Thursday’s political round-up

September 14, 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 the hopes of adding geographic and racial balance to his gubernatorial ticket, Rep. [tag]Jim Davis[/tag] (D-Fla.) announced today that former Miami state Sen. [tag]Daryl Jones[/tag] (D-Fla.) will be his running mate this year. If elected, Jones will be modern Florida’s first African-American lieutenant governor. Jones, 51, is a U.S. Air Force Reserves colonel as well as a lawyer and real-estate investor.

* On the opposite end of the continent, [tag]Sarah Palin[/tag] (R) looks very strong in Alaska’s gubernatorial race after dispatching incumbent Gov. [tag]Frank Murkowski[/tag] in a GOP primary. The most recent Rasmussen poll shows Palin leading former Gov. [tag]Tony Knowles[/tag] (D), 52% to 38%. These numbers are virtually unchanged from last month’s poll.

* In Alabama, the most recent Birmingham News poll shows Alabama Gov. [tag]Bob Riley[/tag] (R) well on his way to winning a second term, leading Lt. Gov. [tag]Lucy Baxley[/tag] (D) by 21 points, 55% to 34%. (via Taegan Goddard)

* In Iowa’s closely watched gubernatorial race, a new KCCI poll shows Iowa Secretary of State [tag]Chet Culver[/tag] (D) still leading Rep. [tag]Jim Nussle[/tag] (R), 48% to 43%.

* In Massachusetts, Democrats have not yet chosen their gubernatorial nominee, but no matter who Dems pick, all three candidates lead Lt. Gov. [tag]Kerry Healey[/tag] (R) in a new State House News poll. [tag]Tom Reilly[/tag] (D) leads Healey 38% to 30%; [tag]Deval Patrick[/tag] (D) is ahead 43% to 30%; and [tag]Chris Gabrieli[/tag] (D) enjoys the biggest lead of all at 47% to 26%. In each match-up, independent [tag]Christy Mihos[/tag] garners about 7% support.

* And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the loss of former Texas Gov. [tag]Ann Richards[/tag] (D), who died last night at the age of 73, after a six-month battle against esophageal cancer. She was, as many have noted today, a “true Texas hero.”

Here is a decent run-down of the Madrid-Wilson race in New Mexico. (scroll down to “The Iraq Crack”)
http://joemonahansnewmexico.blogspot.com/2006_09_01_joemonahansnewmexico_archive.html#115808089059182041

Wilson is flooding the air-waves with attacks on Madrid for ethics — pure Rove, as Wilson took Abramoff-DeLay money. She has one non-attack ad that trumpets her “independence,” though she votes with the WH over 90% of the time.

Wilson once questioned the WH on the NSA spy program, but then backed down immediately. Forcing a vote on that issue could really put her in a tight spot. Madrid’s disapproval rating is uncomfortably high, but she remains deadlocked, and could still benefit from the feeling that change is needed.

  • Ann Richards was the first to experience the Karl Rove treatment (abuse), in 1988. Prior to that, creeps like Nixon’s Murray Chotiner may have been slimy, but they stuck pretty much to the truth, coupled with innuendo (e.g., “Is Voorhis pink?”). Rove has made an art of relentlessly practicing Goebbels’s “big lie” — concoct a way-below-the-belt” unimaginable lie, then blast that lie relentlessly throughout the campaign.

    Chotiner used to tell GOP campaign managers “You don’t enter a campaign in order to win. You enter it to so destroy your opponent that he will never raise his political head again.” That was hardly benign, but at least it stuck pretty much to world of reality. Rove, beginning with Ann Richards, has put us forever into the world of vicious make-believe and Goebbels’s “big lie”. God knows how many good people, like Ann, have been turned off by politics of Rove’s making. What a legacy.

  • Ann Richards. We have lost a great American. I’ll miss her. I hope they replay the “silver foot” remark hundreds of times this week.

  • Apropos of the MA. Governor’s race– Kerry Healey must be very worried about Chris Gabrieli’s high polling numbers as a potential opponent because she did something today I don’t think has ever happened before: released an attack ad targetting a possible opponent a week before his party’s primary. The ad accuses Gabrieli of standing to profit financially from his support of stem cell research. This has to be one of the most hamhanded attempts to game a primary outcome by the opposing party, though. Gabrieli made multi- multi-, millions in venture capital. To think that he would take a stand on a specific issue to potentially line his own pockets if elected is ludicrous. Fortunately. he responded immediately saying he would sell all his holdings in biotech, if elected, to avoid even an appearance of impropriety. Later, a Channel 5 reporter nailed Healey on this evening’s 6 o’clock news when she asked whether Healey had checked her own considerable portfolio for similar potential conflicts. Healey ducked the question.

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