Tuesday’s political round-up

July 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:

* A new Rasmussen poll in Rhode Island offers discouraging news for Sen. [tag]Lincoln Chafee[/tag], “whose support has gone from bad to worse,” highlighting why this is a key Dem pick-up opportunity. Chafee now trails former Rhode Island Attorney General [tag]Sheldon Whitehouse[/tag] (D), 46% to 41%. That’s a seven-point swing since early June, when Chafee led Sheldon, 44% to 42%. For what it’s worth, Whitehouse leads Chafee’s primary opponent, Cranston Mayor [tag]Steve Laffey[/tag], by an even bigger margin, 57% to 29%.

* In Michigan, Gov. [tag]Jennifer Granholm[/tag] (D) continues to be the most vulnerable incumbent Dem governor. The latest Detroit Free Press poll shows Granholm trialing Amway heir [tag]Dick Devos[/tag] (R), 47% to 42%.

* Speaking of Michigan, voters seem to be blaming Granholm for the state’s struggling economy, but not Sen. [tag]Debbie Stabenow[/tag] (D). The same Free Press poll shows Stabenow leading Oakland County Sheriff [tag]Mike Bouchard[/tag] (R), 49% to 29%, and minister [tag]Keith Butler[/tag] (R), 50% to 26%.

* Rep [tag]Ernest Istook[/tag] (R) enjoys a comfortable lead in Oklahoma’s Republican gubernatorial primary, but looking ahead, he fares poorly against incumbent Gov. [tag]Brad Henry[/tag] (D). According to the latest Sooner Poll, Henry leads Istook in a general election match-up, 57%to 29%.

* In Nebraska, a new Rasmussen poll shows both of the statewide incumbents looking very strong. In the Senate race, Sen. [tag]Ben Nelson[/tag] (D) leads [tag]Pete Ricketts[/tag] (R), 57% to 31%. In the gubernatorial race, Republican incumbent [tag]Dave Heineman[/tag] tops [tag]David Hahn[/tag] (D), 66% to 21%.

* And in South Carolina, Gov. [tag]Mark Sanford[/tag] (R) caught a break yesterday when state Sen. Jake Knotts, who had begun collecting petition signatures for an independent gubernatorial campaign, announced he would end his effort, citing fundraising difficulties. Sanford still faces a stiff challenge from state Sen. [tag]Tommy Moore[/tag] (D), whom Knotts is expected to endorse.

I live in Michigan, and I can say that things are indeed tough here for a lot of people. A lot of that is to blame the Auto companies if you want to point the finger. But I am honestly scared of DeVos and what he will do to this state if he does indeed win.

I think Granholm is a pretty good Governor. If I may lay the blame anyplace, it is that she is a Dem Gov in a Republican controlled house. I know its not all the blame can be placed there to be fair, but when you have a GOP controlled state house and they continue to churn out $h1t there is not much she can do about it and they know it.

  • Very true Stephen. The legislature has been less than helpful in working with Governor Granholm on a number of issues, including revising the SBT.

    Also, if you read the whole Freep article, Michiganders are clearly blaming Bush and not Granholm for the state’s economic problems. The Governor is out there fighting for jobs and trying to diversify the state’s economy and it’s paying off, as we saw last week. The Google announcement was huge and will provide much needed boost to the economy. Plus,

    DeVos as governor is truly a scary thought. He has no realistic ideas to create jobs, as evidenced by his hollow economic plan that has no details on how he would accomplish what he has said. Given that he has spent almost $10 million on ads and Granholm hasn’t spent anything yet. Once people find out more about his background and the false claims he has made, these numbers will change very quickly.

  • I think the thing to note about the Michigan race is the fact that DeVos has dumped millions of his own cash into television ads for months now, while Granholm hasn’t spent a dime on it yet. If this is all the margin months of advertising and money can get DeVos’ campaign, he’s in trouble when she decides to make her move on the television advertising front.

    Honestly, I think Granholm’s just biding her time, waiting until the fruit is ripe to pick it, and setting herself up along the way with things like nailing down 1000 new jobs from Google.

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