Remember, SSP will be live-blogging the MS-01 election results on Tuesday night. Polls close at 7pm 8pm Eastern time. If you haven't yet signed up to do some virtual phonebanking, now is your chance!
Update (James): Russ Feingold's PAC is itching to give away $5000 to one of 10 lucky House candidates. Feel free to cast your informed vote to determine who gets a piece of Feingold's booty.
The Commercial Appeal believes Prentiss County Chancery Clerk Travis W. Childers of Booneville is the best person to complete the U.S. House term, which expires in early January. [...]
Childers, who labels himself a conservative Democrat, has stressed the importance of voting against trade deals that cost American jobs. He is a strong supporter of public education, saying it's time for the nation, as a whole, to provide schools with the materials and support they need. That is important in a district where only 65 percent of teens graduate from high school and only 10 percent of the population has a college degree.
As for Iraq, Childers believes it is time to bring the troops home "honorably, safely and soon," while providing them with material support until that happens. He recently told this newspaper's editorial board that it is time to bring the troops home and spend the money we are sending to Iraq on projects in the United States.
Why not Greg Davis? Because he's an unapologetic agent of the Bush Administration's disastrous policies at home and abroad:
Over the years, however, this editorial board always has looked favorably at candidates who have shown a degree of political independence. Davis has given no indication that he'll stray far from the Bush administration's stand on important issues, including the war in Iraq. That fact should not be lost on 1st District voters, especially when opinion polls are showing that the majority of citizens believe the country is headed in the wrong direction.
Defying disgusted constituents and angry Republican leaders, disgraced Rep. Vito Fossella has told pals he plans to seek re-election.
And, shockingly, the Staten Island pol is feeling "pretty good," he confided to friends.
"I got every indication that he plans to run again," said Guy Molinari, Fossella's political mentor, who's been in close contact with the embattled 43-year-old politician.
Fossella is up for re-election in November.
"He's not just inclined to run. He plans on running," said Molinari, a former congressman and Staten Island borough president who was succeeded by Fossella as the de facto leader of the borough's GOP.
This doesn't jive with earlier reports saying that Fossella would resign by Monday.
Fossella did not return a call for comment last night, and it's very possible that the posturing could merely be a trial balloon to gauge whether Fossella could realistically continue in office.
A Fossella spokeswoman did issue the following statement on his behalf at 12:15 Sunday morning: "Congressman Fossella appreciates the support of so many people, including Guy Molinari, but he has not made any decision yet. And he continues to spend time with his family."
The Advance also reports that state Sen. Diane Savino, Councilman Michael McMahon, and Assemblyman Michael Cusick are all actively considering the race on the Democratic side.
With the clock ticking in Mississippi, the Trent Thompson 72-Hour Program is now in full effect. I spoke with Trent earlier this afternoon, and he gave me the following updates:
Trent's been cris-crossing the district, from Tupelo to Booneville to the Southaven area delivering literature for canvassers, and he's seen all of five Greg Davis signs -- compared to "literally hundreds" for Travis Childers. Childers is winning the sign wars even in areas closer to Davis' home turf.
Trent describes the atmosphere in Booneville, where the Childers campaign HQ is located, as a total "lovefest for Travis". Not surprising, given that Childers won 85% of the vote in the area (Prentiss County) on April 22nd.
Dick Cheney's comments on visiting south Memphis have rankled people in the Tupelo area. Childers has been working that story into his recent stump speeches, saying that Memphis doesn't need another congressman -- Mississippi does.
Childers is up with an ad on African-American radio hitting Davis on his campaign event with Cheney. Childers will need strong turnout from the black community on Tuesday.
In keeping with the populist tone of his campaign, Childers recently wrapped up his "Fed Up While You Fill Up Tour" in Tupelo, where he sold gas for $1.25 a gallon with Rep. Gene Taylor.
The Davis campaign's response was hilariously absurd:
Davis' campaign manager Ted Prill denounced the statements as hypocrisy, saying Childers "has been supported almost solely by liberal Democrats in Washington who would allow Fidel Castro to (drill for oil) closer to our shorelines than we can."
Jeff Merkley (D): 42 (34)
Gordon Smith (R-inc): 45 (47)
Steve Novick (D): 41 (35)
Gordon Smith (R-inc): 47 (46)
(MoE: ±4%)
Smith is surprisingly weak, even against a pair of challengers who would not be called A-list. It's no wonder that Smith would hit the airwaves early saying that he's the "change that Oregon needs".
SSP is moving NC-Sen from "Safe Republican" to "Likely Republican." Several factors contribute to this change:
1) Democrat Kay Hagan (who convincingly won her primary earlier this week) has done a good job raking in cash so far, raising $1.5 million since she got into the race, including $900K in the first quarter. She had to spend a lot of her warchest in her race against Jim Neal, but it looks like her fundraising will continue to be strong.
2) Democratic turnout rocked the house on Tuesday. In the most directly comparable races, the parallel gubernatorial primaries, the number of votes cast on the Dem side was almost three-and-a-half times greater than in the GOP contest. Of course, Dem turnout was likely to be greater given the presidential battle atop the ticket, but new Democratic voter registrations are far outstripping Republican registrations. There has also been a huge flux of new independent registrations, and early voting patterns show that indies overwhelmingly prefer Team Blue.
3) The Obama factor: Barack Obama almost certainly makes this state far more competitive than Hillary Clinton would have. We're not saying Obama's going to win NC, but it will be in play. And while Obama's nomination has been inevitable for months, his grudging coronation by the tradmed finally allows him to focus on the general election. This is good news in the Tarheel State.
4) Finally, Liddy Dole's polling is less than stellar. A Rasmussen poll a month ago put the race at 52-39, while a more recent Research 2000/DailyKos poll showed a tight 48-41 margin. Now that Hagan is past the primary, much like Obama, she can turn her attention to her Republican opponent.
Will you do your part to bring this race home on Tuesday? The DCCC has set up a virtual phonebanking center for Travis Childers. It's fun and easy. Let's do this thing, people.
In the wake of what appears to be a career-ending scandal for Staten Island GOP Rep. Vito Fossella, the Swing State Project is updating its NY-13 race rating from "Likely Republican" to "Tossup".
If Fossella resigns (as is rumored), the special election is sure to be a top-tier affair in this D+1 district for both Republicans and Democrats. Arcane rules will allow party leaders to choose their most favored candidates -- which would allow Democrats to make an upgrade from their current field (Brooklynites Stephen Harrison and Domenic Recchia). Should Fossella decide to serve the remainder of his term and then retire from the House, new candidates are sure to get in on both sides.
If Fossella does the unthinkable and continues his re-election campaign, he'll stagger onward with deep if not mortal wounds. Again, we would expect new challengers to emerge, both Republican and Democrat.
Culturally more conservative than the rest of New York City, NY-13 still favored Al Gore in 2000 by eight points. The GOP has a deep bench on Staten Island, but if Democrats can recruit a Richmond resident for this race, the outcome will be anyone's guess.
Before the April 22nd special primary, Democrat Travis Childers picked up the key endorsements of the Tupelo-based 
SSP is moving NC-Sen from "Safe Republican" to "