Tuesday’s political round-up

March 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:

* Voters head to the polls today in Illinois to vote in a number of interesting primaries on both sides of the aisle. Among the races to watch are Illinois’ 6th, where Tammy Duckworth and Christine Cegelis face on in a Dem primary for the right to take on State Sen. Peter Roskam (R) in the race to replace retiring Rep. Henry Hyde (R). Among Republicans, David McSweeney and Kathy Salvi will compete in a primary to decide who’ll face on first-term Rep. Melissa Bean (D), while Republicans will also choose their gubernatorial nominee from the five candidates in the race. State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka is still considered the frontrunner.

* In Montana, a new Rasmussen poll shows Sen. Conrad Burns (R), who is caught up in the Abramoff affair, trailing both of his Dem opponents for the first time. The poll showed Burns trailing state Sen. Jon Tester (D) 46% to 43%, and state Auditor John Morrison (D) 48% to 43%.

* Vice President Dick Cheney was in New Jersey yesterday for a fundraising event to help state Sen. Tom Kean’s Jr. Senate campaign. The odd twist: Kean didn’t arrive at his own fundraiser until Cheney had already left. As soon as the legislature wrapped up, around 4 p.m., Kean traveled north “as quickly as I could.” But instead of taking the New Jersey Turnpike, like any regular commuter between Trenton and Newark, he and his driver chose Route 1, which is usually crawling with bumper-to-bumper traffic at that hour.

* Though several recent polls have shown Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue (R) with big leads over his Dem rivals this year, a new Insider Advantage poll shows the gap narrowing considerably of late. Purdue had led Secretary of State Cathy Cox (D) by double digits, but the new data show the lead down to just eight points, 48% to 40%. (via Taegan Goddard)

* And in a slight tangent, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, a well-known football fan, will not enter the race to be the National Football League’s new commissioner. Long-time commissioner Paul Tagliabue announced his retirement yesterday, prompting reporters to call the State Department to gauge Rice’s interest. Rice, a Cleveland Browns fan, is enjoying being secretary of state ”at the moment,” spokesman Sean McCormack said, and is not applying for the newly opened NFL post.

For years, the prospect of Rice as NFL commissioner and Bush as MLB commissioner has triggered mixed feelings for me. The thought of those two reprehensible individuals at the helm of my favorite sports–especially Bush in baseball–is utterly repellent. But they’d do so much less damage there than in their current positions, that for the good of the world I think we sports nuts would have to suck it up.

At least, this would have been true in the past. After eight years of their depradations, I’ll never want to see either of them again, unless they’re being frog-marched…

One story I read years ago held that Bud Selig, the reptilian commissioner of major league baseball, had promised Bush in the early ’90s that he, Selig, would soon step down from his “interim” position and would recommend Dubya, then the owner of the Texas Rangers, as his replacement. But Selig delayed and delayed… and eventually Bush decided to go into politics rather than wait for his real dream job. So–as if this wasn’t true already–there’s a particularly hot spot in hell waiting for Mr. Bud.

  • So, Kean is too good to be seen with Cheney but not too good to take money he helps rake in? That’s a campaign commercial that writes itself.

    any indication on how safe for the GOP Hyde’s seat is? Is this race considered a pick up possibility for the Dems?

  • Good riddance to Hyde, whose picture can be seen in the dictionary next to the entry for “fat pompous bloviating hypocrite (n).”

  • Hyde has seemed a bit out of it lately.
    By reputation he was once a “great” debater, but he sure didn’t show it during impeachment.

    Gotta hand it to him, though, for saying his extramarital fling at 43 was a “youthful indiscretion.”

  • Just imagine CHOOSING a venue worse than the New Jersey Turnpike. Only the spectre of Dick Cheney could drive someone to such desperation!

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