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July 24, 2010
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) has handed over e-mails to authorities investigating criminal misconduct allegations against Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), the
Las Vegas Review Journal reports.
"Coburn was a former roommate with Ensign at a Christian group house on Capitol Hill and served as an intermediary for a period in 2008 between the Nevada Republican and Doug Hampton, the husband of Ensign's mistress at the time... Coburn's cooperation is the latest sign that the Justice Department's Office of Public Integrity is moving forward with the investigation, which has darkened Ensign's reputation and raised questions about his political future."
A new
St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Mason-Dixon poll in Missouri finds Roy Blunt (R) leading Robin Carnahan (D) in the race for U.S. Senate, 48% to 42%.
Carnahan leads in the more populated St. Louis and Kansas City areas, which tend to vote Democratic. But Blunt leads every other region of the state by a healthy margin.
Said pollster Brad Coker: "Outside of the metro areas, he's killing her."
"Unfortunately, I think some, and I hate to say this, but some want Obama to fail, period. And unfortunately, Obama's failure would be the country's failure. In a way, some of them are rooting against the country. They want political power."
-- Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), in an interview with the
Washington Post, on the Republican opposition.
Rep. Zach Wamp (R-TN) suggested Tennessee and other states "may have to consider seceding from the union if the federal government does not change its ways regarding mandates,"
The Hotline reports.
Said Wamp: "I hope that the American people will go to the ballot box in 2010 and 2012 so that states are not forced to consider separation from this government."
He went on to praise Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) who
suggested the same remedy last year.
Soon after Rep. Charlie Melancon (D) released an internal poll showing he was
deadlocked with Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) in their U.S. Senate race, Republicans released their
own poll showing Vitter with a 17 point lead, 48% to 31%.
July 23, 2010
For a decade, Illinois U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk (R) has told the story of how he nearly drowned when he was 16 years old and how his rescue by the Coast Guard inspired him to pursue a career in public service.
However, a
Chicago Tribune review has found "there are inconsistencies in Kirk's statements that suggest parts of his real-life drama have been embellished."
"It is not the first time this year Kirk has had to reconcile his public statements about major moments in his life with records that contradict him or don't back up the details as he tells them. Questions about Kirk's descriptions of his military career have become a significant issue in his race with Democratic state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias to fill the seat once held by President Obama."
A new
Rasmussen survey in West Virginia shows Gov. Joe Manchin (D) way ahead of possible challenger John Raese (R) in the special election for U.S. Senate, 51% to 35%.
Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) introduced Vice President Joe Biden at an event in South Carolina with a nice jab,
CNN reports.
Said Clybrun, barely concealing laughter: "Ladies and gentleman, it's a pleasure for me to present to you a mainstream American who is an articulate and bright and clean and a nice looking guy."
It was a reference to Biden's uncomfortable description of Barack Obama in the early days of the 2008 presidential race.
Coming soon:
Poorer Richard's America: What Would Ben Say? by Tom Blair.
"For decades, Benjamin Franklin's
Poor Richard's Almanack provided sage advice and commentary on eighteenth-century America. Now, a modern businessman reflects -- writing as Benjamin Franklin -- on what America has become."
"The truth about the climate crisis -- inconvenient as ever -- must be faced."
-- Al Gore, in a
statement about Democrats abandoning climate change legislation.
Despite describing itself as a "grassroots" effort,
Salon reports that "virtually all of the $4.7 million raised by Karl Rove's new conservative outfit was contributed by just four billionaires, three of whom are based in Dallas, Texas, and two of whom made their fortune in the oil and gas industry."
An
internal poll for Elaine Marshall (D) in North Carolina shows she's moved ahead of Sen. Richard Burr (R) in their U.S. Senate race, 37% to 35%.
The latest
Public Policy Polling survey shows net approval of congressional Democrats is 16 points better than that of congressional Republicans. Yet when it came to the generic ballot there was a tie.
Key finding: "The reason for that disconnect is that Republicans are cleaning up with a voting bloc that accounts for 26% of the country and could end up being the most important group of people at the polls this fall: voters who hate both congressional Democrats and congressional Republicans. The GOP has a 57-19 generic lead with this group of voters that could perhaps be described as the angriest segment of the electorate. Their support is fueling the GOP's success right now."
Who are they? 44% are Republicans, 34% are independents, and 21%
are Democrats. They're largely male (60%) and white (82%).
Five years ago, the yacht of billionaire U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Greene (D) ran aground a coral reef and caused severe damage. He faces fines of up to $1.87 million for the accident.
But the
St. Petersburg Times notes that "oddly, Greene today says the incident never happened, despite extensive publicity about it at the time (including statements from his representatives), eyewitness accounts, scientific surveys of the damage and an extensive case file at the country's Department of Environment."
Asked how he could say it never happened, a Greene spokesman commented, "That's our position. That's our quote."
Ben Smith: "Florida is really cornering a market once controlled by South Carolina."
Vice President Joe Biden said Congress is essentially done when it comes to the Obama administration's legislative priorities this year,
The Hill reports.
Said Biden: "Now that the heavy lifting is over, we can go out and make our case."
"I think that all we should do is issue subpoenas and have one hearing after another. And expose all the nonsense that is going on."
-- Rep. Michelle Bachman (R-MN), quoted by
Three Fingers of Politics, on what Republicans should do if they win control of the House of Representatives.
Though Senate Democrats have
pulled the plug for now, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) tells
Bloomberg that Democrats "may take up his comprehensive climate-change bill in a
lame-duck session after the November elections."
Said Kerry: "If it is after the election, it may well be that some members are free and liberated and feeling that they can take a risk or do something."
Smart Politics looks at the 40 House members who have joined the Tea Party Caucus organized by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN).
The group represents districts that voted Republican by very comfortable margins in the 2008 election cycle, with an average victory margin of 29.2 points. The districts represented by caucus members have an average Partisan Voting Index of +14 GOP, which means they voted 14 points more Republican than the nation as a whole during the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections.
Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-LA) released an
internal poll that shows he is in a tight race with Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), 43% to 44%.
Previous Melancon polls have shown Vitter with double-digit leads.
Ten Republicans filed to run for West Virginia's vacant U.S. Senate seat, the
Charleston Daily Mail reports.
John Raese (R), an industrialist and media owner, and Mac Warner (R), recent U.S. House candidate who did not win his party's nomination, are the best known among the Republican hopefuls.
West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin (D) is expected to be the Democratic party's nominee.
Rob Simmons (R) says he is not campaigning for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut despite the
new TV ads he's running and the occasional campaign appearances he's making,
The Hill reports.
Simmons, who suspended his campaign in May after losing the Republican party's endorsement, said he thinks of the ads more as "public service announcements."
A new
Braun Research poll in Kentucky finds Rand Paul (R) leading Jack Conway (D) in the U.S. Senate race, 41% to 38%.
July 22, 2010
Former Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) demanded that the two GOP gubernatorial candidates in Colorado drop out of the race, the
Denver Post reports.
He gave both men until noon on Monday to agree to leave the race. If they don't, he said he will run for governor as an American Constitution Candidate, a move likely to split the Republican Party in November's general election.
Said Tancredo: "There's nothing left to split. The reality is that with the two candidates we have, we will lose the general election."
Colorado Pols: "Demanding a withdrawal by an arbitrary deadline only serves to humiliate McInnis and Maes more than they've already humiliated themselves. McInnis has always been too proud to admit his own errors; we just don't see him bowing out of the race to kiss the feet of one of the Colorado GOP's foremost lunatics."
Marc Ambinder: "The chaos at the Republican National Committee threatens to cost Republicans the chance to take control of the House of Representatives, Republican strategists fear. During midterm elections, the national committee plays two essential roles. First, it serves as a bank account that can be drawn upon to shore up House races or put others into play. Second, it coordinates the party's field operations and funds joint Victory committees with state parties. The RNC, at the moment, is barely fulfilling the second function and has less than $10 million on hand, so it cannot help much with House races."
Meanwhile,
Politico reports Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) is considering a run for chairmanship of the RNC "and has begun talking to associates about taking on Michael
Steele, should the embattled current chairman seek another term in
January."
The House ethics committee announced that "an investigative subcommittee has found substantial reason to believe that Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) may have violated House rules or other laws, following a nearly two-year investigation into allegations involving his personal finances, fundraising efforts and other issues,"
Roll Call reports.
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