SSP Daily Digest: 12/22

CT-Sen: In an effort to calm fears that he’s facing an unwinnable path to re-election, Chris Dodd’s campaign released an internal poll that’s… well… pretty fugly. The GQR poll has ex-Rep. Chris Simmons leading by 51-46, while Dodd and former WWE CEO Linda McMahon are tied at 46% each. McMahon, for her part, released an internal poll showing her leading Simmons by two in the Republican primary. Mmmm… cat fud.

FL-Sen: Big trouble in South Florida for Charlie Crist? GOP Reps. Mario and Lincoln Diaz-Balart have suddenly and unilaterally rescinded their endorsements of Crist’s senatorial campaign. The Diaz-Balarts offered no explanation as to why they’re leaving Crist to hang, but Lincoln offered this cryptic elaboration: Crist “left us no alternative and he knows why.” Is a Marco Rubio endorsement forthcoming?

GA-Gov: Republican SoS Karen Handel, who is very much the underdog in the GOP primary, announced today that she will be resigning from her office to concentrate on her gubernatorial bid. This will allow her to raise money during the legislative session — something her opponents currently holding political office will not be able to do.

IA-Gov: The Terry Branstad comeback express keeps chugging along — and it picked up another passenger today, as state Sen. Jerry Behn dropped out of the gubernatorial race today and handed Branstad his endorsement.

RI-Gov: Lincoln Chafee will make a “major announcement” sometime after New Year’s Day, presumably to make his candidacy for Rhode Island Governor official.

SC-Gov: InsiderAdvantage takes a look at the Dem and GOP primary fields, and finds some pretty wide-open contests. For the Republicans, the McCain-backed state AG Henry McMaster and Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer are tied at 22%, with Sanford protege Nikki Haley at 13%, and the House of Representative’s very own “Some Dude”, Gresham Barrett, lagging behind at 9%. For the Dems, state Superintendent Jim Rex leads with 21% to lobbyist Dwight Drake’s 15%. State Sen. Vince Sheheen has 8%.

CA-20: Dem Rep. Jim Costa may be facing a legitimate challenger next year… but one whom he already beat. Term-limited state Sen. Roy Ashburn, who lost an open seat race to Costa in 2004 by 7%, said he’s considering running for Congress again after ruling it out earlier. Local Republicans don’t sound too thrilled, though, pointing out Ashburn’s less than completely brain-dead record on opposing tax hikes.

PA-10: Sophomore Dem Rep. Chris Carney has had a charmed start to his second term up until this point, managing to avoid any serious Republican competition from emerging. However, that streak has ended in recent weeks with the interest of state Rep. Mike Peifer and ex-US Attorney Tom Marino in the race. On the bright side, Peifer announced yesterday that he won’t be running, after all, but can we read that as a tea leaf that Marino is pretty serious about making this candidacy happen?

PA-19: Here’s another reason why GOP Rep. Todd Platts should hope that he lands the job as head of the GAO: he’s now facing a primary challenge from freedom-loving businessman Mike Smeltzer. Maybe Platts would rather just retire than be forced to defend his Main Street Partnership-style voting record?

SC-05: Republicans made their list, but now they better check it twice. The office of veteran Dem Rep. John Spratt confirmed yesterday that Spratt will indeed run for another term next year in spite of Republican-fueled speculation that he was looking for the exits.

Pollsters & Scoundrels: Pollster.com’s Mark Blumenthal offers a wrap-up of the strange, strange saga of Strategic Vision LLC.

Approvals: Seeking approval? Don’t look at me — go talk to SUSA; they’ve just released a ton of approval ratings for Senators and Governors across the nation. On your station.

57 thoughts on “SSP Daily Digest: 12/22”

  1. I think this is coming. It’s now become undeniably clear that if he continues to run as a Republican, he will be hit by the oncoming train that’s the light at the end of the tunnel.

    Your thoughts, everyone?

  2. Does anyone else think that Griffin’s abandonment of the Democratic party was stupid and short-sighted?  If he had stayed a Democrat, he probably would have had a 60% or so chance of being re-elected.  However, as a Republican, I seriously question his ability to win a Republican primary, especially given the Tea-Baggers and their purity tests.  If he lost a Republican primary, that would defeat the whole purpose of his switch.

  3. The Census Bureau is out with their annual population estimates.

    http://www.census.gov/popest/s

    I have to get to bed (I have to be at work in 5 hours) so I didn’t get to in depth but I made a few quick calculations about reapportionment and as of right now here are the Congression Districts just above and below the cutoff line.

    431. MO-09

    432. Cal-53

    433. S Car-07

    434. MN-08

    435. WA-10

    ————

    436. Ohio-17

    437. FLA-27

    438. OR-07

    439. Tex-36

    440. Ill-19

    Some other tidbits. New York looks like it will only lose 1 seat. Arizona and Florida’s growth has slowed enough that they will likely only gain 1 seat each.

    Sorry about not showing the math but I really have to get to bed.

  4. look at Arnold Schwarzenegger’s rating as California’s governor in SurveyUSA’s poll.  Only 20% approve, a whopping 77% disapprove.

    BUT… the stat that I don’t think I’ve ever seen in any polling on any elected politician ever… he has a 15% approval rating from Democrats, a 24% approval rating from Republicans… and a 25% approval rating from Independents.  Think about it… when has a politician been rated higher by Independents than by those in either major political party?

    BTW, us college students despise him, with only 12% approving and a whopping 87% disapproving.

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