SSP Daily Digest 8/25 (Morning Edition)

  • AR-Sen: Quelle surprise: The AFL-CIO, which was a major supporter of Bill Halter, won’t endorse Blanche Lincoln in the general.
  • NV-Sen: Your daily dose of Angle Crazy comes courtesy Greg Sargent:

    • MANDERS: We have domestic enemies. We have home-born homegrown enemies in our system. And I for one think we have some of those enemies in the walls of the Senate and the Congress.

    ANGLE: Yes. I think you’re right, Bill.

  • PA-Sen: Karl Rove’s gang of ne’er-do-wells is out with an ad attacking Joe Sestak. NWOTSOTB.
  • WI-Sen: Weirdo Ron Johnson has a new ad out, trying to sell himself as just a reg’lar guy. NWOTSOTB, but the “ad is airing statewide on cable and broadcast TV starting Tuesday, according to a campaign spokeswoman.” Meanwhile, the new right-wing group American Action Network is dropping a $325K ad buy against Russ Feingold. Some background on the group (whose backers include Nixon hatchet man Fred Malek – whataguy!) here.
  • HI-Gov: Wow. Former Rep. (and recent special election loser) Ed Case went somewhat against type and endorsed Neil Abercrombie over Mufi Hannemann in the Dem gubernatorial primary. The “centrist” Case seemingly had more in common with Hannemann, the urbane mayor of Honolulu, than Abercrombie, the septuagenarian progressive. And Case didn’t just issue some anodyne statement – he utterly lambasted Hannemann:

    • Case called him “the most dangerous politician in a generation,” adding that Hannemann governs “by fear and intimidation.”

    “He is the product and clear choice of a political machine that must end. While professing unity, he’s practiced the politics of division, exploiting rather than healing differences of race, origin and economic status,” Case said.

  • CO-03: Republican Scott Tipton is touting an internal poll from Magellan, showing him with a 49-43 lead over Rep. John Salazar. Salazar says his own internals have him leading. One FYI about this (and most other) Magellan polls: It’s a one-day sample, much like Rasmussen, and – I would guess – does not include callbacks. Nate Silver previously laid out in great detail how a lack of callbacks can negatively affect poll quality.
  • KS-04: Raj Goyle is up with a positive bio spot touting his “Kansas values.” NWOTSOTB, though this district is centered around Wichita, which is a pretty cheap media market.
  • MA-10: Great headline:

    • Jeff Perry ‘proud’ despite work on bogus degree

    Meanwhile, Dem Rob O’Leary is out with his first TV ad, which interestingly enough calls for an end to the war in Afghanistan. NWOTSOTB, and WARNING – AUTOPLAYING YOUTUBE. Very annoying.

  • MI-07: AFSCME has a new ad out hitting Republican retread Tim Walberg for his votes in Congress, though I think the messaging is a little muddled. Anyhow, NWOTSOTB just yet, but presumably the union will have to file an IE report soon.
  • NJ-12: GOPer Scott Sipprelle claims he’s launching his “third positive, issue-based cable television commercial this summer.” First off, check out the ad (which attacks “Washington politicians right at the start”) and then tell me if you think it’s “positive.” Secondly, I’m guessing that this ad is much closer to a “video press release” (as Nathan Gonzales calls them) than a real buy, given that this district lies mostly in the #1-most expensive media market in the country (and the rest is in Philly, which ain’t exactly cheap), and that Sipprelle acknowledges it’s a cable-only buy.
  • NY-14: It seems like a long time ago now, but remember when Carolyn Maloney came oh-so-close to primarying appointed Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand? Well, it’s an old memory indeed, seeing as Gillibrand is hosting a breakfast fundraiser in Manhattan for Maloney next week.
  • OH-16: Jim Renacci is up with his first ad of the general election campaign – which I can only assume is targeted at his race against me for NYC Zoning Board. But it’s weird that he keeps talking about Ohio, no? Anyhow, a spokesman says the ad “is part of a $250,000 two-week buy” on both broadcast and cable. Do you think it’s running on New York 1?
  • OH-17: Jim Traficant missed the deadline to file as a write-in candidate, but his supporters are still hoping for a favorable ruling from SoS Jennifer Brunner on whether Traficant can appear as an independent. If not, they are supposedly threatening to go to court.
  • PA-04: Great, another one of these. Much like Joe Donnelly, Jason Altmire has a new ad up claiming he that he’s “not afraid to stand up to the president – and Nancy Pelosi.” Lovely. NWOTSOTB.
  • PA-10: It’s nice when Republican delusions help us win campaigns. Here’s Tom Marino’s latest:

    • “My generation and probably the generation that follows me, we are going to have to step up to the plate and say,” he said. “We are not going to get Social Security,” he said. “But we are going to pay into it to get this debacle squared away. So if I have to sacrifice my Social Security to get it squared away … because we can’t take Social Security away from people that are on it now.

    124 thoughts on “SSP Daily Digest 8/25 (Morning Edition)”

    1. that killing the public option would make it easier for him to vote for HCR?

      His political instincts are. . .variable.  

    2. between this attack on Hannemann and refusing to step aside for Hanabusa (leaving Djou to take the seat), I really have to wonder if Case’s problem is simply that he doesn’t like local politicians. When you look at the bios of Hanabusa, Hannemann, and even Djou, they’re all more experienced in state and local government, while Case has more Federal experience, as well as state and local experience and his big failed statewide run for Governor in 2002, which is probably where his grudge against basically every other local politician in Hawaii comes from.

      Also, he kinda looks like Evan Bayh.  

    4. Perry is handling this the wrong way to say the least.  He should use his experience to discuss academic credentials fraud, an issue that gets little attention, but really impacts businesses.

    7. Just win baby.

      I’m as strong an Obama supporter as there is, I’ve never wavered, and I have 5 (yes, 5!) Obama stickers prominently all over the back end of my car.

      And you know what?  I bet Obama is enough the politician to know that an Altmire victory or a Donnelly victory is an Obama victory, no matter what they say on TV to get there.

    8. … 97.9% of precincts are reporting, and Miller’s still sitting on a 1,960 vote lead. How many absentees are currently outstanding? If there’s a protracted recount it could be a nice opportunity for McAdams to marshal some resources together to mount a real campaign.

    10. Should we chance marshalling a major effort behind Scott McAdams for AK-Sen?  Or is there a chance of getting Berkowitz (or some other A-list Democrat) on the Alaska ballot as some sort of a replacement candidate?  

      Should we chance a major push behind Jon Hulburd in AZ-3?

      In either case, could it be worth the effort?

    11. The prevailing wisdom is that the rural areas sometimes take weeks to come in, and those areas favor pork-bearing incumbents the most. But Ted Stevens led after the initial count in ’08 and then lost because of these late returns, and he was as pork-loving as they come. Any reason to think Murkowski will do better than Stevens with the absentees?

    12. just talked to some solid Alaska sources. They do not think there is any realistic chance Lisa Murkowski can make up the votes she needs.  8 minutes ago  via web  

    14. http://news.opb.org/article/11…

      Three managers at the Oregon Department of Energy are under criminal investigation, after an audit turned up possible irregularities that could involve federal stimulus money. Now, the girlfriend of Oregon gubernatorial candidate John Kitzhaber is denying reports that her consulting firm is linked to the inquiry.

    16. I’ve seeing a lot of Sipprelle commercials this week. So his ads are definitely getting out there. Fortunately his ads boring and unimpressive.

    17. (sorry but this is the reality). If he thinks he has a prayer of a chance in becoming Senator this Nov. After celebrating his pyrrhic victory over that slimeball Greene, he needs to stop being stupid and and do what is right.  

      (1) The FL-GOP and right-leaning Indies are pumped going into Nov and with the exception of Sink v. Scott, the Dems are pretty much underdogs everwhere else.

      (2) He has no money and will have no money. And you can NEVER win a general election in a state like FL without spending at least $15 mil.

      (3) Meek has as much baggage as Rubio (probably more) with his shady campaign finance dealings and South FL connections. By the time that is sufficiently exposed statewide, he’ll be an afterthought.

      (4)Unless he dedicates all his efforts to attacking Rubio, Meek might as well come out as an agent of the FL GOP.

      (5) Crist is pulling about 30% of the GOP vote and 60% of the Dem vote and about 40% of FL indies. While Crist’s support is not too soft it is by no means solid. Rubio has no reason to go further right (ergo he is talking less teabagging shit) and once Meek starts attacking Crist, Rubio will consolidate his right flank and pick off the Indies.

      (6) Arguments about pissed off AA voters is BS! Meek has no bargaining power with them b/c they are practical voters and will vote for Crist in a hearbeat if Obama makes the case for Crist.

      Meek should swallow his pride and do the right thing rather than be a spoiler. He can have another chance when Nelson retires. He should either go after Rubio 100% or step aside for the sake of his party.

      I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, barring a disastorous scandal on Rubio, allowing him to become US-Senator will be the biggest mistake FL and national Democrats will make in a generation.

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