I'd say that this is a Sanford-free edition of the polling and political wrap-up, but we have fresh polling data, so that wouldn't be true...
SC-Gov: Sanford Should Resign, According to Pair of New Polls
Yesterday, we saw Mark Sanford's approval numbers pre-Argentina revelation, and we speculated how far they'd drop. Wonder no longer: SurveyUSA comes out with fresh numbers, and finds that 60% think that Sanford should pack it in, versus just 34% who think he should remain as governor. Even 48% of REPUBLICANS think Sanford should be ousted. Politico/InsiderAdvantage also polled this as well, and found the same result, albeit a bit tighter (50% resign, 42% stay in office).
NV-Sen: Reid Gains More GOP Support--Will He Get a GOP Opponent
On a day when Harry Reid claimed dozens of new Republican endorsements (including former major league baseball superstar Greg Maddux), NRSC head honcho John Cornyn seemed to imply that a Republican opponent is imminent for the Majority Leader. Speculation has centered either on Congressman Dean Heller or state Senator Mark Amodei.
FL-Gov: McCollum Has Modest Lead Over Sink, According To Ras
On the heels of yesterday's Senate polling results, we get fresh numbers from Rasmussen today on the Governors race in Florida. Rasmussen has GOP attorney general Bill McCollum up eight points (42-34) over Democratic state CFO Alex Sink. That's a slightly wider lead than other recent polls have shown.
OH-Sen: Portman--Elect Me, I Am A Washington Insider!!
This has to be one of the more curious attempts at campaign tactics in this very young campaign cycle. According to Chris Cillizza over at The Fix, Portman is talking up his Washington experience, both in Congress and the Bush Administration, as a reason why Ohio voters should send him back to DC. "I know enough now about where the bodies are buried [and] how the Senate works that I know I can be effective there for Ohio," Portman told Cillizza. Don't candidates usually pretend that they have never even heard of Washington DC, and how that makes them unusually well-positioned to go "clean up" in the capitol?
NATIONAL: Are GOP Politicians Ignoring the Will of Voters...GOP Voters?
The Plum Line, one of WaPo's political blogs, makes an interesting polling-based observation. They point out that on a couple of political issues, Republicans are outside of even the GOP voters' mainstream. They cite specifically cap-and-trade (favored by many moderate Republicans) and health care. This sentence from the Plum Line is a killer:
"The widening gap on issues could help explain why Republicans seem to be souring on their party in general: A Gallup poll earlier this month found that a surprising 38% of Republicans and GOP-leaners view the party unfavorably."
Ouch.
NY-Gov: Former Senate Candidate Lazio Ready To Jump In
It looks like the New York Governors race is about to get confirmation of its first serious GOP challenger. Rick Lazio, the former Long Island Congressman who then lost to Hillary Rodham Clinton by twelve points in a 2000 Senate bid, intends to jump into the race. Republicans are still waiting on former NYC Mayor and 2008 presidential aspirant (well...kinda) Rudy Giuliani to announce his intentions.
MI-Gov: Terri Lynn Land Decides To Forgo Gubernatorial Bid
This one is a little bit of a surprise: Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, who was expected to run for governor, has decided not to make a bid, and instead endorsed Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard. Land's decision is an obvious boost to Bouchard, and a bit of a snub to the other two leading GOP candidates. Mike Cox has served in statewide office alongside Land (he is the state AG), and Peter Hoekstra hails from the same region of the state (Western Michigan) as Land. Democrats have a clear frontrunner (Lt. Gov John Cherry), although former Michigan State football coach George Perles is also in the running.
AZ-GOV: Jim Pederson Also Says No To 2010 Bid For Governor
This one is no less surprising: Jim Pederson, who ran a respectable bid against Senator Jon Kyl in 2006 (losing by nine points), decided not to run for Governor of Arizona in 2010. This makes it all the more likely that state Attorney General Terry Goddard (also a former Phoenix Mayor) is going to be the consensus Democratic candidate in the gubernatorial election in sixteen months. The only remaining question is what happens on the Republican side: Governor Jan Brewer has found working with her state legislature (despite it being a GOP majority) to be a bit of a chore, and she has not said definitively that she wants to make a bid for re-election.