libby Mitchell (D) 30%, Eliot Cutler (I) 16%
ND-Sen: John Hoeven (R) 69%, Tracy Potter (D) 25%
ND-AL: Rick Berg (R) 53%, Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D) 44%

Posted: 2010-08-16 23:36:04

< Prev		Next >