Happily, the Wrap emerged from the holiday weekend with all of its fingers and toes intact. As one might expect at the close of this holiday three-day weekend, political news is a touch sparse today.
That said, Rasmussen does some house-cleaning to provide us with a little polling data today (two polls, both favorable to the GOP). Terry Branstad's past might be catching up to him in Iowa, and Democrats get another in a series of disappointments in L'Affaire Alvin Greene.
All that, and a bit more, in the Monday edition of the Wrap...
THE U.S. SENATE
AZ-Sen: McCain keeps nailing Hayworth on infomericals in tough new ad
This is a pretty decent shot, and it is (you guessed it!) good news (!) for John McCain. McCain is running a new ad using Hayworth's own words against him on the infomerical affair. Hayworth's ill-advised initial response bordered on "so what?", as you will recall. McCain's ad crew uses that flippancy, and in essence, shoves it down Hayworth's throat. The fun is nowhere near over yet.
MO-Sen: Obama headed to Show-Me State to stump for Senate candidate
The week after July 4th might be considered a holiday week in much of Political-land, but not for the President, who will head to the Midwest to make an appearance on the behalf of Missouri Senate candidate Robin Carnahan. Obama will be there on Thursday, to appear at a frontraiser fundraiser for Carnahan, the leading Democrat in the race to fill the open seat of retiring Republican Kit Bond.
NV-Sen: Could Arizona be Harry Reid's best friend?
An interesting analysis appeared over the weekend at the website for the Arizona Republic, one which implies that Harry Reid's objections to the Arizona anti-immigration law might have a strong political upside for the Senate Majority Leader. The logic: Latino voters are a large and growing segment of the Nevada electorate, and they might be more motivated to participate in this election if there is the belief that Reid is "on the side" of Latinos, many of whom are angered by the law. While there are a number of supporters of the law in Nevada, furthermore, it has to be assumed that those folks would not support Reid, in any event.
NC-Sen: Marshall reaps whirlwind of runoff victory
Democrats appear to be coalescing around the candidacy of Elaine Marshall, on the heels of her runoff victory two weeks ago over Cal Cunningham. Marshall's campaign is reporting having raised nearly $150K in just the two weeks since the runoff. Raising money quickly will be a high priority for Marshall, who had to expend a lot of her resources in the Democratic primary against Cunningham.
SC-Sen: Ketner remains on sidelines--won't make 2010 Indie bid
Democrats eager for an alternative to accidental nominee Alvin Greene are still left wanting, after receiving the news that Linda Ketner, who ran a strong campaign for the House in 2008, had opted against running for the Senate as an Independent. This is the second recruiting effort for Ketner that fell short, as many Democrats were hoping she'd run for the House seat she sought in 2008 (SC-01) when it became open this year upon the retirement of Henry Brown.
THE U.S. HOUSE
KY-06: GOP challenger has a country-club problem
If much-hyped Bluegrass State Republican contender Andy Barr can be grateful for the bad news that befell his campaign today, he can take solace that it occurred during a holiday weekend. Barr is an active member of a Lexington-area country club, one that did not accept its first black member until November of 2009. While the 6th does not have an enormous black population (roughly 9%, according to the Almanac of American Politics), such information is not likely to be helpful for the Republican's campaign. Especially, as TPMDC writer Evan McMorris-Santoro notes, since Barr ducked questions earlier in the campaign about his views on Rand Paul's criticisms of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
THE GUBERNATORIAL RACES
CA-Gov: LA Times explores resource disparity in Gov Race
This was bound to happen, and there are some grains of fair criticism to be found within: Seema Mehta of the Los Angeles Times explores the contrasting electoral strategies of the Whitman and Brown gubernatorial campaigns. By trying to conserve his resources, Mehta points out that there is a concern that Brown could face the same problems that confounded the Poizner campaign during the GOP primary. The problem, of course, is that Whitman is not going to be outspent, which raises the question--how do you beat a gazillionaire with unlimited resources?
IA-Gov: Did Branstad mix business with (campaign) pleasure as Gov?
An interesting article before the weekend from the good folks at Bleeding Heartland underscores the perils in this upcoming campaign for former four-term Governor Terry Branstad as he seeks his old job. The Culver campaign released documents late last week which they say proved that Terry Branstad had taxpayer-funded staff working on political and campaign operations out of the Governor's office. While this, in itself, is not a game-changing allegation, it reminds us that Branstad has sixteen years in office to mine. As desmoinesdem points out in the piece at Bleeding Heartland, that could prove to be a very big deal before November rolls around.
NE-Gov: Is Heineman 2010 race really about Heineman 2012?
If the Democrats cannot find a suitable opponent for Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman, in the wake of Mark Lakers' withdrawal as the Democratic nominee, the guy who might be most disappointed will be none other than...Dave Heineman. That's because some folks are wondering if Heineman's 2010 gubernatorial campaign is merely a dry run for a proposed 2012 Senate race against Democratic incumbent Ben Nelson. Heineman's focus last week on President Obama's health reform plans seemed to bolster that assumption.
THE RAS-A-POLL-OOZA
Rasmussen doesn't break any new ground today, putting out two polls which were conducted before the Independence Day holiday. Both polls looked at gubernatorial races, and both of them were (surprise!) favorable to the Republican candidates in the field.
OH-Gov: John Kasich (R) 47%, Gov. Ted Strickland (D) 40%
PA-Gov: Tom Corbett (R) 49%, Dan Onorato (D) 39%