SSP Daily Digest: 6/2 (Morning Edition)

  • AR-Sen: Blanche Lincoln’s closing ad for her campaign is really, really sad-sack. “I know you’re angry at Washington – believe me, I heard you on May 18” and “I’d rather lose this election fighting for what’s right than win by turning my back on Arkansas.” Gawd.
  • CT-Sen: Dick Blumenthal is out with his first TV ads of the cycle, featuring people he helped in his capacity as attorney general. You’ll need to click over to his site to watch them. No word on the size of the buy (grrr).
  • FL-Sen: Boy, Joe Trippi sure has shacked up with one serious shitball. Jeff Greene, who spent his entire adult life registered either as “no party” or a Republican, donated five grand to Meg fucking Whitman’s gubernatorial campaign just last year. Lately he’s given a bunch of money to Dems, but jeez – to Whitman, of all people? Oh, and he also gave money to Pete Wilson back in 1988. That should help him with the Hispanic vote.
  • IL-Sen: Where to start with Mark Kirk? How about this: Liberal blogger Nitpicker first nailed Mark Kirk for misleading people about his military service record all the way back in 2005 (while chasing down a bullshit attack on Paul Hackett, interestingly enough). TPM also lists many more occasions where Mark Kirk did his best to make it appear he served in Operation Iraqi Freedom (he did not). Meanwhile, Bloomberg has another video of Kirk claiming to have won the Intelligence Officer of the Year award (he did not). And last but not least, the Navy itself is saying it alerted Kirk to the fact that the media was inquiring about the award story. Ouch.
  • KS-Sen: State Sen. David Haley officially kicked off his campaign to succeed Sam Brownback yesterday. Haley lost a bid for Secretary of State in 2006. He joins former newspaper editor Charles Schollenberger and academic administrator Lisa Johnston in the Democratic primary.
  • KY-Sen: Libertarian purity trolls in Kentucky have decided not to field a candidate to express their unhappiness with Rand Paul… mostly because they don’t have, you know, a candidate. Meanwhile, Kentucky Republicans are pretty pissed themselves. The GOP-led state Senate adopted a resolution on a voice vote expressing support for the Civil Rights Act, and criticizing those (like a certain nameless senate nominee) as “outside the mainstream of American values” and part of an “extreme minority of persons in the United States” for their opposition to the law. Double ouch.
  • NY-Sen: Will it blend? The answer is always yes, whether you’re talking about a blender from Blendtec or a Schumer from Flatbush. The NY GOP nominated former CIA officer Gary Bernsten, who vowed, a little too Jack Bauer-like, to “pursue Sen. Schumer in every town, on every street and every village.” Political consultant Jay Townsend, who may be in this just to sell more DVDs on how to run campaigns, will also be on the primary ballot – as will anyone insane enough to try to petition his or her way on. Whoever the lucky winner is, they’ll have to face the implacable Schumer whirling blades of death in November.
  • KS-Gov: Sen. Sam Brownback, running for governor, picked state Sen. Jeff Colyer has his running-mate. Colyer is also a plastic surgeon whose Google results lead with the fact that he performs breast augmentations.
  • NV-Gov: Jon Ralston points out that Rory Reid has $2.6 million in cash-on-hand, while likely Republican opponent Brian Sandoval has just $575K. Sandoval has had to fight a primary battle against incumbent Gov. Jim Gibbons, while Reid’s had the nomination to himself.
  • AR-03: Steve Womack has finally picked up an endorsement from one of the people he beat in the first round in AR-03, businessman Kurt Maddox. His opponent in the runoff, Cecile Bledsoe, has scored the support of also-rans Steve Lowry, Doug Matayo, and, of course, Gunner DeLay.
  • CO-07: Navy vet Lang Sias doesn’t live in the 7th CD, and he also hasn’t done something else there or anywhere else for the last decade: vote. In fact, the former Democrat (who donated to Mark Udall in 2002) didn’t even manage to vote for John McCain when he was volunteering for his campaign two years ago. Sias is fighting for the GOP nod against Aurora City Councilman Ryan Frazier, who is whomping him in the cash department.
  • GA-07: GOP State Rep. Clay Cox is the first candidate on the air in the race to replace retiring Rep. John Linder. Amusingly enough, Cox’s ad features his support for the “Fair Tax” – one of the key issues which sunk Tim Burns in PA-12. Obviously it’s a different district, but I’ll be curious to see if it flies in a Republican primary. Anyhow, no word on the size of the buy (of course). (Also, is it just me, or does the part of the ad in front of the heavy vehicles look greenscreened?)
  • NY-03: Howard Kudler, a Nassau County teacher, will likely run against Rep. Peter King, says Newsday. Kudler challenged GOP Assemblyman David McDonough in 2008, losing 62-38.
  • NY-19: Biden alert! The VPOTUS was seen yesterday doing a fundraiser for Rep. John Hall in Bedford, NY. No word on the haul, though the event was described as “small.” In the evening, the elder Biden also did an event in NYC for his son Beau’s DE-AG re-election campaign.
  • Polling: Mark Blumenthal tries to pin Scott Rasmussen down on why his firm hasn’t been polling key primaries closer to the actual elections. When confronted with evidence that his patterns this cycle have changed from the last, Ras says that general elections and presidential primaries are “different” from regular primaries. He also claims that the AR-Sen race is only “of intense interest to some on the political left,” which doesn’t exactly gibe with reality, given how much ink has been spilled on this contest by the tradmed. Meanwhile, speaking of questionable polling, Nate Silver takes a look at Internet-based pollsters. While Zogby of course is the suck, Silver thinks that Harris Interactive and YouGov “are capable of producing decent results.”
  • Passings: Former North Dakota Gov. Art Link passed away at the age of 96. He served two terms in the 70s, losing a bid for a third term to Republican Allen Olson in 1980.

    • 110 thoughts on “SSP Daily Digest: 6/2 (Morning Edition)”

    1. .. and I realise this is somewhat OT, but am I really the only one to see some discrepancy here?

      “The NYT lists many occasions where Dick Blumenthal did his best to make it appear he served in Vietnam (he did not).” <- This is a smear and a non-story, and a waste of journalistic ink.

      “TPM lists many occasions where Mark Kirk did his best to make it appear he served in Operation Iraqi Freedom (he did not).” <- This is a serious and legitimate concern, and shows you can’t trust him.

      Keep in mind that even in the full Blumenthal video – which, it was argued here and elsewhere, exculpated him – the only difference was that it showed him, earlier on, not outright claiming he’d been in Vietnam, but merely making it seem like he had been there. The same thing Kirk is called out for in the above sentence.

      Can’t we just call shenanigans no matter who pulls this kind of shit? I’m just flabbergasted that politicians think they can get away with this stuff.

      OK, back to lurking mode .. unlike my couple of posts on this particular bugbear may suggest, I do tremendously value your work at SSP, it’s become my primary source for the nitty gritty of US election news.

    2. “Obviously it’s a different district, but I’ll be curious to see if it flies in a Republican primary”

      Well, considering Linder wrote a book and legislation centered around the Fair Tax, I’d think it’d be an issue a Republican must support in the district.

    4. Let’s see if anyone can get these.  ðŸ™‚

      1. Who is the only Quaker serving in Congress right now?

      2. George McGovern’s personal campaign photographer had a child who is now a famous comedian.  Who is it?

      3. Which U.S. Senator has a sister who is a Hollywood film and music video director?

      4. Which state has had for the last 30 years non-stop a U.S. Senator who was also a former Governor?

      5. Who is the only member of Congress who has been convicted specifically for lying to the voters?

      6. Which Congressional district has had every single one of its Representatives (until the one currently in office) get divorced while serving in office?

      7. In the 2004 presidential primary, Dennis Kucinich won only one COUNTY in the United States.  What was it?

      8. Which current member of Congress was elected to Congress as the Democratic AND Republican candidate… in the same election?

      9. The founder of General Motors is a distant relative to which current U.S. Senator?

      10. Who is the only former Nixon administration staff member that is currently in Congress?

    5. There’s also this news about American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi going to New York to support one of the Republicans seeking the nomination to challenge Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

      Of course, it is her father, former Congressman Joseph DioGuardi.

    6. So what’s the records for incumbants going down in primaries in one cycle?

      There have been two Senators (Bennett and Spector) and two House members (Mollohan and Griffith).  Another Senator (Lincoln) is hanging by a thread.

      Also interesting is that two of those defeats were products of party switching.

    7. Alabama Republicans didn’t give a rip about Dale Peterson.  28% of the vote for last place.  Couldn’t even make the runoff.  FAIL.  Here again is his hilarious commercial.

      So who on earth WOULD support “such a dummy” like Dorman Grace? Well, per last night, at least 144,747 Alabama Republicans (they’re still counting), good enough to make the runoff with 35% of the vote. (He’ll face John McMillan, who got 37%.)

      Yeah, I have no clue who Grace and McMillan are.  But I guess they must’ve gotten the “thugs and criminals” vote.  ðŸ™‚

    10. I’m having a difficult time understanding why there is so much interest on the Democratic side for Senator Brownback’s seat. Kansas hasn’t elected a Democratic Senator since George McGill in 1930.

      Brownback supporters call themselves Brownbackers and Sen. Colyer performs breast augmentations…I’m sure there are some clever jokes that can be made out of this…

    12. State Sen. Colyer is well-known as an uber-conservative. Normally, a conservative like Brownback would pick someone from the moderate wing of the party to help unify it. I guess he’s going for geographical balance, since Colyer’s from Johnson County.  

      But still, Colyer’s a nutcase. Oh–and as a strict social conservative, it’s pretty amusing that he does breast augmentations. I wonder what God thinks of Colyer screwing with his handiwork.

    14. I gave five dollars to Meg Whitman’s campaign mainly because I have never liked Jerry Brown’s support for a value added tax among other anti-Brown reasons.  

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