AR-Sen: Quelle surprise: The AFL-CIO, which was a major supporter of Bill Halter, won't endorse Blanche Lincoln in the general.
NV-Sen: Your daily dose of Angle Crazy comes courtesy Greg Sargent:
MANDERS: We have domestic enemies. We have home-born homegrown enemies in our system. And I for one think we have some of those enemies in the walls of the Senate and the Congress.
ANGLE: Yes. I think you're right, Bill.
PA-Sen: Karl Rove's gang of ne'er-do-wells is out with an ad attacking Joe Sestak. NWOTSOTB.
WI-Sen: Weirdo Ron Johnson has a new ad out, trying to sell himself as just a reg'lar guy. NWOTSOTB, but the "ad is airing statewide on cable and broadcast TV starting Tuesday, according to a campaign spokeswoman." Meanwhile, the new right-wing group American Action Network is dropping a $325K ad buy against Russ Feingold. Some background on the group (whose backers include Nixon hatchet man Fred Malek - whataguy!) here.
HI-Gov: Wow. Former Rep. (and recent special election loser) Ed Case went somewhat against type and endorsed Neil Abercrombie over Mufi Hannemann in the Dem gubernatorial primary. The "centrist" Case seemingly had more in common with Hannemann, the urbane mayor of Honolulu, than Abercrombie, the septuagenarian progressive. And Case didn't just issue some anodyne statement - he utterly lambasted Hannemann:
Case called him "the most dangerous politician in a generation," adding that Hannemann governs "by fear and intimidation."
"He is the product and clear choice of a political machine that must end. While professing unity, he's practiced the politics of division, exploiting rather than healing differences of race, origin and economic status," Case said.
CO-03: Republican Scott Tipton is touting an internal poll from Magellan, showing him with a 49-43 lead over Rep. John Salazar. Salazar says his own internals have him leading. One FYI about this (and most other) Magellan polls: It's a one-day sample, much like Rasmussen, and - I would guess - does not include callbacks. Nate Silver previously laid out in great detail how a lack of callbacks can negatively affect poll quality.
KS-04: Raj Goyle is up with a positive bio spot touting his "Kansas values." NWOTSOTB, though this district is centered around Wichita, which is a pretty cheap media market.
Meanwhile, Dem Rob O'Leary is out with his first TV ad, which interestingly enough calls for an end to the war in Afghanistan. NWOTSOTB, and WARNING - AUTOPLAYING YOUTUBE. Very annoying.
MI-07: AFSCME has a new ad out hitting Republican retread Tim Walberg for his votes in Congress, though I think the messaging is a little muddled. Anyhow, NWOTSOTB just yet, but presumably the union will have to file an IE report soon.
NJ-12: GOPer Scott Sipprelle claims he's launching his "third positive, issue-based cable television commercial this summer." First off, check out the ad (which attacks "Washington politicians right at the start") and then tell me if you think it's "positive." Secondly, I'm guessing that this ad is much closer to a "video press release" (as Nathan Gonzales calls them) than a real buy, given that this district lies mostly in the #1-most expensive media market in the country (and the rest is in Philly, which ain't exactly cheap), and that Sipprelle acknowledges it's a cable-only buy.
NY-14: It seems like a long time ago now, but remember when Carolyn Maloney came oh-so-close to primarying appointed Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand? Well, it's an old memory indeed, seeing as Gillibrand is hosting a breakfast fundraiser in Manhattan for Maloney next week.
OH-16: Jim Renacci is up with his first ad of the general election campaign - which I can only assume is targeted at his race against me for NYC Zoning Board. But it's weird that he keeps talking about Ohio, no? Anyhow, a spokesman says the ad "is part of a $250,000 two-week buy" on both broadcast and cable. Do you think it's running on New York 1?
OH-17: Jim Traficant missed the deadline to file as a write-in candidate, but his supporters are still hoping for a favorable ruling from SoS Jennifer Brunner on whether Traficant can appear as an independent. If not, they are supposedly threatening to go to court.
PA-04: Great, another one of these. Much like Joe Donnelly, Jason Altmire has a new ad up claiming he that he's "not afraid to stand up to the president - and Nancy Pelosi." Lovely. NWOTSOTB.
PA-10: It's nice when Republican delusions help us win campaigns. Here's Tom Marino's latest:
"My generation and probably the generation that follows me, we are going to have to step up to the plate and say," he said. "We are not going to get Social Security," he said. "But we are going to pay into it to get this debacle squared away. So if I have to sacrifice my Social Security to get it squared away ... because we can't take Social Security away from people that are on it now.
