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:<\/p>\n
* With just four days left before Virginia picks its next governor, a number of new polls show a close race, but with Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine (D) ahead. Mason-Dixon<\/a> has Kaine leading Jerry Kilgore 45% to 44%; Rasmussen<\/a> has Kaine up 49% to 46%; and Roanoke College<\/a> has Kaine ahead 44% to 36%.<\/p>\n * In New Jersey, Republican Doug Forrester is trailing in the polls, which apparently has made him desperate. The Forrester campaign unveiled a new TV ad<\/a> yesterday featuring Jon Corzine’s ex-wife accusing the senator of letting his political ambitions destroy their 33-year marriage. Earlier in the week, Forrester had said the criticisms from Corzine’s ex-wife were a “private matter” and vowed not to make it a campaign issue. Later that day, a Quinnipiac poll showed Corzine with a 12-point lead<\/a>, which may have caused Forrester to change his mind.<\/p>\n * Speaking of New Jersey, Rep. Bob Menendez (D), who hopes to be appointed to the Senate if Corzine wins, has been quietly making the rounds<\/a>, laying the groundwork for his Senate career. Among the efforts are Menendez hitting the national fundraising circuit, launching a statewide speaking tour, and refashioning his web site to enhance his appeal.<\/p>\n * Ohio Sen. Mike DeWine (R) may have two primary challengers next year. Former congressman Bob McEwen (R) has already made overtures in that direction, and math professor William Pierce (R) announced<\/a> this week that he too will take on the incumbent senator. Pierce said he will offer voters a “proactive and outspoken conservative.”<\/p>\n * And speaking of GOP primaries, freshman Rep. Joe Schwarz (R-Mich.), who narrowly won in 2004, is preparing<\/a> for a Republican challenger next year. The Club for Growth, which targets GOP lawmakers who it believes aren’t right wing enough, has discussed a primary fight with former state Rep. Tim Walberg, whom Schwarz defeated in a primary last year.<\/p>\n * Arkansas Attorney General Mike Beebe (D) has the early lead in the state’s upcoming gubernatorial race. A University of Arkansas poll<\/a> has Beebe leading Asa Hutchinson, 47% to 40%, among likely voters (via Taegan Goddard<\/a>).<\/p>\n * And in 2008 news, Virginia Gov. Mark Warner’s PAC, Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack’s PAC, and former Sen. Tom Daschle’s PAC have all bought tables at Saturday’s Jefferson-Jackson dinner in Des Moines, Iowa, suggesting that all three are seriously eyeing the next presidential campaign.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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: * With just four days left before Virginia picks its next governor, a number of new polls show a close race, but with Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine (D) ahead. Mason-Dixon has Kaine leading […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[617],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5742"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5742\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}