No one expected Palin's resignation on July 3, 2009, just 2 1/2 years into her term. Her hastily composed and clumsily delivered farewell address left many observers confused about her motives. Some of her critics were only too eager to fill in the gaps with conjecture and hearsay (She's being investigated by the FBI! Sarah and Todd must be headed for divorce!). If there was one thing everybody knew for sure, it was that Palin's career in politics was over.
It's come to this. In Kentucky, where Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul is leading Democrat Jack Conway 47% to 41.7% in the RCP average of polls, the Conway campaign has decided to release an ad painting Rand Paul as anti-Christian:
Republicans are making a serious play for two West Cost Senate seats this year: the race in Washington--where Dino Rossi is challenging Senator Patty Murray--is close, as is the race in California, where Carly Fiorina is challenging Senator Barbara Boxer. But what about Oregon? Unlike its neighbors to the north and south with toss-up Senate races, the state is in nearly everyone's "likely Democratic" column. Democratic senator Ron Wyden holds a 16-point lead over Republican challenger Jim Huffman, a law professor at Lewis & Clark law school, in the RealClearPolitics average of polls. "I literally don't know a soul who thinks Wyden is in trouble or will even have a close race," says Larry Sabato of UVA's Center for Politics.
Here's Barbara Boxer explaining to Wolf Blitzer how she's voted for trillions of dollars in tax cuts, including the stimulus, or as it's known in Boxer-speak, "the biggest tax cut in history" (via Allahpundit):
In the annals of mind-bendingly obfuscatory teaser lines, the following from the New York Times surely must be given pride of place: “Germany may have secured one of the new nonpermanent seats on the U.N. Security Council, but with the rise of China, Europe’s influence is waning.” The teaser leads to the equally obfuscatory article available here and it indeed nicely captures the article’s tenor.
A couple other pollsters show Democrat Dick Blumenthal with a healthy lead in the Connecticut Senate race, but Rasmussen shows Republican Linda McMahon trailing by just five points:
Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin has opened up a double-digit lead over Republican John Raese in the West Virginia Senate special election, according to a new poll set for release Friday morning.
Republican John Dennis of San Francisco--the businessman running against Nancy Pelosi--is out with a new advertisement. It's a little less wacky than the infamous "Wizard of Oz" ad, but it retains the humorous tone as Dennis looks around San Fran for the speaker:
Rep. Steve Driehaus's lawyer got an agreement from a billboard company--Lamar Advertising--to suspend the "posting of billboard advertisements by the Susan B. Anthony List" against Driehaus until the Ohio Elections Commission rules on the Democratic congressman's complaint that the SBA List's ad claiming Driehaus voted for taxpayer-funded abortion is false.
Strongly indicating just how well ObamaCare is resonating with the public as we approach the midterm elections, Politico reports that, so far in October, advertising in opposition to ObamaCare and/or in support of repeal has outpaced advertising in support of ObamaCare by a margin of "20-to-1." Almost nobody wants to defend this president's, and this Congress's, signature initiative.
