Today's installment of campaign-related news items that won't necessarily generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:
* The results have not yet been made official, but it appears Wisconsin Democrats won control of the state Senate last night, which would be quite a consolation prize after losing the gubernatorial recall.
* A new Pew Research Poll shows President Obama leading Mitt Romney by seven, 49% to 42%.
* In Florida, Public Policy Polling shows Obama up by four over Romney, 50% to 46%.
* In Pennsylvania, a new Franklin & Marshall poll in Obama leading Romney by 12, 48% to 36%. Rumor has it the Romney camp isn't prepared to seriously contest the Keystone State.
* A new Quinnipiac poll in Virginia shows Tim Kaine (D) with a narrow lead over George Allen (R) in the state's closely-watched U.S. Senate race, 44% to 43%.
* In Missouri, the Republicans' U.S. Senate primary is heating up, with businessman John Brunner launching his first GOP attack ad, going after his primary rivals for their legislative backgrounds.
* In Connecticut, Quinnipiac found former wrestling company executive Linda McMahon with a big lead in her Republican primary against former Rep. Chris Shays, and McMahon now trails Rep. Chris Murphy (D) in a hypothetical matchup by just three points, 46% to 43%.
* And in Nebraska, former Sen. Bob Kerrey's (D) comeback bid is off to a difficult start, but he received some unexpected encouragement yesterday from Republican Chuck Hagel.
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May I ask how, exactly, one can spin the Democrats' possible victory in the one State Senate race in Wisconsin into "quite a consolation prize" when the NYT story ends thus (emphasis mine):
If Democrats ultimately succeed in winning control of the chamber, even some among them have acknowledged that the victory may be more symbolic than anything. The Legislature is not scheduled to meet before November, when regular elections are scheduled for about half of the Senate seats, using new state district boundaries favored by Republicans.
I mean, come on, the truth is this is an unmitigated disaster for the Democrats in Wisconsin, there are no "consolation prizes", and this could be a harbinger of November if it energizes the fascists sufficiently, especially if the Democrats continue to play "bean bag" while the Republicans play "politics." If I was that woman in Madison last night, I would have punched that moron Barrett, not just slapped him. Anybody who thinks anything he said in his concession speech is going to happen on the part of the Republicans lives in Cloud Cuckoo Land.
This has been another chance for the American labor movement to never miss a chance to miss a chance, as they have been doing the past 70 years. They "lost their enthusiasm" when their candidate who they thought would give them everything back didn't win the Democratic primary, and that hurt - what the hell sort of deals did they think they were going to get from Walker????
And furthermore, don't listen to the spin from Team Obama that their numbers are good. The fact is that they are NOT "ahead of where we were in 2008" as Jim Messina is spinning things. They are using polls from this past Spring to try and minimize the movement toward Romney. The fact is they are DOWN from where they were at this point in the 2008 campaign.
We don't need all this "good news" that things "aren't that bad" Steve. We need to face the fact that if we don't start following Willie Brown's famous advice (Run every election as if you are ten points down), we are going to lose this, and if we do, it is not going to be a loss like any any of us have ever experienced before. Anyone who thinks the GOP won't use two years of control of White House, Senate and House to repeal the 20th Century regardless of what public opinion polls say is a damned fool.
What you should be trumpeting this morning is WAKE THE HELL UP, DEMOCRATS! THIS IS WHAT WE FACE!
I wish I could say it better, TC. But I can't.
The Wisconsin recall is a good example of what happens when one party goes all in and the other doesn't. Obama and the DNC threw Wisconsin Dems under the bus. I wonder if those folks will remember Obama's reluctance to help, and simply not vote for president this fall?
RM, My fav 2012 campaign moment to date: Last night, at exactly 9:01 PM: Re: Wisconsin recall vote...Our fav Rachel Maddow, announced, with much excitement, after much network preparation..."The Wisconsin polls have just closed, and with 0% of vote tallied, NBCNews has just determined that the race is to too close to call!!!" Really?! You've got to love it...Rachel, we love you... you go girl! END
Oh dear god, I hope that rumor about Romney not competing too hard in PA is true. With our new voter suppression law, my biggest fear is they will hit this state hard and not only sweep in Romney but displace Bob Casey. I'm no fan of our pro-life Democratic Senator, but I can't bear the thought of having not just one, but 2 crazy tea party-backed Senators representing this state.
politico got a slide show presentation from romney's pollster and it doesn't mention pennsylvania as one of the states that "the route to 270 goes through."
it only shows arizona, colorado, florida, iowa, nevada, ohio and virginia.
http://images.politico.com/global/2012/06/finance_slides.html
Love Senator Hagel!
Finally, Republicans get exactly what they want: conditional democracy, Paid-In-Full.
Finally, Republicans get exactly what they want: conditional democracy, Paid-In-Full.
Regarding your story on the reindeer rancher, as a longtime supporter of yours I must take exception to the pointed edge by which you dismssed, if not eviscerated this man's right to hold a political office and put his hat in the ring to serve his civic duty... just because he is a "reindeer farmer" (I'm sure your writers meant "rancher"). And with little or no reference to any of his policy stances, only his occupation. As someone fortunate enough to come from hard working parents first in family to earn graduate and post doctoral degrees, and with a graduate degree myself (and all from Texas, golly gee), I am saddened by your condescending treatment of a fellow American with the desire to serve his country just because he's a rancher. Wow. My father had a PhD, but when times were hard, he could, and did, wear the hats of welder, carpenter, laborer, and many more, even better than the man at his flank. No matter his ideology, whether you agree or disagree with this rancher's world view, his right as a so-called ordinary American running for the opportunity to do something, or affect change in his community is to be respected bipartisanly, issues aside. Full stop. I would vote for a reindeer rancher with common sense long before I'd vote for someone who had lost sight of what it means to be just that, an ordinary American who happens to share my political party in name. Kerouac's odes to the Essential American take on new meaning when applied to the ever low-roaded political milieu today... I wish I had a reindeer rancher to vote for in my now home state of California. Maybe he can balance a budget.