Netroots Nation 2010 is just about in the rearview mirror as this Wrap hits your screen. I am not looking forward to the drive back home through the desert early tomorrow morning. I am, on the other hand, very much looking forward to doing it all again next year.
You should, too...and with that, it's time for the weekend edition of the Wrap...
THE U.S. SENATE
CT-Sen: Simmons says he's not campaigning...(honest!)
Somehow, it is a touch hard to believe him: former GOP congressman and one-time Senate candidate Rob Simmons is adamant that his campaign's return to the airwaves is not the re-launch of his campaign. He actually equated the ads paid for as "public service announcements." Except that the "public service" he is performing, of course, is reminding voters that he is still on the ballot. And that is different from campaigning...how, exactly?
FL-Sen: Jeff Greene denies the obvious, looks silly in the bargain
Move over Alvin Greene--we have a new leader in the clubhouse for Democratic Senate candidate most likely to provoke a face-palm moment, and you don't even need to change the last name. Greene's campaign is inexplicably denying reports that his 140-foot yacht Summerwind destroyed part of an ecologically sensitive reef off the coast of Belize in 2005 when it dropped anchor offshore. Greene, who was not on the yacht at the time, denies the incident ever occurred. Which would be swell, were it not for the fact that Greene's employees at the time confirmed the incident. When given that piece of information, Greene's spokesperson offered perhaps the weakest denial in the campaign cycle to date: "That's our position. That's our quote." Greene is competing against Democratic Rep. Kendrick Meek in the August Senate primary.
IN-Sen: Ellsworth unloading any and all Rangel cash
This is not unexpected, nor is it probably the last example of this symbolic gesture. Brad Ellsworth, the two-term Democratic congressman from Southern Indiana and current Senate nominee, announced that he will donate the total amount of contributions that he has received from embattled Rep. Charlie Rangel to a charity. The total amount in question is $12,000. This might have been in response to an NRSC blast at the end of the week devoted to any and all Senate candidates who received money from the scandal-laden New York congressman.
KY-Sen: Conway and Paul in a toss-up, according to new public poll
The first non-Rasmussen public poll in Kentucky in a few weeks confirms what other non-Ras polls have shown--the battle for the Bunning seat between Republican Rand Paul and Democrat Jack Conway is still a coin flip. The poll, which was conducted by Braun Research for cn|2, showed Rand Paul with a three-point edge (41-38) over Democrat Jack Conway. The poll also looked ahead to the 2011 gubernatorial election, and found incumbent Democrat Steve Beshear leading Republican David Williams by a 48-30 margin.
LA-Sen: GOP plays dueling internal polls, claims double-digit edge
Incumbent Republican Senator David Vitter clearly took notice when his leading Democratic rival, Rep. Charlie Melancon, released an internal poll showing the race to be a tossup. Vitter has returned serve with another internal poll, courtesy of the NRSC, showing him leading the Democratic challenger 48-31. Worth noting, of course, is the fact that even public polling a few months back had Vitter leading by a wider margin.
MO-Sen: Mason-Dixon poll gives Blunt modest lead over Carnahan
The first public poll out of Missouri in a good long while gives Republican contender Roy Blunt a six-point edge over Democrat Robin Carnahan (48-42). The poll, conducted by Mason Dixon for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, found that Blunt also holds a very wide primary lead over state senator Chuck Purgason. Carnahan does well in the two metro areas (Kansas City and St. Louis), but gets thumped everywhere else, according to M-D chief Brad Coker.
NV-Sen: Reid nabs huge endorsement, hours before NN appearance
Unbeknownst to most NN10 conventioneers, Senator Harry Reid's busy Saturday extended well beyond his well-received appearance at the convention. A few hours before he took the stage at the Rio, Reid accepted the endorsement of Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman. Goodman, a Democrat who actually flirted openly with an Independent bid for Governor, hailed Reid as the "man we go to to get things done in the city."
WV-Sen: NRSC staying out of special election primary
The ten Republicans that are fighting it out for the right to face Democratic Governor Joe Manchin will do so without the imprimatur of the GOP's Senate campaign wing. At least, that is what the NRSC is promising, in advance of the late August primary. The expectation is that self-funding businessman John Raese, who was thumped in 2006 by the late Senator Robert Byrd, will be the frontrunner for the GOP.
THE U.S. HOUSE
OH-13: Sutton becomes first to call for Rangel resignation
As news of the legal troubles for longtime Democratic Rep. Charlie Rangel broke at the close of the week, second-term Ohio Congresswoman Betty Sutton became the first Democrat to call for the resignation of the New York Congressman. Part of Sutton's statement last night read as follows: "It is regrettable, but Charlie Rangel needs to resign from his seat in Congress. This isn’t about being a Democrat or Republican, this is about preserving the public trust."
PA-15: Dent tries to game debates--Callahan gets big visitor
Two separate news items emerging from the Lehigh Valley this weekend. First, we learn that Republican incumbent Charlie Dent is trying to game the candidate debates a little bit, fighting hard to exclude third-party candidate Jake Towne from the debates. Towne is further to the right than he is to the left, and Dent is clearly concerned about a conservative alternative gaining any press coverage or voter attention. Democrat John Callahan, meanwhile, is going to get a big assist from the man coming to town on August 10th to assist his campaign--former President Bill Clinton.
THE GUBERNATORIAL RACES
CO-Gov: Tancredo issues weekend ultimatum--get out, or I get in
Apparently, when Tom Tancredo made the public pronouncement that he was mulling a gubernatorial bid. Tancredo has taken it, indeed, a step further, demanding that both embattled GOP candidates (Scott McInnis and Dan Maes) step aside. Tancredo issued the threat late Thursday that if they did not do so, he would file as the candidate of the right-wing Constitution Party. In order to make it work legally, either Maes or McInnis would have to wait until the August 10th primary, resigning after the nomination has been claimed. That would allow the GOP to replace the nominee with a candidate of their choosing. Not surprisingly, the GOP is not thrilled with the Tancredo ultimatum. Several county chairs have asked Tancredo to reconsider his threat, while the state GOP has made it clear that they wouldn't even bother with trying to replace their nominee if they did step aside (something that both Maes and McInnis already made clear that they would not do).
MI-Gov: New primary poll contradicts other polling
Who is leading the two-man Democratic primary for Governor in the state of Michigan? In this case, it really does come down to which pollster you believe. Earlier in the week, a new poll for the Detroit News gave state House Speaker Andy Dillon a lead in the high single digits over Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero. But a new poll out Friday from Inside Michigan Politics gave Bernero an impressive lead over Dillon. The total margin was 14 points (36-22), and the number of undecided voters is still shockingly high for a primary that is now just ten days away.
SC-Gov: Haley quick to flip-flop in wake of primary win
Now that the Republican nominations is hers, state legislator Nikki Haley is busying herself by walking back some of the rhetoric that defined her insurgent campaign. The best example: after tapping anti-big business anger in her primary by flatly declaring that all bailout supporters should lose their jobs (including Republicans), she has embraced South Carolina Republican Joe Wilson, who was one of those supporters. She has also been working overtime to make nice with the state's business lobby, which she condemned during the primary as "a big fan of bailouts and corporate welfare."
THE RAS-A-POLL-OOZA
It's all repeats for the House of Rasmussen, and some of it is predictable (little-known John Raese posts similar numbers to Shelley Moore Capito) and some of it less so (the Ras-sies have Earl Pomeroy closer to Republican challenger Rick Berg than he has been in a while).
Oh, and let Rasmussen be only the latest pollster to declare Blanche Lincoln's political career over.
AZ-Gov: Gov. Jan Brewer (R) 56%, Terry Goddard (D) 37%
AR-Sen: John Boozman (R) 60%, Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D) 35%
ND-AL: Rick Berg (R) 49%, Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D) 46%
RI-Gov: Lincoln Chafee (I) 37%, Frank Caprio (D) 30%, John Robataille (R) 23%
RI-Gov: Lincoln Chafee (I) 36%, Frank Caprio (D) 33%, Victor Moffitt (R) 18%
WV-Sen: Joe Manchin (D) 51%, John Raese (R) 35%