President Barack Obama will not include New Hampshire in a rash of 11th-hour campaign stops before Election Day , but he will host a “Telephone Town Hall” Monday night with Granite State Senate candidate, Rep. Paul Hodes (D).
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Obama Won’t Visit N.H., But Will Speak at Paul Hodes ‘Tele Town Hall’
Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is scheduled to headline a rally in West Virginia this afternoon, one of very few public appearances the polarizing figure has made for a Senate candidate this general election cycle . Palin, the 2008 vice presidential nominee turned Fox News commentator, is set to campaign for GOP Senate hopeful John Raese in downtown Charleston on the riverfront at noon.
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Sarah Palin Headlining John Raese Rally In West Virginia
Barney Frank is “an absolute embarrassment to the gay community,” according to the leader of GOProud , a pro-gay conservative organization that today announced plans to expand an advertising campaign against the 15-term incumbent and first openly-gay member of Congress. “Barney Frank is a great representative for the most liberal interests in this country, but an absolutely abysmal representative for gay people,” said Christopher Barron, chairman of the board for GOProud, who began running a television advertisement in the Boston and Providence cable markets Monday that will run through Election Day. The total buy is less than $50,000 and is already airing on the Bravo and Lifetime channels. It comes amid an aggressive push from GOP hopeful Sean Bielat , a 35-year-old businessman who has never held elected office.
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Gay Group Bashes Barney Frank As Unlikely Race Intensifies (VIDEO)
Republicans are growing increasingly optimistic they may be able to steal the Rhode Island seat long held by retiring Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D). The National Republican Congressional Committee released internal polling Friday afternoon that showed the race between Providence Mayor David Cicilline (D) and state Rep. John Loughlin (R) effectively tied. Many believed that Cicilline would have a relatively easy victory in the heavily Democratic Ocean State. But the Public Opinion Strategies poll found that the mayor has high negatives and earns just 41 percent support among 300 likely voters surveyed Oct. 20-21. Loughlin also earned 41 percent in the poll that had a 5.6-point margin of error. Among those most likely to vote, Loughlin was ahead 45 percent to 41 percent, according to pollster Gene Ulm, who said the margin of error for this groups exceeds 6 points. “The message is starting to take hold,” said an excited Loughlin in an interview. “We’re seeing the undecided voters starting to break in our direction.” Loughlin has trailed by his Democratic opponent by double digits in every public poll released to date. “It’s impossible to take these numbers seriously,” said Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman Shripal Shah. “Voters know that they can’t afford John Loughlin’s anti-Social Security agenda and that’s a message that will be delivered loud and clear in 11 days; he’s wrong on the issues and wrong for Rhode Island.” Loughlin, a state representative with a military background, has struggled to raise money for much of the cycle, but went up with his first television ads this week and will be up through Election Day. The Rhode Island contest has yet to draw any outside spending from conservative groups, like dozens of other competitive districts across the country. If outside groups believe this race has really tightened, however, that could change.
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R.I.: GOP Poll Shows Competitive Race for Kennedy Seat
In what has already been a rollercoaster of a Senate race, Connecticut Democrat Richard Blumenthal now leads Republican Linda McMahon by 18 points, according to a Suffolk University poll released Thursday. Blumenthal has led consistently in the high-profile contest against the former wrestling executive, but his lead had shrunk to 5 points in a Rasmussen Reports survey released last week. The Suffolk poll, however, found that Blumenthal now leads with 57 percent to McMahon’s 39 percent. The university surveyed 500 likely Connecticut voters Oct. 19 to 20. The margin of error is 4.4 percent. Suffolk’s pollster noted that Blumenthal will appear twice on the ballot — under the Democrat and the Working Families Party lines.
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Poll: Richard Blumenthal Leads McMahon By 18-points In Connecticut
Former wrestling executive Linda McMahon has loaned her campaign another $20 million, bringing the Republican’s total personal investment in the Connecticut Senate race to $41.5 million to date. She’s spent all but $2 million so far in her Senate bid. The Associated Press this afternoon reported that McMahon, a co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment, has spent more than $39.5 million. She has almost completely self-funded the effort, most recently loaning her campaign $20 million in the period between July 22 and Sept. 30. McMahon has indicated a willingness to spend as much as $50 million of her personal fortune on the race, and she’s not expected to be paid back.
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Linda McMahon Loans Senate Campaign $41.5M
Pennsylvania Senate hopeful Rep. Joe Sestak (D) raised $3.25 million in the third quarter and reported $2.66 million in the bank as of Sept. 30, according to the final fundraising figures to be released before Election Day. The updated numbers, disclosed Friday afternoon, give the Democrat a slight cash advantage over his Republican opponent, former Rep. Pat Toomey , who had $2.3 million on hand after raising $3.8 million in the last quarter. The Pennsylvania contest has also drawn millions in outside spending, most benefiting Toomey. “The bottom line is that this is an election not an auction and Congressman Toomey is out of touch with Pennsylvania,” said Sestak spokesman Jonathon Dworkin. “We are confident that we will have the resources necessary to get our message out and that on Nov. 2 voters will understand that Joe is the only one in the race that will fight for Pennsylvania.”
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Sestak Reports Raising $3.25 in 3rd Quarter
Tea party posterchild Christine O’Donnell is trailing Democrat Chris Coons by 19 points in Delaware’s rollercoaster Senate race, according to a University of Delaware poll released Wednesday. Forty-nine percent of registered voters said they would like Coons, the New Castle County executive, to represent Delaware, while 30 percent supported O’Donnell, a conservative pundit. The university surveyed 900 adults over the two week period between Sept. 16 to 30. The survey did not distinguish between likely voters, and there was much in flux during the polling period. For example, most respondents were surveyed before the Republican primary loser Mike Castle formally decided not to launch a write-in campaign. But the wide margin is largely in line with other polling released in recent weeks. The Real Clear Politics polling average gives Coons a 15.7 percent lead. “The poll suggests that O’Donnell’s tea party-supported Republican primary win on Sept. 14, transformed an almost certain Republican U.S. Senate seat to a likely Democratic win instead,” the university wrote in its polling analysis. Coons has strong support among independents and undecided voters, according to the survey; 70 percent of “pure independents” support the Democrat. And Coons’ lead grows to 61 percent to 37 percent when undecided voters’ probable decisions are accounted for. Center for Political Communications Director Ralph Begleiter noted that the results don’t reflect the impact of Castle’s decision not to run a write-in campaign. Nor do they account for the television ad campaign O’Donnell launched this week. “There’s a variety of things at play that I’m sure will affect the results” of subsequent surveys, Begleiter said.
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Poll: Coons Up Nearly 20 points Over O’Donnell
Massachusetts’ 4th district may be among this year’s top sleepers. At least that’s the storyline being pushed by Republican candidate Sean Bielat , who is trying to knock off House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank . The Bielat campaign released an internal poll Wednesday showing that Frank’s support “has dipped below 50 percent.” Bielat trails “by just 10 points,” 48 percent to 38 percent, according to the survey of 400 likely voters by the Republican firm OnMessage. The margin of error is 4.9 percent. As further evidence that the race is tightening, Bielat cites an upcoming visit by former President Bill Clinton, who will headline a Frank campaign rally in Taunton Sunday. The event, to be held at a local high school, is free and open to the public. Roughly 4,000 people are expected to attend. “People are sick and tired of Washington and career politicians. That’s why Barney Frank’s poll numbers are dropping like a rock and why he’s taking desperate measures like bringing in Bill Clinton to campaign for him,” Bielat said. “National support is snowballing and our campaign and supporters are more enthusiastic than ever. It shows what we’ve known all along: we are on track to replace an entrenched politician who’s been part of the problem for years.” The Frank campaign dismisses the Bielat polling numbers and the suggestion that the incumbent is in trouble. “What this is – read between the lines – this is a fundraising memo. This is the NRCC telling its people that with some money, he could do OK,” said Frank spokesman Harry Gural. “According to our numbers we are up by more than 20 points no matter what we do.” Gural, who declined to release Frank’s internal polling, said the Clinton visit was simply an opportunity to bring a popular figure to small town that hasn’t hosted a president since Harry Truman. “They have a relationship that goes way back,” Gural said. “Bill Clinton basically said, ‘What can I do for you?’ Barney said, ‘Come to the district because you’re really popular here.’ This is the biggest thing to happen to this town in a long time.” While nothing is impossible this year, a Bielat upset would be a shocker. Massachusetts’ 4th district gave President Barack Obama 63 percent of the vote in 2008 and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) 65 percent of the vote in the 2004 presidential race. Bielat reported just over $84,000 in his campaign account as of Aug. 25, compared to Frank’s $1.02 million. Still, OnMessage’s pollster Wes Anderson suggests there is cause for optimism for Bielatl. “With strong execution and fundraising, this race represents a real pick-up opportunity,” Anderson wrote in the polling memo. “Based on Frank’s request for Bill Clinton to campaign for him and other evidence, we believe that Frank’s campaign has shown similar polling results. The national mood and a strong challenger provide the chance for a historic Republican victory.”
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Could Barney Frank Be in Trouble?
Count Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper among Pennsylvania’s most endangered Democrats. The freshman Democrat is trailing GOP hopeful Mike Kelly in the race for Pennsylvania’s 3rd district, 38 percent to 42 percent, according to an independent poll released Wednesday by Franklin & Marshal College. The survey of 482 people — conducted Sept. 14-19 with a 4.5-point margin of error — found that Kelly, a car dealership owner, enjoys a 4-point lead amongst registered voters. Among likely voters, however, Kelly’s lead extends to 6 points. It was no secret that Dahlkemper would face a tough re-election bid this cycle. She won election in 2008 with just 51 percent of the vote, and the northwestern Pennsyvlania district leans Republican. But the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is optimistic. “The more voters learn about how Mike Kelly is out of touch and only out for himself, the more they’ll recognize that he’s the wrong choice come November,” said DCCC spokesman Shripal Shah. “We’re confident we’re going to hold on to this seat.”
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Dahlkemper Trails in New Poll