Midterm Roundup
Houston Chronicle reports: “Gov. Rick Perry ordered on Tuesday a special election for the unexpired term of U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay to coincide with the general election Nov. 7, when only two months will remain on DeLay's term.” Sixers calls the special election “a life saver for the Texas GOP.” But Hotline and Rick Hasen aren’t so sure – the additional ballot is going to create a lot of confusion among voters, and the GOP gambit could galvanize the Democrats.
CT-SEN: Lieberman and the GOP, Sittin’ in a Tree…
AP reports: “Sen. Joe Lieberman, running for re-election as an independent after losing the Democratic primary and being abandoned by top-ranking Democrats earlier this month, will campaign with former Republican vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp, Lieberman said Tuesday.”
Curiously enough, on the same day Lieberman gained a Republican ally, he lost a Democratic one. Senator Daniel Inouye (D-AK) has retracted his previous support for Lieberman and endorsed Ned Lamont. The Fix has more on the Inouye reversal. Of course following the Midterm Roundup’s paradigm-shifting, expectation-shattering, political-landscape-destabilizing endorsement announcement Tuesday morning, Alan Schlesinger (R) is now the prohibitive frontrunner in the Connecticut Senate race.
Hotline has Representative Chris Shays (R) on Hardball discussing his timeline for withdrawal suggestion. And Hotline has more food for thought on Shays’s recent reversal on Iraq.
MD-SEN: Mfume Wins a Couple Nods
He’s no LL Cool S, but The Hill reports: “Maryland Democratic Reps. Al Wynn and Elijah Cummings will endorse former Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.) on Wednesday in his bid to win the party's Senate nomination in the Sept. 12 primary, a spokesman for Mfume's campaign said.” More on the endorsements from Roll Call (sub. req.).
Along with last week’s campaign event hosted by Russell Simmons, Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (R) will host a fundraiser for Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele today in Potomac, MD. But Steele, despite all his new friends, has his work cut out for him in November. Wash Times takes a look at that newest WSJ/Zogby poll that has Steele trailing in potential November matchups against not only Democratic frontrunners Ben Cardin (D) and Kweisi Mfume (D), but also against the 3rd Democrat in the race, businessman and political novice Josh Rales (D). Rales 45.7%, Steele 42.2%.
AP reports: “Assemblywoman Sharron Angle went to court Tuesday seeking a new Republican primary election, bucking pressure from a pair of high-ranking GOP leaders to end her contest against Dean Heller for Nevada's 2nd District congressional seat.” Senator John Ensign (R-NV) has urged Angle to abandon her effort. Angle attorney Jonathan Hansen said state law requires a hearing on the matter within 10 days.
FL-GOV: Crist and Gallagher Square Off in Final Debate
Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist (R) and state Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher (R) met Monday night for their 2nd and final debate before the September 5 primary. Consensus seems to be that the debate maintained the level of ill will and negativity typical of the race. Here’s reaction from Miami Herald, Palm Beach Post, and Sarasota Herald Tribune. The Orlando Sentinel’s Scott Maxwell had a particularly dour reaction to the debate: “Charlie Crist and Tom Gallagher accomplished quite a feat Monday night. They managed to conduct an entire debate, clearly enunciating most of their words, though both men had their lips firmly attached to Jeb Bush's posterior the whole time.” Tssssss, that burns!
Plus – how is Hurricane Ernesto affecting the campaigns down in Florida? The Herald-Tribune says, Political winds still blowing despite Ernesto, and the St. Petersburg Times says, Ernesto doesn't cancel politics. But the Orlando Sentinel says, Ernesto deals blow to Dems' gubernatorial debate, and the Florida News-Press says, Ernesto interupts election campaigns (sic). Hmm… it’s an interesting debate. OK, the Midterm Roundup hasn’t actually read any of these stories. Does anyone else feel like Florida has too many newspapers?
RI-SEN: Another Bad Sign for Chafee
Yesterday the Midterm Roundup noted a Hotline piece that seemed to suggest incumbent Senator Lincoln Chafee (R) is in serious danger of losing his September 12 primary to conservative Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey (R). Tuesday brought another troubling sign of Chafee’s status: the NRSC has spent $181,587.66 on direct mail this year targeting Laffey.
AZ-08: Those Pesky Conservatives
In the open seat race to succeed retiring 11-term centrist Representative Jim Kolbe (R), anything could happen. But if things continue down the current path Democrats will have a great chance to seize this seat. That’s because the GOP has failed to unite around a single moderate candidate. Instead two moderates, state Representative Steve Huffman (R) and former state Republican Party chairman Mike Hellon (R), are scrapping it out against each other while a more conservative candidate, former state Representative and 2004 nominee Randy Graf (R), pulls away from the pack. For a sense of the bizarrely personal nature of the Huffman Hellon battle, remember that Huffman’s campaign manager resigned amid accusations of stalking leveled by Hellon’s wife.
But just because he seems to be distancing himself from the fray doesn’t mean Graf is out of the reach of similarly salacious attacks, as a recent Huffman mailer accuses Graf of “being more irresponsible than a teenager.” The mailer’s hilarious front page pictures an overturned car with a couple of devious and wholly unrepentant-looking young hellions in the foreground. The Midterm Roundup has simply no tolerance for punk hooligans, especially ones with spiky hair, so there’s surely no way it’s voting for Randy Graf, whose first name even sounds suspiciously teenage.
Regardless, a Graf win in the September 12 primary represents the best shot for Democrats to take the seat in November in this swing district. Former state Senator Gabrielle Giffords (D) is the current frontrunner for the Dem nomination, but retired TV news anchorwoman Patty Weiss (D) is nipping at her heels.
MT-SEN: Frist Stumps for Burns
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) appeared in Billings, Montana on Monday to campaign on behalf of Senator Conrad Burns (R). The Great Falls Tribune reports that Frist is just one in a vast lineup of GOP stars making the trip out to Montana these days, confirming something we all knew: Burns is in hot water. And he’s got concerns other than the mounting pressure from challenger Jon Tester (D) – like George Allen, Burns has a tracker following him around the state with a video camera. You may be familiar with Kevin O’Brien’s work already – he’s the one who filmed Burns nodding off at a farm bill hearing.
IA-GOV: Culver and Nussle Agree to Debates
Quad-City Times reports: “Iowa’s candidates for governor agreed Monday to debate three times before the November election, but Republicans argued that the accepted lineup snubs the western part of the state.” The debates will go down October 2, October 16, and October 21.
Quad-City Times reports: “National Democrats are targeting Republican congressional candidate Mike Whalen with a new television ad that faults the ‘millionaire hotel and restaurant owner’ for opposing an increase in the minimum wage.
Snakes on a Plane
Lieberman, 'Snakes' and the seductive mythology of the blogosphere (USA Today, in which Bruce Kluger argues that Snakes on a Plane’s surprisingly ordinary box office numbers despite the giddy Internet anticipation, coupled with Ned Lamont’s “short-lived” primary victory, represents “a wake-up call about the mythology of blogging.” The Midterm Roundup can only assume that, like Weekly Standard’s Louis Wittig, Kluger does recognize and understand the concept that by writing about Snakes on a Plane’s inflated and unsubstantiated buzz, he is in fact fueling the very buzz he is bemoaning. Logic and reason aside, the Midterm Roundup would like to take this opportunity to challenge Kluger to be a man and say that stuff to Samuel L. Jackson’s face.)
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