Polling and Political Wrap-Up, 11/6/09

You might have noticed as of late that the Wrap-Up has taken on a very predictable cadence. The polling news comes first, with numbers and analysis. Then, in bullet form, the political news of the day soon follows.

Well, there is good news and bad news on this Friday afternoon/evening.

The bad news: near as I can tell, there is no new polling to report today (not surprising: after exhausting themselves on a quartet of races during Election week, they are all probably on a beach somewhere right now).

The good news: it looks like I will get to start my weekend early, as well!!

Just kidding. There actually were some big headlines in politics today. And what better way to start the weekend than to go through some of the highlights?

• He may well be the 304th person to announce a run for Minnesota Governor, but he may well be one of the most important: Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, a Democrat, has filed the paperwork to make a run for Governor. This comes in the wake of his re-election victory on Tuesday. He instantly becomes one of the favorites on the (quite full) Democratic side. Tim Pawlenty, the GOP incumbent, is retiring in order to stick his little piggies in the water for a 2012 Presidential run.
• Speaking of people opting to make the plunge in 2010, Democrats got another piece of good electoral news a little further to the South, as it now appears that prominent attorney Roxanne Conlin has decided, as rumored, to take a run at longtime incumbent Republican Chuck Grassley in Iowa.
• Speaking of Democrats considering political campaigns--there are rumors now of a very famous Democratic name being once again launched into the political conversation: Kennedy. The Kennedy in question is Anthony Kennedy Shriver, who lives and works in Florida and is contemplating a gubernatorial bid. The field has been largely limited, on the Democratic side, to state CFO Alex Sink.
• A little levity to put a smile on your face as we head to the weekend: it took less than a week for the word Scozzafavaed to make it to the Urban Dictionary. The definition: to purge of moderation.
• On the GOP side, a bit of buzzkill. Yesterday, political sites were buzzing about a potential 2012 Clash of the Champions in Montana, where freshman Democrat Jon Tester would be challenged by longtime state Congressman Denny Rehberg. Today, the longtime GOP legislator seemed to throw some cold water on that notion.
• One of the longer periods of contemplation in recent political history is about to come to a close--the Raleigh News & Observer reports that Democratic Congressman Bobby Etheridge is close to deciding whether or not to challenge GOP Senator Richard Burr.
• Ha!! The "Hoffman Effect" strikes again, as NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions is the latest non-moderate Republican to nonetheless get challenged from the right to a Republican Primary.
• One bit of downer news: the GOP expanded its paper-thin majority in the Texas State House of Representatives today when a longtime Democratic legislator from East Texas switched parties.