AK-Sen: Just an FYI: The Tea Party Express has now spent $550K on behalf of Joe Miller – quite a sum in a super-cheap state like Alaska. (That means they’ve poured in about $200K in just the last week.) Remember, the TPX is the organization that helped power Sharron Angle to victory. Knocking off an incumbent senator is a much bigger task than beating Chicken Lady, of course, but the teabaggers are determined to keep this one interesting. (Also, any day I get to write about Chicken Lady is a good day.)
KY-Sen: Rand Paul, subjecting himself to a rare press conference, announced his preferred way of combating drug abuse in Eastern Kentucky. Instead of using federal dollars, he prefers church-based options: “I like the fact that faith is involved, that religion – Christianity – is involved, and I’m not embarrassed to say so. You have to have innovative local solutions to problems.” Paul still called for the end of earmarks to fund Operation UNITE, an anti-drug program, which caused some awkwardness for his host, Hopkins County Attorney Todd P’Pool, who has made use of UNITE himself. (And yes, that awesome name is NOT a typo.)
NH-Sen: Paul Hodes has a new ad up, featuring music he wrote himself, which continues a theme we’ve seen elsewhere – namely, referring to Congress as some kind of daycare center for overgrown children. I’m not really sure how effective this characterization really is, given that it’s been incumbents who keep deploying it. Anyhow, NWOTSOTB, though the Hodes campaign tells us it’s “a significant buy in both the Manchester and Boston media markets” that’s going up on both broadcast and cable today.
OR-Gov: Good news for Dem John Kitzhaber: The Oregon Progressive Party declined to nominate a candidate for governor, meaning that there won’t be anyone on the ballot running to Kitz’s left. Jerry Wilson, creator of the Soloflex, had been hoping for the Prog nod, and says he may run a write-in campaign instead.
AZ-03: Just a day before the primary, Dan Quayle emerged from his undisclosed potatoe to pen an email on behalf of his embattled, pathetic spawn, Ben. At this point, though, nothing can undo the Shame of the Super-Son.
CA-52: Democrat Ray Lutz has ended his 11-day hunger strike, which he launched in an attempt to get Rep. Duncan Hunter to meet him for a series of debates. Hunter actually did say he’d meet for an Oct. 15th debate, though he claims he was planning to accept that date even before Lutz went on his strike. Lutz, of course, is claiming victory – and if this tactic really did have its intended effect, I wonder if we’ll ever see anyone else try it again.
IA-03: Rep. Leonard Boswell’s been hitting Republican Brad Zaun on his flip-floppery over agricultural subsidies, and it seems like he’s landed a solid blow. In Iowa, anything less than maximal statism in support of the ethanol industry is usually a political sin, but Zaun couldn’t help himself at a teabagger debate earlier this spring. Zaun related a conversation with a farmer, who asked him “What are you going to do for me and the biofuels industry?” Zaun’s description of his own response: “Nothing.” Boswell’s put out his first radio ad of the cycle (NWOTSOTB) featuring this very quote.
IL-11: Debbie Halvorson is getting a new campaign manager. Julie Merz, who has previously worked for Dennis Moore and Jim Matheson, is taking over for Travis Worl. It’s always hard to say whether moves like this reflect campaign turmoil, a sign that the team is upgrading, or just natural turnover. The only tea leaf we have here is that Worl’s departure was announced before Merz’s hiring was.
LA-02: A good get for Cedric Richmond: New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu just gave the state legislator his endorsement yesterday. Richmond faces fellow state Rep. Juan LaFonta in the primary, which is this Saturday (note the unusual date).
NV-03: Republican media buying company Smart Media Group says that AFSCME has put down $240K for ads against GOPer Denny Joe Heck. The union hasn’t filed an independent expenditure report yet, though.
NY-01: Republican George Demos is up with his first TV ad, attempting to out-conservative opponents Randy Altschuler and Ed Cox – and doing his best to make himself unelectable in the general election by painting himself as “pro-life.” NWOTSOTB. Meanwhile, Altschuler succeeded in knocking Cox out of the Conservative Party primary, though Cox has vowed to appeal the judge’s ruling.
NY-25: Republican (and Mama Grizzly) Ann Marie Buerkle says she won’t rule out SSP – the bad kind of SSP, of course:
“There’s so many options when it comes to privatization. I would have to look at each plan that’s being proposed… but I would certainly consider looking at it.”
You said this:
I think it should read:
Also my opinion, Paul suggesting we should use faith based money to fight druge is bad. I am a secular man and think it would be bad to use church money to fight the drug war of Eastern KY. Just my opinion though.
And the people of Louisiana are either forced to commemorate on that sad event, or vote in the midterm election primary. What a world.
I think the phrase “undisclosed potatoe” is priceless.
And what does it say about the Elder Quayle that he seems to think that he can just show up, say his son isn’t the porn-writing idiot that he is, and it’ll all be magically better? Of course, I wouldn’t expect less from a guy who’s been in the news twice since 1992: once for buying Chrysler (great investment there) and once for showing up to a Bruce Springsteen concert in 2008, then getting offended and storming out when Springsteen started talking about supporting Obama. You have to be pretty damn out of it to be surprised and offended that Bruce Springsteen is a vocal Democrat in 2008.
I’ll never forgive my adopted state for giving this guy a political career, especially because the idiots dumped Birch Bayh to do it, and Evan Bayh is a two-faced weasel because of it. Ehhhh….
No one is going to be down with O.P.P. this year.
is “no Jack Kennedy” either.
Who live off in some lala land where a society can be run through churches and personal responsibility. The idiocy of such individuals offends me, even though it can amusing to run circles around them in any kind of argument, (especially considering these sorts of people tend to think they are so smart, creative, and original in being anti-government). I’m hoping Paul goes off during the debate and says something so over the top it finally puts Conway into the outright lead prior to any advertising.
Rubio 40% (R)
Crist 32% (I)
Meek 17% (D)
According to PPP, Democrats are now going to Meek, and Republicans have aligned themselves more with Rubio
http://publicpolicypolling.blo…