Hard to imagine a 36-hour period...in January...where there has been such a variety of political stories. Most of them have been frontpaged, of course, but the aftershocks from those stories, plus a raft of new stories, grace the Wednesday night edition of the Wrap:
CT-Sen: The New Dem In the Senate Race Crushing GOP Opposition
A new poll released today, and with brilliant timing, by the well-respected crew over at Public Policy Polling highlighted what many speculated: the status of the Senate race in Connecticut was a Chris Dodd problem, and not a Democratic Party problem. With a poll in the field before Dodd pulled out of a 2010 re-election bid, PPP was able to compare a Dodd re-election bid with open seat bids featuring Attorney General (and newly announced candidate) Richard Blumenthal, as well as lesser-known Congressman Chris Murphy. The bottom line: Dodd either tied or trailed the two Republicans, while Murphy defeated them both by a modest margin. Blumenthal, meanwhile, scores a total blowout against either Simmons (59-28) or McMahon (60-28). Perhaps pundit extraordinaire Charlie Cook missed the PPP poll: he only changed the race from "Lean Republican" to "Toss Up".
AR-Sen: Rasmussen Says Lincoln Getting Blasted in Re-Elect Bid
Yes, it's Rasmussen (who has gotten more exposure this week, perhaps, than any pollster in recorded history). But as Markos revealed earlier today, it is not just the GOP-amenable pollster that has had Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln circling the drain. These new numbers from Ras, however, are extra-special worrisome. Not only is Lincoln losing against the presumptive GOP frontrunner (state senator Gilbert Baker) by a dozen points, but she also trails two total unknowns (Tom Cox and Curtis Coleman) by double digits. One has to wonder now, as Markos did today, if that Democratic nomination would better be served by someone who is not getting crowned by double digits against candidates with name recognition that is next to nothing.
IN OTHER NEWS.....
- CO-Gov: There was no shortage of intriguing campaign moves today in the wake of the announcement that incumbent Governor Bill Ritter was going to stand down and not seek re-election in 2010. The big story of the day involves two men who are (arguably) the biggest Democratic names in the state. Popular Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper expressed some interest in seeking the post, but made it clear that he would defer to former Senator Ken Salazar, who is currently serving as President Obama's Secretary of the Interior. Salazar, for what it is worth, was given the blessing of the White House to return home to run for Governor. Congressman Ed Perlmutter, who has nailed down the swing 7th district in his two terms in office, is also open to the idea. One has to imagine that a number of dominoes will fall in the coming days in this race.
- MA-Sen: While the GOP continues to crow about the prospects of an upset, Martha Coakley is getting some timely (if expected) assistance in her bid to win the U.S. Senate seat once occupied by the late Senator Ted Kennedy. Kennedy's family will endorse Coakley in an appearance on Thursday. Interim Senator Paul Kirk will also endorse Coakley tomorrow. Coakley also launched the air war today, with an ad touting her experience as Attorney General.
- IL-Sen: It sure likes like insurgent candidate Patrick Hughes knows his audience. The developer, who is challenging establishment Republican candidate Mark Kirk from the right, launched his first TV ad of the primary today. His vehicle? The Fox News Channel. Most polls thus far have shown Kirk with a wide lead, but with a slew of undecided voters. If Hughes can build his name recognition and establish himself as the right-wing alternative (a la Marco Rubio), watch out.
- ND-Sen: The dominoes fell rather quickly in the wake of the Byron Dorgan retirement today, and they all fell in ways that are probably not good news for the Democrats. All reports are that John Hoeven is in, although he is still being strangely coy about the subject. Longtime Democratic Congressman Earl Pomeroy was more direct, making it clear that he will not run for the Senate this year. An interesting name being floated, of course, is MSNBC talk show host Ed Schultz. As Adam B made clear earlier today, the rumors that there were legal barriers to Schultz's entry are untrue.
- CT-Sen: On a day when he made it official that he was interested in replacing the retiring Chris Dodd in the U.S. Senate, interest has obviously grown in the political prospects for longtime Connecticut AG Richard Blumenthal. It would appear, from a cursory glance of the articles out today, that the gentleman has some game, politically. Potential Senate rival Linda McMahon felt compelled to offer praise for Blumenthal's tenure as Attorney General, saying Blumenthal has "provided good service" to the state. The best Republican establishment pick Rob Simmons could come up with was that it had been a long time since Blumenthal had run a tough race (which might also be an indicator of what a tough out he is, politically).
- THE MONEY CHASE: It is that time of the year again, where eager campaigns start to leak their financial reports, eager to establish their legitimacy by putting their campaign's financial viability on display. Hotline On Call posted a couple of eye-catching reports today, with both Republican Tim Griffin (AR-02) and Democrat Anne McLane Kuster (NH-02) reporting over two hundred thousand dollars for the quarter. Keith Fimian, who largely self-funded his bid in 2008 against Democrat Gerry Connolly in VA-11, is reporting having a cool half mil on hand. Another Republican with a sizeable quarter was challenger Randy Altschuler, who banked nearly $200K for the fourth quarter. He is reporting more than three-quarters of a million on hand, although the majority of that was out of his own checkbook. Altschuler, however, has to contend with another Republican in the district, as political rookie George Demos has banked over three hundred thousand dollars in his bid to unseat fourth-term Democratic incumbent Tim Bishop. Campaigns have until January 31st to file their year-end reports with the FEC.