Obama Running Negative Ad In Indiana
Barack Obama is running a targeted negative ad against John McCain in Indiana, reusing footage of McCain saying during the primaries that the economy was just fine. "How can John McCain fix the economy when he doesn't think it's broken?" the ad asks viewers:

McCain In Colorado Today
John McCain is campaigning today in Colorado, a state that has only voted Democratic once in the last 40 years but where most recent polls have put Barack Obama narrowly ahead. McCain has an event in Aspen, scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. ET.

Labor Groups Filing FEC Complaint Against Wal-Mart
The AFL-CIO, the Change To Win Federation and other labor groups will be filing an FEC complaint against Wal-Mart, one of their biggest corporate nemeses, over reports that the company has been engaging in illegal electioneering. This comes after The Wall St. Journal quoted an anonymous Wal-Mart employee describing a mandatory meeting in which employees were warned of the dire consequences that would follow if the Democrats won the election.

Dems Battling Ticket Scalpers For Obama's Speech
Democrats are working hard to stop an unintended consequence of Barack Obama's big acceptance speech in Denver: Ticket scalpers. Online auctions and Craigslist entries advertising tickets for sale, or from people seeking tickets, have been shut down at the Dems' request -- and furthermore, tickets haven't actually been printed and distributed yet, meaning any offers from people claiming to have one are fraudulent.

Dem Chances Go Up In Nevada House Races
CQ has changed their ratings for the two Republican-held House seats in Nevada, upgrading both of them for the Dems. The Second District held by freshman GOPer Dean Heller has been changed from "Republican Favored" to "Leans Republican," and the Third District held by third-term GOPer Jon Porter has been changed from "Leans Republican" to "No Clear Favorite."

Poll: Dem Ahead In Deep-Red House District
A new poll form Capital Survey Research Center (D), the polling arm of the Alabama Education Association, shows the Democratic nominee substantially ahead in the race for the open GOP-held Second Congressional District. Democratic candidate Bobby Bright, the mayor of Montgomery, leads GOP state Rep. Jay Love by a margin of 47%-37% -- even though this district voted 66%-33% for George W. Bush in 2004.

How's this for hopelessness in the House GOP ranks: A Republican Congressman is not only predicting losses in this election and futures ones -- he's also saying it would be a good thing!

"I'm of the position that we really need to clean house in this Republican Party," Nevada Republican Dean Heller told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "And I think the next couple of election cycles are going to do that."

Heller isn't all doom and gloom, though. He thinks the Republicans will get the majority back within a decade.

Dem Jill Derby unleashed a solid new ad Thursday slamming Republican Dean Heller as a GOP lickspittle by tying him to the national party's efforts to privatize Social Security. Full of folksy charm, Derby nicely sums up the icompetance theme, saying "if they fix Social Security like they fixed Iraq and immigration, we're in a lot of trouble." Trailing Heller by only 3 points in this traditionally Republican district, Derby has made this a race to watch, but for now, you can just watch the ad here.

A new Mason-Dixon poll has GOPer Dean Heller barely besting Dem Jill Derby 45% to 42% in the race to fill Republican Jim Gibbons' vacated seat. Though both Roll Call and Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball have labeled the race "Likely Republican," Derby's increasingly strong poll numbers may be pushing this race into much more competitive territory.