FL-Sen: Charlie Crist is still refusing to say whether he'll caucus with the Dems or the GOP if he wins, a position which looks increasingly untenable as we get down to crunchtime.
LA-Sen: It looks like TPM got tipped to an interesting story: David Vitter's campaign has been sending letters to Louisiana newspaper editors pressuring them about their coverage of Brent Furer, the former Vitter aide responsible for women's issues - who also attacked his girlfriend with a knife. TPM's characterization is that Vitter is "trying to intimidate newspapers into giving Furer what he considers fair coverage."
MO-Sen: The DSCC, which has reserved $4 million in ad time in Missouri, is out with its first ad of the race, attacking Roy Blunt.
NV-Sen: For a while it looked like Harry Reid might get the NRA's endorsement, but it turns out that the group won't be backing him this cycle (though they aren't getting behind Sharron Angle, either).
CO-Gov: LOL - Tom Tancredo picked a running mate, a former state representative named Pat Miller who served a single term twenty years ago. She sounds just as batshit as he is. I'd love to know why her tenure in the state lege was so illustrious.
CT-Gov: A nice bump for Dan Malloy: He just collected $6 million in public financing for his gubernatorial run, the most anyone's been awarded in Connecticut history. But Republican Tom Foley is ultra-rich - he's already given his campaign $3 million, and as the CT Mirror puts it:
Foley, who owns a 100-foot yacht, an airplane and a waterfront Greenwich estate, laughed and stammered when asked how could much he afford to spend.
"Well, I, ...," Foley began, then he paused and said, "Could I afford to match him? Yeah."
NH-Gov: Dem Gov. John Lynch has reported raising $1.3 million to date (though that includes a half-million dollar personal loan), and has $750K on hand. His Republican opponent, John Stephen, has raised just under a million bucks and has $800K left.
OH-Gov: God, if John Kasich loses, it'll be for two reasons: First, Ted Strickland has run a good campaign. Second, he has Chronic Acute Goofball Disease, an incurable condition which causes you to do shit like... propose a regulatory overhaul plan that is basically identical to one your opponent already enacted two years ago. Kasich even ganked the name, dubbing his plan "Common Sense Initiative Ohio" (CSI Ohio - does that even make sense?), while Teddy Ballgame's was "Common Sense Business Regulation Executive Order."
TX-Gov: Wow, what a horror: Nearly all of Harris County, TX's voting machines were destroyed in a fire, and the cause is still unknown. Election officials are putting on a brave face, but this is obviously a major nightmare for this fall's elections. What's more (and this is why we're filing it under "TX-Gov"), Harris County is home to Houston, the largest city in Texas and, of course, where Dem nominee Bill White served as mayor for eight years. Not good.
AR-03: I'm not sure whether to laugh or to cry. A Talk Business Research/Hendrix College poll has Republican Steve Womack up 55-31 against Dem David Whitaker in this ultra-red district, the most Republican (by far) in Arkansas. Why am I going schizo? Well, these numbers are very similar to Talk Business's surveys of AR-01 and AR-02, districts where we're supposed to have a much better chance this fall (or at least the 1st CD). So either AR-01 is as bad as AR-03, or one of these polls is wrong. I'm not betting on good news for us.
GA-12: Regina Thomas's secret plan to run as a write-in, despite Georgia law pretty clearly barring that option, has been thwarted. She won't be eligible this November in any way, shape, or form - and she's also refusing to endorse the Dem primary winner, Rep. John Barrow.
MO-08: Dem Tommy Sowers is up with his first negative ad of the season, once again touting his "combat bible," and attacking Rep. Jo Ann Emerson as a bailout supporter. (There's also a gratuitous shot of him firing a gun at the end.) The campaign says it will spend "at least $100,000 to air the spot on broadcast and cable stations throughout" the district. More interestingly, though, is the fact that Emerson is also out with a negative spot - not something you'd expect would be necessary given the lopsided polling, the super-red nature of the district, and the fact that it's 2010. NWOTSOTB. You can find links to both ads at the link.
NE-02: Dem Tom White unveiled his first ad, which is "set to air on broadcast and cable channels in the Omaha area" this week. (NWOTSOTB though.)
OH-01: Dem Rep. Steve Driehaus is up with his first ad, a spot which attempts to draw distinctions between his record and that of former Rep. Steve Chabot, who is making a comeback bid. Interestingly (and I think this is a wise move), Driehaus is making the argument that his vote for the stimulus was a vote for tax cuts - which in fact it was. The ad really strikes me as lacking any emotional punch, though. NWOTSOTB, though the ad (which you can view here) is reportedly airing on "Cincinnati's four local affiliates and cable."
VA-02: Maybe it sounds like rapprochement to you, but to me, it sounds like "Either your brains or your signature will be on this pledge." Teabaggers in Virginia's second CD, long hostile to Republican nominee Scott Rigell, have compelled him to sign a seven-part pledge endorsing several of their favorite platforms - but even so, they aren't endorsing Rigell in return. Still, one teabag leader seems to finally be playing realpolitik, claiming she wants to isolate indie Kenny Golden, so maybe a right-wing split will be averted here (sadly).
DCCC: Not sure how much Politico (as is their wont) is over-reading Chris Van Hollen's remarks, but they make it sound like CVH is threatening to cut off under-performing Democratic candidates if they don't get their acts together. Nothing like some threats of triage to get the troops motivated, huh?
