Leading Off:
• CT-Gov: Gov. Dan Malloy may have gotten himself into a Neil Abercrombie-type situation, in which he simply pissed too many different groups of people off while cleaning up the state's messes and didn't have the interpersonal skills to smooth things over. Quinnipiac's first look since May at its home state finds the incumbent Democrat trailing Republican Tom Foley 46-40, down from a 43-43 tie last time. (It's also in line with a recent Rasmussen poll, which put Malloy down 7.) That comes despite the fact that left-leaning independent Jonathan Pelto wasn't tested (his quest officially ended two weeks ago) while right-leaning independent Joe Visconti was included.
Visconti pulls 7, but he seems to be pulling from both sides of the column; Quinnipiac asked voters for their second choices, and when Visconti voters are re-allocated, Foley still leads by 6 (49-43). One other element that suggests that this is really an anti-Malloy election more than anything is that they asked Foley voters whether their choice was mostly for Foley or against Malloy; "against Malloy" beat "for Foley" 62-33, so the plutocratic Foley is really more of an empty vessel for anti-Malloy feelings than anything.
Malloy may not be able to raise his own favorable ratings, but he's determined to pull Foley into the muck. Malloy's new spot links Foley to the Family Institute. The ad calls the organization "anti-women" and "anti-gay," and accuses Foley of seeking its endorsement. The Malloy campaign has already linked Foley to the gun lobby. Connecticut is a very blue state and if Malloy can portray Foley as a dangerous right-winger, he may be able to pull off a win. If Quinnipiac is right though, it's not going to be easy. (David Jarman & Jeff Singer)
Follow below the fold for more.
Senate:
• AK-Sen: The National Education Association stars a middle school music teacher accusing Republican Dan Sullivan for selling out state educators.
On the GOP side, Crossroads GPS focuses entirely on Democratic Sen. Mark Begich's record as mayor of Anchorage. They accuse him of leaving the city in dire financial condition when he left for Washington.
• AR-Sen: Crossroads GPS spends another $256,000 against Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor.
• CO-Sen: Democratic Sen. Mark Udall hits Republican Rep. Cory Gardner for allowing the government to shutdown while Colorado was experiencing flooding.
• IA-Sen: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has done a great job recruiting celebrities for its political spots. In Georgia they got UGA legend Herschel Walker; in Mississippi they had Brett Favre; and now in Iowa they have... state Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey.
The Chamber's ad features Northey praising Republican Joni Ernst on agricultural issues. Shockingly, they go the whole ad without throwing a single jab at Democrat Bruce Braley over his "farmer from Iowa" gaffe. I'm as shocked as you are.
The DSCC also goes up, hitting Ernst for wanting to privatize Social Security. The ad also continues to tie Ernst to the Koch brothers, who the narrator accuses of also wanting to privatize Social Security.
• NC-Sen: Planned Parenthood spends $528,000 against Republican Thom Tillis.
• NH-Sen: Newly minted Republican nominee Scott Brown talks to the camera about why he's running. Hint: It's because he thinks Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and Barack Obama suck.
• WV-Sen: Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito rails against the government.
Gubernatorial:
• CO-Gov: Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper goes positive in his first spot, explaining what he learned about governing from running a restaurant. Hickenlooper also commits to not running negative ads: Of course, he doesn't mention that national party groups will only be too happy to do the dirty work for him.
• IL-Gov: Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn once again attacks Republican Bruce Rauner on an out-of-touch rich guy. For the first (but certainly not the last) time, Quinn's ads bring up Rauner's membership to a $100,000 wine-club.
• MA-Gov: Republican Charlie Baker stresses his moderate credentials.
• ME-Gov: Eliot Cutler features fellow independent and Sen. Angus King saying how great he is.
• MI-Gov: Republican Gov. Rick Snyder continues argue that the state is turning around under his leadership.
• PA-Gov: Democrat Tom Wolf hits Republican Gov. Tom Corbett on education.
• WI-Gov: Greater Wisconsin also goes after Republican Gov. Scott Walker on education.
House:
• CA-36: Democratic Rep. Raul Ruiz another positive spot highlighting his work helping veterans.
• GA-12: Republican Rick Allen continues to tie Democratic Rep. John Barrow to Obama, going after the incumbent for voting against repealing Obamacare.
• ME-02: Democrat Emily Cain calls for giving the middle class a voice.
• MI-01: The DCCC goes after Republican Rep. Dan Benishek on taxes. Proving that technology has changed campaign ads forever, the spot has the narrator walking up to people with a tablet and having them type their income in to see how much they'd pay under Benishek's plan.
• MN-08: Republican Stewart Mills accuses Democratic Rep. Rick Nolan of being out of touch with the Iron Range.
• WV-03: Republican Evan Jenkins once again attacks Obama on coal, this time without mentioning Democratic Rep. Nick Rahall.