VA-SEN: George Allen: Peggy Fox is a Zhlub! This Whole Thing is Meshuggeneh!

Wouldn’t you know it! Turns out George Allen does have Jewish ancestry after all. So… is this the moment then? Is this the moment when talk of the Virginia Senate race officially shifts from the Macaca comment to Allen’s Jewish ancestry?

Clearly the two things are related, but there seems to be a distinct evolution of the media’s focus in the air. Wait, nevermind, scratch that – no one’s allowed to talk about Allen’s ancestry or his apparent compulsion to lie about it. Just asking the question is anti-Semitic. You’re not anti-Semitic… ARE YOU???

By the Midterm Roundup’s estimation, the question Peggy Fox asked on Monday, while perhaps nothing more than an understandable effort to clear up some confusion, was by and large irrelevant to the race. And Allen’s response was almost right. He pointed out the question’s irrelevance, and tried to steer the debate back towards “issues that really matter to people here in Virginia.” That won him some hearty applause in the debate hall.

The reason people are up in arms about the response was the tone of it, the sort of shocked and victimized posture Allen assumed, and in the Roundup’s opinion, most significantly the very last words of the response: “… preserving our foundational values, and one of those values is freedom of religion and not making aspersions about people because of their religious beliefs.” Aspersions? That’s the key word of the entire response. Again, here’s the full question asked by Ms. Fox, so you can parse the aspersion for yourself: “Following the macaca episode, the Jewish press published stories that appeared on the internet that explored your possible Jewish ancestry on your mother’s side. You’ve been quoted as saying your mother’s not Jewish, but it has been reported that her father, your grandfather Felix, whom you were given your middle name for, was Jewish. Could you please tell us whether your forebears include Jews and, if so, at which point Jewish identity might have ended?”

The Carpetbagger Report’s Steve Benen noticed this also and writes, “It’s possible Allen meant that perhaps it's best to avoid all personal questions and stick exclusively to ‘the issues.’ But it also sounds a bit as if Allen was suggesting that being confronted with Jewish ancestry is an ‘aspersion.’ And if so, that's a problem.”

If you’re wary of the kind of frenetic talk going on at lefty places like Dailykos, the Midterm Roundup might point you in the direction of John Podhoretz at conservative NRO’s The Corner: “Does anybody agree with me that George Allen's response yesterday to a reporter asking him whether his grandfather Felix had been born Jewish was just...weird? Through body language and tone, Allen acted as though the question were absolutely beyond the bounds of all rational discourse… seems to me that what might appear at first to be one of those gotcha moments delivered by a candidate to a hostile reporter is, on second glance, just off somehow.”

And Isaac Chotiner at TNR’s The Plank writes: “Allen’s response is also completely out of proportion. It seemed to me that Allen had a visceral revulsion to being associated with Judaism. The reason for this may be unclear, but given everything we know about Allen, the whole episode just feels unseemly.”

At the end of the day the Midterm Roundup is just happy that the word “meshugaas” has suddenly become so appropriate in describing this race. Love that word.

MA, WA: Primary Results!

MASSACHUSETTS

MA-GOV

Democratic:

Former U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Deval Patrick (D) steamrolled to the Democratic nomination over investment banker Chris Gabrieli and state Attorney General Tom Reilly. Patrick took a 50% while Gabrieli and Reilly split the remainder with 27% and 23% respectively. Patrick now faces Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey (R), who took the Republican nomination unopposed. Massachusetts has never had an African American or a female as governor. They’ll have one or the other in November. For more…

Deval Patrick wins easily (Boston Globe)

Deval win sets up historic battle (Boston Herald)

Patrick Wins Mass. Democratic Primary (AP)

Mass. Dems Pick Patrick for Bid to End GOP Grip on Governorship (CQ)

A New Star Shines From Massachusetts (The Nation’s John Nichols likens Patrick to a one Barack Obama)

Healey, Democrat a study in contrasts (Globe)

Seven weeks to history (Globe editorial)

MA-SEN

Republican:

This baby is too close to call! With 96% of precincts reporting as the Midterm Roundup went to press, language school owner Ken Chase is pulling in 51% over businessman and former Wakefield Selectman Kevin Scott’s 49%. We’ll have to see if Scott can stage the late comeback. Not that it matters. Whoever wins will be romped on by 214-term Representative Ted Kennedy (D) come November.

MA-09

Democratic:

Representative Steve Lynch (D) gallivanted to renomination over seafood company executive Phil Dunkelbarger, 77% to 23%. Lynch will have no trouble winning reelection in November against attorney and businessman Jack E. Robinson (R).

WASHINGTON

WA-SEN

Republican:

Former Safeco CEO Mike McGavick (R) has this one wrapped up with about 85% of the vote as the Midterm Roundup went to press (a little over 50% of precincts reporting). Police officer and evangelical minister Brad Klippert gets honorable mentions with 6.5%.

Democratic:

Senator Maria Cantwell (D) wins it running away. Only about 55% of precincts reporting as the Midterm Roundup went to press, but she has 91% of the vote. The Mover, Mike (as he appears on the ballot) can still pull this baby out, the Roundup has faith – he’s charging hard with 2% of the vote. As for Goodspaceguy Nelson, stick a fork in him – he’s only got 2%.

CQ breaks down the imminent November showdown with Washington Primaries Set Up Long-Expected Matchups.

WA-02

Republican:

Retired Navy Captain Doug Roulstone sailed over Teri Moats 76% to 24% with over half the precincts reporting. Roulstone will be the underdog against incumbent 3-term Representative Rick Larsen (D), but he’s a legitimate enough contender to make this one potentially competitive.

Believe it or not, there is only 1 state left to hold its primaries before November 7. Hawaii is the last straggler, with its primaries this Saturday the 23 (oh Hawaii, you always have to be different, don’t you), although Louisiana’s primary, under the state’s unique open primary system, will occur on Election Day. The Midterm Roundup will have a Primary Preview: Luau Edition later this week.

MD-04: Primary Winner Update

Still no winner. The Baltimore Sun reports: “A week after Marylanders voted in the primary, the race for the Democratic nomination for the 4th District seat remains too close to call. … Elections workers in both counties were busily sorting thousands of provisional ballots yesterday trying to compile final vote totals as quickly as possible. Officials don't expect to be finished for days.”

PA-SEN: Tree of Hope Grows for Green Party

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazetter reports that the Pennsylvania state Supreme Court has granted Green Party candidate Carl Romanelli’s emergency appeal to a previous court ruling that requires 67,000 signatures for Romanelli to earn a spot on the November ballot.

Back in August, TPMmuckraker’s Paul Kiel reported that Romanelli was attempting to challenge a Commonwealth Court ruling that said he needed 67,000 signatures; that number based on a state law that specifies that an independent’s nominating petitions must include a signature total equal to 2 percent of the votes collected by the highest vote-getter in the previous statewide election. According to the court, the last election was Bob Casey’s 2004 landslide victory for state treasurer. The argument of Romanelli and his lawyers was that the last statewide election was in fact a 2005 judicial retention election, which had a much lower turnout and would hence require a much lower signature total.

Why is Romanelli fighting so hard for this? Because he needs as low a signature-requirement as possible: while his Republican-financed signature drive netted him close to 100,000 signatures, Democrats have alleged that nearly 70,000 of them are invalid. Paul Kiel noted that if Romanelli gets his way, he'd need only 15,949 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. So it’s quite a difference. The Supreme Court asked for all parties to file briefs by September 28.

Also of note: “The Santorum campaign did not immediately respond to a question on whether Republicans were financing Mr. Romanelli's legal fees.” Ha.

Meanwhile, in unrelated PA-SEN news, challenger Bob Casey (D) is running for his life… from his uni-brow past.

TN-SEN: Bad Sign for Corker

It can’t be a good sign for a Republican running in a red state to be denied an endorsement from a conservative pro-life group. Nashville City Paper reports: “Tennessee Right to Life officials continue to say they will not endorse Republican U.S. Senate nominee Bob Corker, definitely won’t campaign for him, and are even unsure if they will vote for him.” Lacking the support of a social conservative group “could de-energize the Republican base and hurt his chances of defeating Democratic opponent U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D-Memphis),” the Paper writes.

Meanwhile remember that ad that Harold Ford, Jr. filmed in a church? Many considered it a risky move, but it looks like it’s doing all that Ford could have hoped for it. The Plank’s Michael Crowley notes that Ford is now being denounced by the American Atheists for “religionizing” politics. Writes Crowley, “With enemies like the atheists, a Tennessee Democrat hardly needs friends.” Certainly seems like a winning formula for earning some conservative bona fides as a Democrat in a red state. The question now is how many Democratic voters Ford may have alienated with the ad.

CT-02: Simmons and Courtney Clash in 1^st Debate

Connecticut’s 2^nd district race is one third of the triumvirate of vulnerable Republican House incumbents fighting for survival in Connecticut, along with CT-04 (Shays) and CT-05 (Johnson). Monday Representative Rob Simmons (R) and his challenger, former state Representative and Simmons’ 2002 opponent Joe Courtney (D), debated for their first time. Iraq was predictably the big issue, but unlike in the 4^th district race between Representative Chris Shays (R) and Diane Farrell (D), the candidates in the 2^nd have clearly distinct views on the big withdrawal question: “I don't favor a deadline,” says Simmons. “A deadline is tantamount to cutting and running. ... A deadline puts our troops at risk.” While Courtney “expressed support for Delaware Democratic Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s plan to withdraw the troops by the end of 2007, with the stipulation that the U.S. ‘makes sure we are leaving a stable situation behind.’” The New London Day has more on the debate.

NJ-SEN: Strike 2 for Kean Jr.’s Anti-Menendez Ethics Campaign

Via Midterm Madness, Thurman Hart takes a long and painstaking look at state Senator Tom Kean Jr.’s (R) recent ethics accusations against Senator Bob Menendez (D) involving Menendez's rental property. The conclusion: no dice, Tommy. Of course this would mark the 2^nd time a Kean Jr. ethics uppercut has failed to connect. Earlier in the summer Kean was working furiously to cast Menendez in a shadow of corruption, but both the New York Times and the New Jersey Star-Ledger came out with simultaneous but independent articles proving that the accusations didn’t hold water. Hart raises the now pertinent question: “When you pin your election to an ethics campaign that twice misses its mark, will the public put any stock in anything else you say?”

FL-SEN: Where Are They Now? Katherine Harris Edition

Remember over the summer when we had a new Katherine Harris gem virtually every day, and sometimes more than one a day? What heady times those were. The Roundup regrets that those days are over… Wait a second – Katherine Harris won her primary! She’s still running, isn’t she! Oh man, where is she? What is she doing right now?

Well, apparently her campaign handlers finally gave her a tip: stop flagrantly screwing up. Either that or Harris is the recent recipient of a prefrontal lobotomy. For she has kept an uncharacteristically low profile since her September 5 primary win. On Tuesday, Harris showed up at the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport to applaud it for its advanced security measures and tout her own homeland security record.

Plus, Harris received an extraordinary present on Tuesday when she was actually invited to something. On Thursday (tomorrow) President Bush will be in Orlando to attend a fundraiser for gubernatorial nominee Charlie Crist (R). While Harris was not expected to receive an invite (for obvious reasons), the Orlando Sentinel’s blog reports that RPOF spokesman Jeff Sadosky said Harris had been invited and was expected to attend. Governor Jeb Bush (R), who will definitely be at the event, sounded downright ecstatic at the prospect of seeing Harris on Thursday: “I think she should come to the event in Orlando. Unless she has a previous engagement, I think she should attend. She’s the party nominee for U.S. Senate.”

But alas, it’s not all calm waters for Harris these days. The same Sentinel blog also notes that Harris is still taking flak for her comments last month to the Florida Baptist-Witness that “if you’re not electing Christians then in essence you are going to legislate sin.” Now the Philadelphia Jewish Voice reports that the Jewish Social Policy Action Network has asked the Republican National Committee to formally repudiate the comments because they amount to “religious bigotry.”

OH-15: The Pryce is Wrong, B*tch

Evoking memories of Happy Gilmore’s epic brawl with Bob Barker at the Pepsi Pro-Am, the DCCC has launched a new website against 15^th district Representative Deborah Pryce (R) entitled “The Pryce is Not Right.” The site argues that “Ohio has been paying for Deborah Pryce's career in Congress for too long,” and gives visitors the chance to “see how Deborah Pryce's behavior in Washington is affecting your pocketbook” with an online game, You Paid The Pryce. Franklin County Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy (D) is challenging Pryce in November. While the seat leans Republican, Kilroy is considered the toughest challenger Pryce has faced since first winning election in 1992. (Tip ‘o the hat to The Hill’s “state by state.”)

P.S. Where do OH-15’s “Price is Right” parody and VA-SEN’s Jewish issue collide head on? At SNL’s 1992 skit, SABRA PRICE IS RIGHT!

NV-01: House Candidate Just Got Punched in the Crotch, Divorced by Wife

Political Wire found it first, but there’s no way the Midterm Roundup can resist a gem like this. The Las Vegas Review-Journal has a report on some of the scarier, more fringe candidates running for various offices in Nevada this year. One relatively non-fringe subject of the piece is Gulf War veteran and conservative activist Ken Wegner (R), who is the Republican nominee for the U.S. House in Nevada’s 1^st district after winning the August 15^th primary with a convincing 51.24% of the vote over 2 other opponents. Mr. Wegner, the floor is yours: “‘I have a really cute secretary,’ Wegner responded, using an analogy comparing campaign fundraising to extramarital temptation. ‘My wife’s had a few kids, doesn't have a great body anymore and my secretary is really hot. It’s that first kiss that's going to kill you,’ he continued. ‘My secretary just wants a kiss.’” Well played, my man. That should help Wegner shore up the 1^st district’s key two-timing deadbeat male demographic.

IYI (If You’re Interested)

AK-GOV: Primary Win Pushes Palin Ahead in Race for Alaska Governor (CQ)

CT-SEN: Lamont broadens his focus as November rematch looms (The Hill)

IN-08: GOP strategists employ Nancy Pelosi strategy in Indiana race (The Hill)

VA-SEN: Gaffes Make Allen Vulnerable to Hard-Charging Webb in Va. (CQ)

NATIONWIDE: For Governors in G.O.P. Slots, a Liberal Turn (NYT)

NATIONWIDE: The numbers game: behind recent positive GOP polls, a more complicated picture (The Hill)

NATIONWIDE: NRCC's Reynolds Says To "Count On" GOP Majority (Hotline)

NATIONWIDE: Wanted! Your help in tracking the activities of the hottest new conservative attack group on the scene, the Economic Freedom Fund.

BATTLEGROUND: This should be really good – WaPo’s Chris Cillizza (The Fix) and his buddies Jim VandeHei and Chet Rhodes are hitting the trail, road tripping down the Ohio River to cover 9 competitive congressional districts in 9 days: KY-02, KY-03, KY-04, IN-08, IN-09, OH-01, OH-06, OH-18, and WV-01. Check out the Ohio River Ramble page for your “one-stop shopping of stories, blog posts and video from the trip.”