Salazar on new Musgrave attack ad: 'It makes me want to throw up' (em dash)
Just one day after both of the national parties jumped into the race with high-profile television ads blasting their opponent, Republican Rep. Marilyn Musgrave came out with a new ad telling viewers her Democratic opponent Betsy Markey could face up to five years in jail if the Justice Department find any wrong doing with Markey’s family business and government contracts it accepted.
Posted at 10/15/2008 06:31:44 PM EST - #
Cost of Postville raid: $5.2 million and rising (desmoinesdem)
In response to a request from Congressman Bruce Braley (D, IA-01), Immigration and Customs Enforcement released an accounting of the costs incurred by the May 12 raid at the Agriprocessors plant in Postville. Bleeding Heartland has the line items that add up to more than $5.2 million so far. The Des Moines Register noted that the $5.2 million figure does not include costs incurred to the U.S. Department of Labor or the U.S. attorney's office in Cedar Rapids, which have investigated various labor and safety violations at Agriprocessors.
Posted at 10/15/2008 04:10:05 PM EST - #
LA-Sen: Landrieu Drops the Hammer (DailyKingFish)
Senator Landrieu has NOT been taking re-election for granted this time around, unleashing an ad campaign that repeatedly slams Republican hopeful John Kennedy with his record. Check out the latest edition.
Posted at 10/15/2008 02:27:26 PM EST - #
MN-02, MN-03: Kline attacks Madia...? (MN Campaign Report)
2nd district Congressman John Kline is attacking 3rd district Democratic candidate Ashwin Madia for using publicly available stock footage of the Marine Silent Drill Team in a campaign ad. Coming from a guy who regularly exploits his military background for political gain six years after his first election to Congress, it's an interesting line of attack, and more than a little hypocritical.M
More here
Posted at 10/15/2008 09:38:39 AM EST - #
Top Obama and McCain Surrogates Debate Energy?Enviro: Live Blog (lowkell)
As I write this, Gov. Tim Kaine and former Senator George "Felix Macacawitz" Allen are acting as surrogates for the Obama and McCain campaigns, respectively, in a debate on energy and the environment. "The Green Miles" Grant is live blogging it here. So far, Allen says rail is "wasteful," other countries "untrustworthy," and basically "drill baby drill." That's the McCain attitude towards energy and the environment in a nutshell. I wonder what other crazy stuff Allen will say.
Posted at 10/15/2008 08:34:09 AM EST - #
Burnt Orange Report Releases Texas House Predictions (KTinTX)
In the second installment (of the second annual) Burnt Orange Political Report- Texas' leading political blog breaks down the lay of the land and the (current) likely outcome of the Texas State House races. All 150 are on the ballot this November and with Republican holding a slim 79-71 edge, there is a real possibility of the chamber switching control.
Click here to see the current projections, with links to 15 race profiles for the most contested seats. There's no current scenario in which Democrats lose any seats and a possibility that if the wave includes Texas, up to 9 seats could switch!
Posted at 10/15/2008 03:42:45 AM EST - #
LA-Sen: LA GOP Chair Threatens Backlash (DailyKingFish)
against members of his party that endorse Senator Mary Landrieu in the Senate race.
Posted at 10/14/2008 08:28:50 PM EST - #
LA-01: Harlan named to DCCC's Red To Blue List (DailyKingFish)
Democratic contender Jim Harlan has been named to the DCCC's Red to Blue list. The full list of the unprecedented 6th wave is posted over at Swing State Project.
Posted at 10/14/2008 06:24:31 PM EST - #
Kristol to McCain: Fire Your Campaign (Matt Glazer)
Conservative commentator Bill Kristol has a conservative perspective of the McCain campaign-- fire them. In his Op-Ed yesterday Kristol calls the McCain campaign "dysfunctional", "incoherent", and toxic, and these are McCain's friends.
Posted at 10/14/2008 03:01:59 PM EST - #
NC-Sen: Internal Hagan Poll has Dole under 40% (John Rohrbach)
Posted at 10/14/2008 02:57:40 PM EST - #
DCCC puts IA-04 on Red to Blue list, IA-05 on Emerging Races list (desmoinesdem)
The DCCC added IA-04 to the Red to Blue list today and moved IA-05 up from Races to Watch to Emerging Races. Bleeding Heartland is happy to see the DCCC recognize that those seats can be won amid what looks like a landslide for Barack Obama in Iowa. Click over for links to diaries on why Becky Greenwald and Rob Hubler can beat Tom Latham and Steve King.
Posted at 10/14/2008 01:11:56 PM EST - #
Explaining Iowa's failure to send a woman to Congress (desmoinesdem)
With Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-02) and Democrat Becky Greenwald (IA-04) running for Congress this year, the Des Moines Register examines some of the reasons Iowa is one of only two states never to have elected a woman governor or sent a woman to Congress. Bleeding Heartland largely agrees with the Register's analysis but has a few more thoughts on the matter (see also this piece and this piece for more relevant factors). It's worth noting that women candidates seem to have a harder time winning Congressional elections across the board. Chris Bowers examined 30 highly targeted House districts in 2006 and noticed that 20 of the 21 male Democrats facing Republican incumbents won, while 8 of the 9 female Democrats facing Republican incumbents lost.
Posted at 10/14/2008 11:15:55 AM EST - #
MN-Sen: The race is deadlocked (MN Campaign Report)
All recent polls are showing a tight race, with both incumbent Republican Norm Coleman and Democratic challenger Al Franken deadlocked at or just below 40% (third-party candidate Dean Barkley gets around 17-18). Check out the trendlines here, and don't worry -- Franken is ahead by a couple of points, if you believe the polls.
More here.
Posted at 10/14/2008 10:14:47 AM EST - #
WA Gov: Buildergate Continues to Plague Rossi (John Rohrbach)
Republican Dino Rossi continues to squirm in trying to avoid testifying about his role in the Buildergate scandal:
As expected, lawyers for Dino Rossi filed this motion in a King County court today. It asks a judge to quash a subpoena that would require him to answer questions under oath in a lawsuit prior to the Nov. 4 election.
Posted at 10/14/2008 08:43:16 AM EST - #
VA: McCain Campaign Lies About Virginia Beach Crowd Size (lowkell)
Can these people tell the truth about anything? Apparently not.
Posted at 10/13/2008 08:08:00 PM EST - #
80% of Registered youth could turnout on election day (Mike Connery)
A point of comparison. A lot of media outlets are now saying that "lots of youth are registered, but they never show up on election day."
That's actually not true. According to Rock the Vote and census data, over 80% of registered youth actually cast a ballot on election day in 2004. Add in Obama's mass of new voter registrations and that makes for a compelling picture for potential youth turnout. Future Majority has more.
Posted at 10/13/2008 04:35:30 PM EST - #
LA-06: New Poll, and Cassidy Admits Support for Class Warfare (DailyKingFish)
The DCCC released a poll showing a 17 point lead for Don Cazayoux, and his opponent, Bill Cassidy, admits that he would have voted FOR the $700 billion bailout.
Posted at 10/13/2008 02:40:36 PM EST - #
LA-Sen: Landrieu v. Kennedy, Rd. II (DailyKingFish)
CenLamar has a pretty good recap of the second debate ... including the smackdown of Kennedy by Senator Landrieu:
“John, I know you’re trying very hard, but Senator McCain’s coattails are not long enough for you.”
Posted at 10/13/2008 02:24:21 PM EST - #
CO-SEN: Massive ad buy smacks Schaffer as ‘war profiteer’ (em dash)
Hot on the heels of an ad tying Republican Senate candidate Bob Schaffer to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and sweatshop operators, a campaign finance watchdog group hit the Denver airwaves Monday morning with a second ad blasting Schaffer as a “war profiteer” over an Iraqi oil deal he negotiated.
Posted at 10/13/2008 02:13:09 PM EST - #
NC Sen: Dole is out of money (The Southern Dem)
Elizabeth Dole, once known for her ability to raise money, is now personally financing her Senate campaign.
Posted at 10/13/2008 10:57:05 AM EST - #
CO-SEN, CO-PRES: Obama, Udall each up 10 pts (em dash)
A new voter snapshot released by Public Policy Polling spells good news for the Obama-Biden presidential ticket and U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall with each campaign leading its opponent by 10 points overall and seemingly insurmountable leads with key constituency groups.
Posted at 10/12/2008 02:13:38 PM EST - #
VA: GOP Party Chair Compares Obama to Bin Laden (lowkell)
This obviously is unacceptable, but sadly not surprising. The question is, will John McCain and other Republican "leaders" repudiate these hateful, ignorant comments or not?
Posted at 10/12/2008 12:08:48 PM EST - #
Texas County Agrees to Stop Vote Suppression Efforts (Matt Glazer)
After decades of suppressing voter rights,one Texas County has finally agreed to let mostly young, African American Texans have the right to vote.
Posted at 10/11/2008 03:00:32 PM EST - #
VA-05: Tom Perriello Closes in on Virgil Goode (lowkell)
New poll results from Virginia's 5th CD indicate that "common good progressive" Tom Perriello is closing in on corrupt, anti-Muslim bigot Virgil Goode. Great news!
Posted at 10/11/2008 12:09:25 PM EST - #
Hotline: Colorado is last toss-up state in nation (em dash)
Colorado’s nine electoral votes are the only ones in the nation not leaning toward either Barack Obama or John McCain, according to an Electoral College projection Friday by the National Journal’s Hotline that shows Obama approaching a landslide victory.
Posted at 10/11/2008 11:32:28 AM EST - #
Jim Webb: Barack Obama Will be a "fine commander in chief" (lowkell)
Check out our exclusive interview with Jim Webb, in which he decries John McCain's "Karl Rove" politics and predicts that "Barack Obama is going to win [Virginia]."
Posted at 10/10/2008 07:23:34 PM EST - #
IA-04: Latham and Greenwald hold second radio debate (desmoinesdem)
Democrat Becky Greenwald and Republican incumbent Tom Latham faced off in their second and final radio debate this morning in Mason City. They also debated on a Des Moines radio station on Monday. It may be their final meeting of the campaign, although efforts are ongoing to organize a joint appearance on Iowa Public Television before November 4.
Posted at 10/10/2008 02:31:27 PM EST - #
One Really Bad Typo: 'Barack Osama' on Ballot in NY County (lipris)
Typo? Maybe. Freudian slip? Perhaps. Regardless, absentee voters in Rensselaer County, NY got ballots in the mail with one Barack Osama listed as the Democratic nominee for president.
Posted at 10/10/2008 01:43:02 PM EST - #
NC Sen: Kay Hagan Fights back against False Freedom's Watch Ads (The Southern Dem)
Kay Hagan is being attacked on air and land in North Carolina by mulitple 527 groups. Freedom's Watch is running ads that make false claims in NC and the Kay Hagan campaign is fighting back.
Posted at 10/10/2008 11:37:19 AM EST - #
Gordon Smith: Sarah Palin is "a great governor of CALIFORNIA" (karichisholm)
Befuddling, but true:
Posted at 10/10/2008 01:46:17 AM EST - #
Rossi subpoenaed in Buildergate Case (John Rohrbach)
Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi has been ordered to be deposed on his role in the Building Industry Association of Washington's fundraising activities for their political action committee, ChangePAC, which supports his election, according to a ruling from the state Superior Court.
Posted at 10/09/2008 06:05:11 PM EST - #
SD: Tim Johnson Leads 60%-35% (lowkell)
A new poll released today shows U.S. Senator Tim Johnson maintaining a commanding 25-point lead among South Dakota voters, topping his opponent (Joel Dykstra) 60%-35%.
Posted at 10/09/2008 05:52:21 PM EST - #
NRCC Pulling 2/3 of ads in swing district (fbihop)
Last cycle, NM-01 went to the Republican incumbent by less than a thousand votes. This year it's an open seat, and the NRCC just announced they cutting back their ads. Now the NRCC will only be airing one week of ads instead of the three originally promised.
Posted at 10/09/2008 04:52:49 PM EST - #
McCain still making a play for Iowa? (desmoinesdem)
Nine of the last ten Iowa polls show Barack Obama at or above 50 percent, with a significant lead over John McCain. Yet McCain is coming back to Iowa on Saturday and has opened more field offices here since Labor Day. He'll hold a rally in Davenport, which is across the Mississippi River from Illinois, so it's not as if media coverage from the event will reach a different swing state market. I'm not complaining about McCain spending a half-day here instead of in Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, Missouri or Colorado.
Posted at 10/09/2008 04:35:19 PM EST - #
WVa Pres: M42 O50 - 12 point swing (WVaBlue)
ARG has released a poll of 600LVs showing a 12 point swing since their previous poll in mid-Sept.
Posted at 10/09/2008 02:39:30 PM EST - #
MN-03: Madia raises $997k in Q3 (MN Campaign Report)
In a continuing spate of great news for Dem candidate Ashwin Madia, his campaign is announcing today that they raised a hair short of a million bucks in Q3. Wow. Madia's cleared $2 million for the cycle, and while Republican opponent Erik Paulsen is financially stable on his own, the NRCC has been withdrawing from the race while the DCCC has been fully engaged. Advantage, Madia.
Posted at 10/09/2008 02:27:22 PM EST - #
CO-04: Musgrave-Markey pre-debate throw down (em dash)
Colorado Independent posted a debate strategy precursor in the nasty race between Marilyn Musgrave and ex-Ken Salazar staffer Betsy Markey. CQ Politics astoundingly called the race as having 'no clear favorite.' Is Musgrave going down?
Posted at 10/09/2008 02:14:10 PM EST - #
NC-Sen: Dole still banging deregulation drum (John Rohrbach)
From the Kinston Free-Press, part of an answer on how to stimulate the economy of eastern North Carolina: "We need low taxes, less regulation..."
Posted at 10/09/2008 12:41:18 PM EST - #
MN-03: Madia posts 2nd poll lead over GOP opponent Paulsen (MN Campaign Report)
This week has been absolutely phenomenal for Madia. With each day, the news makes it more apparent than he is beginning to pull away from Paulsen. First, a poll from the DCCC showed Ashwin Madia ahead of Erik Paulsen by 5 points. Then, the NRCC canceled a week of advertising for Paulsen. And now, a second poll has Madia leading. A KSTP/SurveyUSA poll shows Madia leading Paulsen 46 to 43, with David Dillon at 8 percent.Really, really great week for Team Madia -- and it's only Thursday...
Posted at 10/09/2008 08:47:09 AM EST - #
KY-Sen: DSCC jumps in with ad attacking McConnell (MediaCzech)
The DSCC is launching its first ad in Kentucky after the recent surprising polls showing Bruce Lunsford and Mitch McConnell in a dead heat.
Posted at 10/08/2008 03:46:54 PM EST - #
NM-Sen: Another sign GOP is giving up? (fbihop)
Is this another sign the Republicans are completely giving up on New Mexico's Senate race? At a recent John McCain rally in Albuquerque, McCain didn't even acknowledge that Pearce was in attendance.
Posted at 10/08/2008 03:27:50 PM EST - #
DCCC, NRCC Spend $8 Million in 41 Districts (HellofaSandwich)
Posted at 10/08/2008 12:25:07 AM EST - #
VA: 350,000 New Registered Voters Since 1/1/08 (lowkell)
New numbers are out from Virginia, where new voter registration is now closed, and boy is it looking good. I'm hearing that of the 350,000 (or more) new registered voters in Virginia, 80% may be Democratic! Keep in mind that John Kerry lost Virginia to George W. Bush by 262,000 votes in 2004, and that 80% of 350,000 is...280,000. :)
Posted at 10/07/2008 07:02:53 PM EST - #
National Debt Too Big for Clock (KTinTX)
That's just depressing.
Posted at 10/07/2008 06:34:25 PM EST - #
Clinton headed to W.Va. to endorse Anne Barth (WV-02) (WVaBlue)
Hillary Clinton is returning to West Virginia on Friday to endorse Democratic challenger Anne Barth (WV-02)
Posted at 10/07/2008 11:56:21 AM EST - #
Not a Joke: "Macaca" Man to Represent McCain in Debate on Energy/Environment (lowkell)
It is very telling that "The McCain campaign chose this racist clown to represent them in a key battleground state."
Posted at 10/07/2008 11:30:50 AM EST - #
IL-10, IN-09, NC-08, NH-01, NY-29, PA-04, WI-08: Democrats Post Leads in New SUSA Polls (HellofaSandwich)
SurveyUSA has released a batch of rematch polls in seven House races. The skinny? Democratic Reps. Baron Hill, Carol Shea-Porter, Jason Altmire, and Steve Kagen are all leading comfortably.
In even better news, Dan Seals, Larry Kissell, and Eric Massa are posting big leads over Republican incumbents.
Posted at 10/06/2008 10:57:59 PM EST - #
IA-04: Latham and Greenwald debate on the radio (desmoinesdem)
Congressman Tom Latham and Democratic candidate Becky Greenwald debated tonight on Des Moines-based WHO radio. It was their first debate (Latham declined several invitations to debate his challenger in August). Chase Martyn liveblogged the debate at Iowa Independent. My initial take is at Bleeding Heartland, and I will have more to say on the debate and the IA-04 race tomorrow at that community blog for Iowa Democrats.
Posted at 10/06/2008 10:15:17 PM EST - #
More good polls in NM (fbihop)
More good news for Dems in New Mexico. Tom Udall leads 51-36 according to a new poll. Obama leads McCain 45-40.
Posted at 10/06/2008 05:26:52 PM EST - #
TX Voter Registration Deadline Today (KTinTX)
If you are in Austin, you have the option of registering to vote until Midnight at any of 50 different locations. Burnt Orange Report has mapped them all here. Voter registration has already hit record levels in Texas and Austin is looking to add another 20,000 voters to the rolls today alone.
Posted at 10/06/2008 04:19:05 PM EST - #
