In Pennsylvania.
For undecided voters, the weeks before an election can be an emotional roller coaster. This notion is already proving true for the upcoming midterm elections in November. One of the most anticipated races happening is in Pennsylvania between incumbent Rick Santorum (R) and Bob Casey (D) for a seat in the U.S. Senate.
First I convinced myself that Senator Santorum was the right man for the job. I quickly changed my mind as Casey bumper stickers began to outnumber Santorum bumper stickers in the mall parking lot. I almost switched back to Santorum’s side when I received his 12-page pamphlet entitled “50 things you may not know about Rick Santorum.” Casey, however, reassured me of his own political aptitude in a compelling television ad.
One day, while adamantly tallying the number of Casey and Santorum roadside signs, I figured out a solution to my problem: actually researching the candidates. The results of my investigation are conclusive; Rick Santorum is an idiot.
In Rhode Island.
Rekindling his long and friendly relationship with organized labor, Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse won the endorsement of the AFL-CIO last night, in his race for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Republican Lincoln D. Chafee.
The endorsement fulfills a prediction Whitehouse made four years ago, just days after his stinging 2002 defeat in the Democratic primary for governor, when Whitehouse implored delegates at the AFL-CIO endorsement convention to “not forget me, because something tells me we may not be done yet.”
In Maryland.
Both Clinton and Cardin ran smarter than Lieberman, sharpening their criticism of the Administration’s conduct of the war as primary day approached. Clinton finished the season denouncing Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, while Cardin, who had once resisted timelines, ended up talking about the wisdom of removing US ground forces from Iraq by the end of 2007.
So it will be that, in Senate races this fall, Democratic nominees will run the gamut from the Bring the Troops Home position articulated by Lamont to the murky criticisms of Cardin and Clinton to the “stay the course” line of Nebraska maverick Ben Nelson.
In Connecticut. Joe is a day late and a penny short.
Sen. Joe Lieberman on Friday criticized Republicans who accuse Democratic critics of the Iraq war of encouraging terrorists, arguing such talk “demeans the freedom we are all fighting for.”
In New Jersey.
The Menendez ad portrays the senator as tough on port security and as a Bush foe. It doesn’t mention Kean. The Menendez campaign has run small radio and cable TV ads. Spokesman Matthew Miller said the Tuesday ad, which cost tens of thousands of dollars and was shown on major broadcast stations in New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia, is designed to reach millions of voters. It marks the beginning of Menendez’s major offensive to return to the Senate for a full six-year term.
Kean spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker said the Republican hasn’t yet aired broadcast ads and would not say when they’d appear.
In Montana. From Wonkette.
Montana’s wackiest politician is in trouble again — this time for sticking his wife in Coach with the poor people while he flew in luxurious First Class.
Worse, the crazy old firefighter-hating senator had his wife stuck in an Emergency Exit row, so she’d be first to die after an emergency landing.
Partisans are seizing the opportunity to paint Burns as a sexist, but we’re giving him the benefit of the doubt: Conrad Burns just hates his wife.
In Virginia. Despite his brilliant reference to Redd Foxx, Terry L. Mitchell is my Wanker of the Day.
I can understand someone being against Allen for a variety of reasons, including his lock-step support of the White House on the War in Iraq. But I wonder about voters who would otherwise vote for Allen, but have decided to vote against him because of this one indiscretion. Are they really that shallow and petty? Or perhaps a bit feeble-minded? To paraphrase the TV character Fred Sanford, maybe they should stick their heads in a freezer and make some “silly pops.”
In Ohio. The mayor of Columbus is keeping his distance from Sherrod Brown. Not good.
In Tennessee. Harold Ford, Jr. continues to emulate a Republican.
The House yesterday easily approved building 700 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border in an effort to get major border-security legislation on President Bush’s desk before November’s elections…
Rep. Harold E. Ford Jr., the Tennessee Democrat who is running for the Senate, said, “For the country to be secure, we have to have control over who gets in and who’s allowed to stay.”
Asked why he opposed the fence last year, he said the current proposal was “more comprehensive.” Mr. Ford bristled at the question of whether his change of heart had anything to do with his upcoming statewide election in a state that polls show supports tough immigration policies.
In Nevada.
Ensign leads Jack Carter by 21 points, 56 to 35 percent, with only 9 percent of Nevadans surveyed saying that they are undecided.
Only 3 percent of Republicans surveyed support Carter while 18 percent of Democrats support Ensign, who is seeking a second term. The election is Nov. 7.
The poll, sponsored by the Reno Gazette-Journal and KRVN News 4 of Reno, surveyed by telephone 600 people across Nevada who vote regularly in state elections.
In Arizona.
Already the most expensive political race in state history, Arizona’s heavyweight battle between U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl and Democratic challenger Jim Pederson is beginning to live up to its early billing.
Pederson, a shopping-mall developer who has put more than $8 million of his own fortune into the race, is gaining ground on Kyl, closing to within 10 points, according recent polls. The margin has tightened as the campaign has grown increasingly personal over the past month. Both sides have launched multiple televised attack ads, and both sides are crying foul over their accuracy.
In Washington.
Tapping into conservative, Eastern Washington values surrounding family and farming, U.S. Senate hopeful Mike McGavick delivered an anti-D.C. and politics-as-usual speech Thursday on his 11th campaign trip to Yakima.
“I really do believe that the uncivility of today’s political conversation is the single greatest thing that stands between us and the promise of a better of America,” McGavick told Rotarians at the Clarion Hotel.
It’s a theme on which he began his campaign and has stuck with despite some shrill attacks on him from Democrats and negative ads aimed at Democratic incumbent Sen. Maria Cantwell by The Free Enterprise Fund, a conservative group opposed to the estate tax. McGavick criticized those ads, which superimposed Cantwell’s head on a vulture.
In Minnesota.
Both major-party candidates for the U.S. Senate have raised their biggest chunks of campaign cash from sources that play right into their opponents’ hands.
Republican Mark Kennedy, whom Democrats have ridiculed for his claims that he’s a common-sense independent not afraid to break from his party’s leadership, has so far raised $393,100 from so-called leadership PACs – the political action committes established by Republican members of Congress whom Kennedy contends he’s not afraid to buck.
And Democrat Amy Klobuchar, whom Republicans have tarred as just another attorney trying to join a Senate full of them, has so far raised $613,818 from lawyers and law firms, an industry that’s long been a major funder of Democratic campaigns.
In Missouri.
Republican Senator Jim Talent and Democratic challenger Claire McCaskill have agreed to debate in suburban St. Louis.
The two candidates say the debate is set for 8 p.m. on October 11 at Clayton High School.
It will be their fourth joint appearance. The first exchange is Friday morning during a conference of the Missouri Press Association at the Lake of the Ozarks.
