John Kerry finds his wallet (it was in his other pants), Jon Porter teases and titillates, and Jon Tester gets slammed by a man who knows slamming. 12 days until Election Day, the Midterm Roundup has learned.

JOHN KERRY: Is 500 Grand Enough to Shut You Up?

Better late than never – AP reports, “Sens. Edward M. Kennedy and John Kerry tapped their sizable campaign kitties Wednesday to donate another $1 million to the committees aiming to elect a Democratic Congress. The Massachusetts Democrats donated $500,000 apiece, half to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and half to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.”

Of course the road to campaign donation superstar was a rough, criticism-strewn one for Kerry, whom many bloggers (including this one, though only once and it was brief and pretty half-hearted) have called out for not giving more of his substantial and largely idle war chest, and whom many will undoubtedly not consider a superstar at all and only call out further for not giving enough.

Raw Story has a great recap of the Kerry vs. Liberal Blogosphere saga. To recap the recap: Raw Story “has learned” (by reading this NYT article) that “A spokesman for Senator John Kerry (D-Mass) blasted ‘cowards’ who ‘hide behind anonymous Web sites’ in a New York Times article reporting on a campaign by ‘netroots’ bloggers which urges Democrats in safe districts to redistribute funds to ‘less fortunate’ candidates.” The spokesman, David Wade, was criticizing in particular the anonymous website HeyJohn.org, which was recently set up for the sole purpose of pushing the Kerry-should-give-more cause. Blogger Ezra Klein aptly pointed out the questionability of calling members of the netroots “cowards” when one is planning a run at the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. Daily Kos’s Markos Moulitsas took Wade’s comments a bit more personally and responded by employing the utterly incapacitating logical gambit known as the “swear at the guy you don’t like” appeal. Other bloggers have taken the opposing stance of criticizing the HeyJohn website, like The Premise’s Mark Barrett, who among other things uses his panning of the HeyJohn site to bewail the oh so evanescent nature of the blogosphere: “Web sites, and particularly blogs, are treated like toilet paper: used for one purpose, then flushed.” For the record, the Midterm Roundup would be sad to hear that anyone ever printed it out and voluntarily used it as toilet paper, but that is a right that people have, and the Roundup is respectful of that right. And certainly, if the situation was some kind of an emergency, or circumstances for some reason dictated such an action, the Roundup would be proud to serve its readers in such a capacity. (Advertiser’s note: the extra links mean extra absorption!)

As Raw Story reckons, perhaps the liberal blogosphere’s dissatisfaction with Kerry’s efforts will be at least slightly mollified by the fact that he campaigned for Ned Lamont in Connecticut on Wednesday. The AP points out, “Only a handful of Senate Democrats have contributed cash to Lamont. They include Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., Barack Obama, D-Ill., Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. and Russ Feingold, D-Wis. They each gave $5,000 through their political action committees.” And, later in the piece, “Few top Democrats have been as active on Lamont's behalf as Kerry, who earlier this year sent out a fundraising e-mail to his network of national supporters for Lamont and other Democratic candidates.”

Kerry’s latest contribution with Ted Kennedy should help him silence his critics, but the Roundup, despite its perhaps somewhat aloof tone, sympathizes with bloggers who want Kerry to give more. The Roundup was thrilled to see the headline “Kennedy, Kerry donate $1 million to Democratic campaign committees” (as it appears on some news sites, like ABC6 News), only to feel disappointment upon learning that the two men only donated 500,000 each. That’s still a lot of money. But it’s not 1 million each. The Roundup is with Josh on this one (shocking, but true).

In any case, Kerry has apparently silenced HeyJohn.org. Go ahead, try to type it into your browser.

MD-SEN: Debate Recap!

AP: Md. Senate Candidates Bicker in Debate: “Maryland's Senate candidates bickered over embryonic stem cell research and the war in Iraq during a televised debate Wednesday as each sought to portray himself as the most independent.”

WaPo: Cardin, Steele Face Off: “U.S. Senate candidate Benjamin Cardin (D) appeared caught off guard during a freewheeling debate on News Channel 8 this afternoon when his opponent, Republican Michael S. Steele tried to quiz him on the route of the proposed Metro rail Purple Line.”

Wash Times: Senate hopefuls squabble, call each other 'handpicked': “Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele and Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin yesterday wrangled over the origins of their U.S. Senate campaigns, with each accusing the other of being 'handpicked' by their parties' leaders.”

Baltimore Sun: Cardin, Steele play 'gotcha' in three-way TV debate: “In the most tempestuous encounter to date of Maryland's U.S. Senate contest, Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele and Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin played a heated game of 'gotcha' during a televised debate yesterday, with Steele pressed into offering his clear support for the war in Iraq and Cardin stumbling when queried about the location of a planned Metro line in the vote-rich Washington suburbs.”

Cardin and Steele face off again this Sunday on Meet the Press.

NV-03: Jon Porter Employs the Curt Weldon Method of Scandal Deflection

Last week the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Representative Curt Weldon (R-PA), currently being investigated along with his daughter for possible influence peddling in connection to a Russian energy firm, said he “hasn't decided whether to release a letter from the House Ethics Committee that he says ‘closed the case’ on whether he used his influence to help his daughter.”

Cut to Representative Jon Porter (R), whom a former aide has accused of making dozens of fundraising calls earlier this year from his congressional and district offices, which would violate federal election laws and House ethics rules. The Las Vegas Sun reports, “Rep. Jon Porter refused Tuesday to release phone records or copies of his daily schedule, even though his office says the documents would disprove charges by a former aide that the congressman made dozens of illegal fundraising calls from his government offices.” Ahhh yes, the dance of allurement. The French call it… le game.

The ever savvy CQ recognizes a flirtatious advance when it sees one, and responds to Porter by fluttering its eyelashes, changing its NV-03 race rating from Republican Favored to Leans Republican.

As for Weldon... Bored and frustrated with the repressed emotions and nuances of amorous play, the congressman has apparently moved on to more extreme expressions of the libidinal self – sado-masochism:

Weldon hemmed in, stymied (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Weldon campaign tied down, struggling (Philadelphia Inquirer)

MT-SEN: Tester Has Ties to Convicted Presidential Hopeful!

In a scathing new press release obtained by the Midterm Roundup ( / found in the Midterm Roundup’s gmail inbox) Senator Conrad Burns (R) accuses his challenger Jon Tester (D) of buddying up with reprobate and widely condemned Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), who recently admitted to harboring ulterior ambitions of a misbegotten 2008 presidential run. Below a take-no-prisoners headline of Barack Obama Raises Campaign Cash for Tester in San Francisco, the press release reads:

“The AP reports that Jon Tester is hopping on a plane to raise campaign cash in San Francisco with Barack Obama today while Conrad and Phyllis Burns will be in the Bozeman area getting out the vote. That's right, less than 2 weeks before the election, Jon Tester is more interested in hobnobbing with his San Francisco friends than talking with Montanans. California already has two Senators, why would we give them a third?”

The AP indeed confirms these shocking allegations in an explosive new exposé entitled, Obama will raise money for Tester. The Midterm Roundup’s attempts to contact the Tester campaign to press the state senator on whether he planned to return the Obama money or donate it to charity were repeatedly rebuffed.

Similarly rebuffed were the Roundup’s attempts to interest in any way whatsoever TPMmuckraker’s Paul Kiel and Justin Rood in this brewing cauldron of scandal. “That’s not a story,” Kiel deadpanned in an exclusive one-on-one interview with the Roundup at the TPM offices Wednesday. “Please stop bothering me. I’m kind of busy.” At this point the Roundup can only hope that the cause is taken up by unflaggingly enterprising Roundup reader mrs panstreppon.

IYI (If You’re Interested)

CT-SEN: Connecticut Crucible for a War Debate (WaPo’s David Broder)

MD-SEN: Take a note, Tennessee – Black Democrats pull punches in Maryland race (Wash Times, reporting, “Local black Democratic leaders will not attack Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele in his U.S. Senate race, even as they campaign and appear in ads for his opponent -- Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin, a fellow Democrat.”)

NJ-SEN: Republicans Intensify Push in New Jersey (NY Times)

VA-SEN: An Ascent Shadowed By Questions on Race (WaPo), plus the Wash Times reports, Wilder backs Webb in race (not Gene Wilder, much to the Roundup’s disappointment)

HASTERT WATCH: All quiet on the western front – Scandal Limiting Hastert Campaigning (AP)

THE BIG 3 (MO, TN, VA): Democrats' Senate hopes lie with rural voters, poll finds (LA Times, reporting on a new Times/Bloomberg poll that finds Talent ahead in Missouri 48-45, Corker ahead in Tennessee 49-44, but Webb ahead in Virginia, 47-44)

NATIONWIDE: Republican base loses faith (Christian Science Monitor)

P.S.: The Roundup promised yesterday that it would delve into the Harold Ford, Jr. attack ad scrum this morning and clearly failed to do so. The Roundup won’t get into excuses, but rather apologize and offer these up as substitutes:

In Tight Race, Ad on Black Candidate Stirs Furor (NYT)

Ads Likely to Result in Rocky Ending for Tenn. Senate Race (CQ)

Tenn. Senate: Race-Baiting or Rough and Tumble? (The Fix)

Plus, in case you haven’t caught on – TV ads are so 4 days ago. Radio is the new sensation: TN-SEN: Corker Radio Ad Has "Jungle Drums" During Mentions Of Ford (Election Central)

P.P.S.: Also, the Roundup is not ignoring you, reader low fi. The WA-05 race is indeed interesting and has been unintentionally given short shrift in this space. The Roundup will be featuring it tomorrow morning.