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
* In Missouri’s closely-watched Senate race, the near-constant back and forth has swung once again, this time towards the challenger. In a new Rasmussen poll<\/a>, state Auditor [tag]Claire McCaskill[\/tag] (D) has now taken the lead over Sen. [tag]Jim Talent[\/tag] (R), 45% to 42%. A month ago, Talent led, 46% to 44%.<\/p>\n * Michigan Gov. [tag]Jennifer Granholm[\/tag] (D) now has her biggest lead to date in her re-election campaign. In a new EPIC-MRA poll<\/a>, the incumbent now leads Amway heir [tag]Dick DeVos[\/tag] (R), 50% to 42%. As recently as June, EPIC\/MRA showed DeVos leading Granholm, 48% percent to 40%.<\/p>\n * Speaking of Michigan, the once-close Senate race is looking less and less competitive all the time. The same EPIC-MRA poll<\/a> shows Sen. [tag]Debbie Stabenow[\/tag] (D) leading Republican challenger [tag]Mike Bouchard[\/tag], 53% to 34%.<\/p>\n * In Nevada, it appears [tag]Jack Carter[\/tag] (D) has not been able to break through against Sen. [tag]John Ensign[\/tag] (R). A new Research 2000 poll<\/a> shows the incumbent ahead, 56% to 35%.<\/p>\n * The race to replace Gov. [tag]Bill Owens[\/tag] (R) in Colorado was expected to be one of the closer gubernatorial races in the country — except it’s not shaping up that way. A Rocky Mountain News\/CBS 4 poll shows Democrat [tag]Bill Ritter[\/tag] with a “remarkable<\/a>” 17-point lead over Republican Congressman [tag]Bob Beauprez[\/tag], 50% to 33%. Pollster Lori Weigel said a wave of anti-Iraq war and anti-Washington sentiment is making things difficult for Beauprez.<\/p>\n