FL-Sen: Some more lulzy shit from Charlie Crist: Now he says he won’t engage in any more negative campaigning. He also re-iterated that he’s pro-life (jeez) and that he doesn’t like Arizona’s new immigration law. I think there might be six people in America who belong to his crazy-ass, Garanimals-style mix-n-match political party. Meanwhile, ex-North Miami Mayor Kevin Burns is abandoning the Democratic primary (where he never got even the slightest bit of traction) and running for the state senate seat being vacated by Dem Dan Gelber, who is running for AG.
NV-Gov: Ralph Waldo Emerson surely had Brian Sandoval in mind when he sagely observed that a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. When he ran for state AG in 2002, he told the editorial board of the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he viewed it as the AG’s job to defend any state law, no matter how constitutionally suspect. Since he was clearly out sick the day they taught the Socratic method in law school, Sandoval, when pressed, even said that he would enforce a law requiring Jews to wear yellow stars. Yeah. But now it’s Gov. Jim Gibbons’ turn to sound ridiculous, since he put out a press release that directly compared Sandoval to the Nazis. Sigh. I would have flunked Sandoval had I been his civpro professor, but this charge is a bit much, to say the least.
IL-14: The Tarrance Group (R) for Randy Hultgren (5/3-4, likely voters, no trendlines):
Bill Foster (D-inc): 44
Randy Hultgren (R): 45
(MoE: ±5.7%)
MO-08: GOP Rep. Jo Ann Emerson was reportedly short-listed to become chair of the Credit Union National Association (whose current chief will step down at the end of the year), but she’s denying that she’s interested. Dem Tommy Sowers, who has shown some surprising fundraising prowess in this deep red district, had been making some hay about this.
MS-01: Former FOX News talking head Angela McGlowan flip-flopped and now says she’ll support whoever the Republican nominee is against Travis Childers. Previously, she said she refused to back NRCC fave Alan Nunnelee if he won the GOP nod, citing some tax apostasy.
OH-18: Four local labor unions (SEIU, CWA, UFCW and UAW) held a rally to announce that they officially plan to withhold their support from Rep. Zack Space. Space, as you’ll recall, switched his vote from “yes” to “no” on the healthcare bill. SEIU is actually encouraging folks to “Skip a Space” and not vote for him altogether (though the other unions did not go that far).
CT-AG: It’s official (for now) – Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz can run for AG. You may recall a weird issue came up some months ago – namely, CT requires that its attorneys general have “actively practiced” law for ten years. A Superior Court judge ruled today that Bysiewicz’s service as SoS, which involved ruling on legal matters related to elections, met that requirement. (Had it not, she would have failed to qualify.) The state GOP may still appeal.
Campaign Finance: A little-noticed provision of the so-called DISCLOSE Act, which is aimed at blunting the impact of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, would have a major impact on party committees like the DCCC and NRCC. As you know, every two years, these committees must set up walled-off departments which make independent expenditures on behalf of campaigns – but can never communicate with those same campaigns. The DISCLOSE Act would redefine the test for impermissible coordination, only barring the party committees from making IEs if they are “controlled by, or made at the direction of” the candidate. That will be a pretty easy problem to avoid, if the bill passes. Mr. Reid, Ms. Pelosi – tear down that wall!