Monday’s political round-up

September 18, 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:

* Minnesota’s closely-watched Senate race appears to be increasingly out of reach for Republicans. A new Minnesota Poll shows [tag]Amy Klobuchar[/tag] (D) leading Rep. [tag]Mark Kennedy[/tag] (R), 56% to 32%. Independence Party candidate Robert Fitzgerald remains at 3%. Klobuchar’s 24-point lead is her largest in any poll to date.

* Speaking of Minnesota, the Senate race may be increasingly dull, but the gubernatorial race is just the opposite. Gov. [tag]Tim Pawlenty[/tag] (R) state Attorney General [tag]Mike Hatch[/tag] (D) are now tied at 42% each. Independence Party candidate Peter Hutchinson still trails with just 7%.

* In Rhode Island, Sen. [tag]Linc Chafee[/tag] (R) does not appear to be getting much in the way of a post-primary bump in the polls. A new Rasmussen poll shows him trailing former state Attorney General [tag]Sheldon Whitehouse[/tag] (D), 51% to 43%. In August, Rasmussen showed Whitehouse up by just two points.

* In Iowa, a new Des Moines Register poll shows Iowa Secretary of State [tag]Chet Culver[/tag] (D) and Rep. [tag]Jim Nussle[/tag] (R) tied at 42% in the state’s gubernatorial race.

* Nevada’s open gubernatorial race remains competitive, though clearly leaning in the Republican’s favor right now. A new Research 2000 poll shows Rep. [tag]Jim Gibbons[/tag] (R) leading [tag]Dina Titus[/tag] (D), 45% to 38%. Titus told the Las Vegas Gazette-Journal, “This poll was done after he had been on TV for two weeks and we hadn’t been up yet. But we’re up (on TV) now. Our internal polling is calling it a tossup and his internal polling is calling it a tossup, even though he won’t admit it.”

* Dems in Massachusetts will pick their gubernatorial candidate tomorrow, and according to a new poll from the Boston Globe, they’re going to pick [tag]Deval Patrick[/tag]. According to the poll, Patrick now leads the three-way race with 46%, with [tag]Christopher Gabrieli[/tag] in second with 25%, and [tag]Tom Reilly[/tag] trailing with 18%.

I can’t wait to see an updated poll on Virginia after Allen’s terrible performance yesterday on MTP. Who is going to believe that he just made up the word “macaca”?

  • Rep Kennedy is accusing the Mpls Star Tribune of publishing a false poll showing him desparately behind in an attempt to sabotage his campaign. “The Kennedy campaign sharply criticized the poll. Communications director Joe Pally, in a news release, called it “another blatant attempt to influence, rather than report on the U.S. Senate race.” He said the poll showed a “ridiculous lead” for Klobuchar. ” http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2006/09/18/senatepoll/

    Kennedy has started the attakc ads ove the weekend. We will see how that goes. Klobuchar is still running ads suggesting that she will fix the budget, end tax breaks and loop holes for the rich and the Fortune 500 etc. Kennedy is a schmuck and a worm (IMHO) and his whining about being behind is the reason he is behind. That and he is a schmuck and a worm.

  • “Who is going to believe that he just made up the word “macaca”?” – PJinN

    Who’s going to believe that he didn’t get it from his French Tunisian mother?

    I particularly liked his refusal on National Television to tell everybody if he stands with the President on torture (excuse me, extraordinary techniques).

    I like the fact that Russert dug up his position opposing letting women into VMI. Makes you wonder what those Naval Academy grads were doing standing next to him.

    “Kennedy is a schmuck and a worm (IMHO) and his whining about being behind is the reason he is behind. That and he is a schmuck and a worm.” – MNP

    I’d have LOL if I wasn’t in the computer room.

  • The NYTimes article was even better in the paper version… The article (with the boots photo) started on page A1. And the other two pics (p A20, I think) were placed with Webb on the top of the page (and 3 times the size of the Allen pic), while Allen’s was at the bottom.

    Re Allen’s not knowing what “macaca” meant and having just made it up:
    I was about 10 when I learnt the word — from my 4th grade biology book. There was the cute little monkey with a giggle-potenital (kaka) name, representing the branch which had split from ours during the evolution.

    Is American education so inferior to the Polish (commie, yet!) one? I wonder if he’s ever heard the term “gorilla”? Or “chimpanzee”? Or “baboon”?

    Pfui.

    I can’t wait for Webb to give the phony a (combat) boot up the backside.

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