Wednesday’s political round-up

June 21, 2006

Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:

* In Pennsylvania, Sen. [tag]Rick Santorum[/tag] (R) isn’t closing the gap with [tag]Bob Casey[/tag]; he’s falling further behind. According to a new Quinnipiac poll, Casey now leads Santorum 52% to 34%. The 18-point margin is five points higher than a month ago in a similar Quinnipiac poll. Overall, only 38% approve of the job Santorum is doing and a similar percentage believe Santorum deserves another term.

* Speaking of Quinnipiac, a new statewide poll in New York shows that William Weld’s decision to drop out of the state’s gubernatorial race hasn’t done much to help his GOP rival, [tag]John Faso[/tag]. According to the new poll, [tag]Elliot Spitzer[/tag] (D) leads Faso by a stunning 46 points, 66% to 20%. Spitzer leads his primary opponent, Thomas Suozzi, by an even larger margin, 76% to 13%.

* Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman [tag]Rahm Emanuel[/tag] (D-Ill.) announced yesterday that he will not stay on as DCCC chair for another election cycle, regardless of what happens in November, citing family commitments. Party officials have urged Emanuel to keep the post, but he told The Hill yesterday, “I served one term, and my kids are all at a certain point. They’ve had it.” Emanuel has three children under 10.

* Speaking of the party committees, with less than five months to go before the elections, Dems enjoy a sizable cash-on-hand advantage for the first time, well, ever. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has $33.5 million cash, while the National Republican Senatorial Committee has $18.3 million. Similarly, the DCCC has $24.5 million cash on hand, as compared to the National Republican Congressional Committee’s $21.9 million.

* And in Ohio, Dems appear to be well positioned to hold onto the 13th district seat, made vacant when [tag]Sherrod Brown[/tag] (D) became a Senate candidate. According to an internal poll conducted for former state Rep. [tag]Betty Sutton[/tag] (D), the Dem has a comfortable lead over Lorain Mayor [tag]Craig Foltin[/tag] (R), 58% to 27%. The survey also showed independent voters favored Sutton by a 48% to 23% margin.

Pat Ricketts, GOP candidate for senator here in Nebraska, is running on a platform as a “Reagan Republican” (in his word, “lower taxes, less spending, less government, blah, blah”).
I’ve heard that expression used by other Republicans and conservative pundits to describe themselves.
My question is, why aren’t they calling themselves “Bush Republicans”?

  • Hi CB,

    You flipped your digits 😉

    “Spitzer (D) leads Faso by a stunning 64 points, 66% to 20%.”
    should be
    “Spitzer (D) leads Faso by a stunning 46 points, 66% to 20%.”

    Much as I would like the former.

  • Instead of Suozzi figthing a losing battle, he should be taking on Peter King rethug extrodinaire

  • Doesn’t the cash the campaign committees on hand reinforce what Dean is doing? Some have criticised him for not saving money to spend in close races for ads but it seems like the campaign committees will have more than enough cash to do that on their own, while Dean’s strategies should have long term positives for the party.

  • This doesn’t have anything to do with anything, but I’m so disappointed that people are no longer writing Santorum’s name as Rick “Man on Dog” Santorum.

  • It’s surprising how often Republicans point to Ronald Reagan as a model of fiscal responsibility. I think they’re just using this phrase as a code-word for “He cut my taxes, screw everything else.”

  • My question is, why aren’t they calling themselves “Bush Republicans”?

    I think the better question is: why are *we* calling *them* “Bush Republicans”. Let them try to weasel out of that one.

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