Another GOP Senator is getting rid of money he's received from Sen. Ted Stevens' Leadership PAC: Sen. John Sununu of New Hampshire, who is trailing his Dem opponent Jeanne Shaheen in the polls.

"Team Sununu will be donating to charity the $10,000 received during this 2008 campaign cycle from Northern Lights PAC," said campaign manager Paul Collins, in a statement sent to Election Central. "The campaign had previously donated to charity contributions received from VECO employees who pled guilty to wrongdoing."

McCain Credits Surge For Event From Before The Surge
John McCain has been been caught in a big foreign policy slip, saying during his interview with CBS Evening News that the surge was responsible for the Anbar Awakening, an event that first happened before the surge. Even more embarrassing for the media -- a group that the McCain camp says is for Obama -- CBS edited the gaffe out of the broadcast version, but still left it in the online version.

Obama Visits Sites, Meets Officials In Israel
Barack Obama's tour of Israel has continued while all of us in America were asleep, with the candidate visiting the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum in Jerusalem, then meeting with high-profile Israeli and Palestinian officials. On the list of those he has met with or will be meeting with later: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

McCain In Pennsylvania
John McCain is holding a town hall event at 10 a.m. ET in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, part of his tour of swing states while Barack Obama is overseas. Expect this event to stay in keeping with the tone of the last few days: Officially it's about domestic issues, but a good part of it will be spent bashing Obama on foreign policy issues relating to the countries he's now visiting.

Volunteer Tells McCain: Get New Staff
A McCain supporter volunteering for his campaign offered her advice to the candidate during his New Hampshire stop yesterday -- perhaps the best advice he's gotten this year. "You've got to make some changes," the woman said. "I've had problems with a lot of your paid staff."

Ron Paul Ready To Make Bigger Trouble For The GOP
Ron Paul's supporters have moved his planned "Rally For The Republic" -- essentially a massive protest of the Republican convention -- to the 15,000-seat Target Center in Minneapolis, a larger venue than originally planned. This should be a sight: A bunch of Paul-heads speaking out against the modern GOP, with the candidate himself joining in for the fun.

New Hampshire Senate Race Leans Dem
CQ has changed their rating on the New Hampshire Senate race from "No Clear Favorite" to "Leans Democrat," giving Dem former Governor Jeanne Shaheen an edge over incumbent Republican John Sununu. The only surprising thing is that this didn't happen sooner -- Shaheen has led by comfortable margins in nearly every poll taken since she got in the race.

Here's yet another variation of the GOP-pushed tall tale that China and Cuba are drilling for oil off American shores.

This latest one comes courtesy of GOP Senator John Sununu of New Hampshire, who has trailed Democratic opponent Jeanne Shaheen by wide margins in all the polls, and who by our count is the eighth GOPer to push this silly myth.

Sununu's version: He's dropped the China part from the tale -- now it's the Cubans who are supposedly doing the oil drilling.

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National Dems are bullish about expanding their Senate majority, given that they're dramatically out-raising the GOP and that they have the Republicans on defense in multiple states.

And here comes the first wave of ads from Dem Senate candidates, a sign that Dems are aggressively shifting into general election mode, even if the presidential race hasn't quite finished yet.

Here's the new ad from Jeanne Shaheen, who is running ahead of incumbent John Sununu in the New Hampshire Senate race:

More ads after the jump.

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In a good sign for Democratic efforts to expand their Senate majority this year, a new Rasmussen poll of the New Hampshire Senate race finds former Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen ahead of GOP Sen. John Sununu, who narrowly defeated her back in 2002.

The numbers, compared to the last poll from a month ago:

Shaheen 51% (+2)
Sununu 43% (+2)

Sample size: 500 likely voters
Margin of error: ±4%

Shaheen has consistently led in polls since even before she announced her candidacy, making Sununu the single most vulnerable incumbent Senator from either party this year.

In a sign of just how seriously the GOP is working to stop the bleeding in the Senate, incumbent Senator John Sununu (R) is maintaining a better than 2-1 cash advantage over Dem challenger Jeanne Shaheen in the closely-watched New Hampshire Senate race.

Sununu took in just over $1 million for the first quarter, actually slightly less than Shaheen's $1.2 million, but maintains a cash-on-hand advantage of $4.3 million to the former Dem governor's $2 million.

Sununu will need the money, though -- the polls have mostly put him way behind Shaheen thus far in their rematch.

A new Rasmussen poll shows first-term Sen. John Sununu (R-NH) trailing former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen (D), his 2002 opponent, by a decent margin. Here are the numbers, compared to Rasmussen's last poll in September:

Shaheen (D) 49% (+1)
Sununu (R) 41% (-2)

Sununu is the single most vulnerable incumbent GOP Senator this cycle, and has trailed Shaheen in nearly all polls since she declared her candidacy.

Okay, I know everyone wants numbers. So, with 10 percent reporting, Hillary is ahead:

Clinton -- 12,282 -- 38%

Obama -- 11,579 -- 36%

Edwards -- 5,414 -- 17%

Among Republicans, McCain is projected to win the NH primary, according to Fox News and MSNBC. More in a bit.

A new American Research Group poll finds that incumbent GOP Senator John Sununu leads former Democratic Governor Jeanne Shaheen by a 52%-41% margin. This is the first time since polling began on this race that Sununu is ahead, and previous polls have all shown Shaheen leading by a healthy margin.

Sununu's upsurge could be happening for any number of reasons — or this poll could just be an outlier — but there is one particular possibility: That the recent attacks from Jeanne's husband Billy, against Barack Obama's teenage drug use, might have taken a toll on her Senate campaign.

An intense new ad from Mitt Romney in New Hampshire:

Interestingly, it features Romney invading Rudy's turf -- he apparently came to New York with a friend whose daughter was missing in the city. You can probably guess the outcome.

With the Dem primary coming down to the wire in the early states, a key thing to check out will be the battle for the endorsements of the local papers.

Today, for instance, Hillary picked up the endorsement of the New Hampshire Salmon Press papers, a string of nearly a dozen weeklies across the state, with a combined readership of 74,000. It'll be running in all the Salmon Press papers today and tomorrow.

You can't access the papers without a log-in, but you can read the endorsement right here.

A new round of Senate polls from SurveyUSA, commissioned by Roll Call, show the Republicans in serious trouble for the 2008 Senate races.

In Oregon, Republican incumbent Gordon Smith is ahead but under 50% against two Democrats, leading state House Speaker Jeff Merkley 48%-39%, and leading Democratic activist Steve Novick 45%-39%.

In Minnesota, incumbent Republican Norm Coleman is statistically tied with both his Democratic opponents, with a one-point 46%-45% lead against Al Franken, and a 44%-44% tie against attorney and 2000 Senate candidate Mike Ciresi.

For the open seat in New Mexico, Republican Representatives Steve Pearce and Heath Wilson both trail Democratic Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez, with Chávez at 48%-43% against Pearce and 48%-44% against Wilson. This is a turnaround from earlier polls that showed Chávez to be a weak Democratic nominee. Dem Congressman Tom Udall, who is also looking at the race, was not polled.

In the open-seat race in Virginia, former Democratic Governor Mark Warner leads former GOP Governor Jim Gilmore 57%-35%, and leads former Senator George Allen — who has not indicated that he would run — by a 52%-42% margin.

In New Hampshire, incumbent Republican John Sununu trails his 2002 opponent Jeanne Shaheen by a 53%-42% margin.

The Republicans' only bright spot is Maine, where Senator Susan Collins leads Dem Congressman Tom Allen 55%-38%.

Late Update: In another poll result I missed before, Democrats are also ahead in the open-seat race in Colorado, with Dem Congressman Mark Udall leading former Republican Congressman Bob Schaffer 48%-41%.

A new University of New Hampshire poll finds former Governor Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) way ahead of freshman GOP Senator John Sununu, who narrowly defeated her back in 2002. Shaheen leads with 54% to Sununu's 38%.

Bear in mind that an incumbent is generally supposed to avoid being below 50% — and Sununu is below 40%. Furthermore, Sununu's favorable rating is down to 40%, with a 37% unfavorable rating.

The Democratic primary field for Senate is now clearing some more for former Governor Jeanne Shaheen. Katrina Swett, who had raised $1.2 million for her campaign, will reportedly drop out of the race and endorse Shaheen at a press conference on Friday.

Portsmouth Mayor Steve Marchand has already dropped out and endorsed Shaheen, leaving Dartmouth professor Jay Buckey as the only other candidate left. Buckey has indicated that he'll be staying in the race, but expect the party to unanimously favor Shaheen.

The newest poll from American Research Group corroborates another poll from earlier today: Jeanne Shaheen's lead over John Sununu in the New Hampshire Senate race has gone down significantly from the great heights she enjoyed over the Summer.

Shaheen now leads Sununu by a 46%-41% margin — still impressive, in that she leads the incumbent and holds him way below 50% support. But in a strange way, it's almost a letdown from an ARG poll back in June, in which she led him by a two-to-one margin.

But Sununu still has a lot of ground to make up, and the Republican brand probably won't help him much — President Bush has a 26% approval rating in New Hampshire, with 64% disapproval, compared to Democratic Governor John Lynch's 58%-24% rating.

A new Rasmussen poll of New Hampshire finds former Democratic Governor Jeanne Shaheen beating GOP Senator John Sununu by a 48%-43% margin. On the one hand, this lead is much lower than in other polls that have Shaheen ahead by 15 points and up. On the other hand, the incumbent is nevertheless behind his challenger, and below 50% support.

Shaheen, who announced her candidacy on Friday, narrowly lost to Sununu in 2002. The state has become much more Democratic since then, with Dem majorities in both houses of the state legislature and Democrats holding both of the state's House seats.

The Democratic field for Senate in New Hampshire is already starting to clear for former governor and 2002 nominee Jeanne Shaheen, who announced this morning that she'll be making the race. The New Hampshire Union Leader reports that Portsmouth Mayor Steve Marchand, one of three Democrats already running, will soon withdraw from the campaign. Marchand had previously indicated that he would drop out if Shaheen ran.

The two remaining Dems, activist Katrina Swett and Dartmouth professor Jay Buckey, don't appear to be withdrawing for now. Swett put out a press release declaring, "I entered this race to make a positive change in the direction of our country and I remain committed to ensuring John Sununu’s defeat November 2008" — a noncommittal statement either way.

Buckey, meanwhile, appears committed to staying in: "I look forward to a vigorous discussion of the important issues in a primary, and I’d welcome Jeanne Shaheen into the race if she decides to run."

Late Update: Marchand formally withdrew from the race on Saturday. He did not close the door on a future race for political office — perhaps a run for Senate in 2010 — but did not seem too eager to address the question just yet: "I've only been an ex-candidate for 15 minutes."

Former Governor Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) has confirmed in a statement that she is running for the U.S. Senate — a rematch against Republican incumbent John Sununu that currently looks to be heavily in her favor. The news was first reported this morning.

"We've proven in New Hampshire that we can work together to get things done," Shaheen said in a press release. "I want to take that common-sense approach to Washington and help get this country moving in the right direction."

Full statement after the jump.

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Big news out of New Hampshire: A new report says that former governor Jeanne Shaheen has decided to seek a rematch against vulnerable incumbent GOP Senator John Sununu. This morning's Union Leader says it has the story:

Former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen will be a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2008, the New Hampshire Union Leader has learned.

The Democratic former three-term chief executive is expected to issue a statement today addressing her political plans. While it's unclear exactly how the statement will be phrased, sources say Shaheen has decided to seek the seat held by Republican John E. Sununu, who defeated her in a bitter 2002 contest...

Shaheen, who served as governor from 1997 to 2003, lost to Sununu by a 51 to 47 percent margin five years ago after polls had shown her with a narrow lead heading into the final weekend of the campaign.

Polls show that Shaheen is already leading by landslide margins against Sununu, who's been badly weakened by his support for the Iraq War. Her entry into the race, should this report be true, adds greatly to the considerable woes facing the GOP as they ponder the Senate map for 2008.

Republicans are already dealing with the retirement of Senator John Warner, whose seat is now being targeted by popular former governor Mark Warner, as well as the near-certain resignation of Senator Larry Craig and the mounting vulnerability of multiple GOP incumbents due to Iraq. Making matters worse for the GOP, they are being forced to defend many more Senate seats than Dems are, meaning Dems will have more resources to pour into top tier races. Shaheen's presumed entry adds one more such race to the list.

According to Robert Novak, Republicans are very, very, very worried that they're going to sustain yet more Senate losses in 2008.

"Republican melancholy grows with prospect of major losses in the Senate," Novak reports in his latest column. "Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) is severely endangered. The expectation in Virginia now is that Sen. John Warner (R) will not seek another term, opening the door for a Senate run by former Gov. Mark Warner (D)."

Adding to GOP woes, Novak continues: "former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen (D) and her husband are telling supporters that there is about a 70 percent chance that she will run" against Sununu.

As our Election Central Poll Tracker shows, Shaheen already leads Sununu by a huge margin in different opinion polls. A decision is expected from Shaheen this fall.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is running new ads attacking four GOP senators for their votes on Iraq funding. The 30-second spots, targeting Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Susan Collins (R-ME), Norm Coleman (R-MN) and John Sununu (R-NH), ask constituents to call their senators to "ask them to do the right thing":

The small buy, the DSCC's first in 2007, in the four states comes just as the Senate takes a critical vote today on an amendment that would require the president to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq in 120 days. The addition of McConnell, the minority leader, is a bold move considering he represents a Republican-leaning state that went to Bush by a solid margin twice. A transcript is available at the DSCC.

The bad news keeps mounting for New Hampshire Sen. John Sununu, who has recently seen some terrible poll results. Now the Hill reports that Democratic challenger Katrina Swett raised $700,000 in the second quarter, beating Sununu's total of $550,000.

Swett, who has recently been distancing herself from her support for Sen. Joe Lieberman's independent bid in Connecticut, has two rivals for the nomination, Portsmouth Mayor Steven Marchand, who reportedly raised $100,000 last quarter, and Dartmouth professor and former astronaut Jay Buckey. However, many believe that the race would easily go to former governor Jeanne Shaneen, who narrowly lost to Sununu in 2002, if she decided to run as many are urging her to do.

Wow. Two new polls show that first-term Senator John Sununu of New Hampshire is extremely vulnerable to a challenge in 2008 — particularly one from former governor Jeanne Shaneen, whom he narrowly defeated back in 2002.

The first poll, from the American Research Group, shows Shaheen beating Sununu by an astonishing 57%-29% margin.

Meanwhile, the new poll from Suffolk University finds that Sununu's numbers are in truly awful shape. Only 31% of respondents said he deserves re-election, versus 47% who said they would be for someone else.

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