Green-Dem alliance in CT CD-4; Reform nom sues to win spot in FL Gov debate; plus new polls
October 23rd, 2006
TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE.BY THE NUMBERS: US SENATE RACES.
MICHIGAN: US Senator Debbie Stabenow (D) - 49%, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard (R) - 42%. (Strategic Vision-R).
PENNSYLVANIA: State Treasurer Bob Casey Jr. (D) - 49%, US Senator Rick Santorum (R) - 42%. (Strategic Vision-R).
VIRGINIA: US Senator George Allen (R) - 47%, former Navy Secretary Jim Webb (D) - 43%, businesswoman Gail Parker (Indep. Green) - 2%. (Virginian-Pilot/Mason-Dixon).
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 10.24.06 | Permalink | postCount('102406A');
BY THE NUMBERS: GOVERNOR RACES.
FLORIDA: Attorney General Charlie Crist (R) - 46%, Congressman Jim Davis (D) - 44%, Others - 1%. (Quinnipiac University).
FLORIDA: Crist (R) - 49%, Davis (D) - 38%. (Florida Chamber of Commerce/Cromer Group).
ILLINOIS: Governor Rod Blagojevich (D) - 44%, State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka (R) - 34%, attorney Rich Whitney (Green) - 14%. (KSDK-TV/SurveyUSA).
IOWA: Secretary of State Chet Culver (D) - 49%, Congressman Jim Nussle (R) - 45%. (Rasmussen Reports).
MAINE: Governor John Baldacci (D) - 42%, State Senator Chandler Woodcock (R) - 34%, State Representative Barbara Merrill (Independent) - 12%, radio talk show host Pat LaMarche (Green) - 9%, retiree Phillip NaPier (Independent) - 1%. (WCSH-TV/SurveyUSA).
MICHIGAN: Governor Jennifer Granholm (D) - 47%, businessman Dick DeVos (R) - 43%. (Strategic Vision-R).
PENNSYLVANIA: Governor Ed Rendell (D) - 57%, former pro football player Lynn Swann (R) - 37%. (Strategic Vision-R).
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 10.24.06 | Permalink | postCount('102406A');
BY THE NUMBERS: US HOUSE RACES.
INDIANA - CD-7: Congresswoman Julia Carson (D) - 48%, auto dealer Eric Dickerson (R) - 43%. (WISH-TV/Research 2000).
INDIANA - CD-9: Former Congressman Baron Hill (D) - 47%, Congressman Mike Sodrel (R) - 43%, college professor Eric Schansberg (Libertarian) - 5%. (WCSH-TV/SurveyUSA).
NEW MEXICO - CD-1: Attorney General Patricia Madrid (D) - 45%, Congresswoman Heather Wilson (R) - 42%. (Albuquerque Journal).
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 10.24.06 | Permalink | postCount('102406A');
CONNECTICUT: GREEN NOMINEE QUITS CD-4 RACE, ENDORSES DEM.
Attorney and former law professor Richard Durfee (Green) quit the race against Congressman Chris Shays (R) on Monday, just one day before the state deadline for candidates to remove their names from the ballot. Durfee readily admits he withdrew to help the candidacy of Westport First Selectwoman Diane Farrell (D). "[The Greens] are not spoilers. We want to let the press and the country know that we are modern 21st century politicians. We're way beyond egos. We're about issues and getting them done," explained Durfee's spokesman to the AP. Farrell supports setting a withdrawal deadline for US troops in Iraq and has called on President Bush to fire Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld. By contrast, Shays was an unwavering supporter of the Iraq War until recent weeks. As polling shows the Shays-Farrell race as neck-and-neck, Durfee explained he timely withdrew so as to not siphon any anti-war votes away from the Democrat. "Our decision is a vote of confidence in Diane Farrell's seriousness about putting some brakes on Bush's imperial presidency and at least returning us to the rule of law," said Durfee, in a press conference endorsing Farrell. Farrell's campaign acknowledged it quietly approached Durfee three weeks ago to convince him to exit the race. The reaction from the Shays campaign: "The 4th District deserves better than a candidate who supposedly makes concessions at a secret meeting and accepts the endorsement of an extreme left organization." Investment executive Phil Maymin (Libertarian) is also running.
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 10.24.06 | Permalink | postCount('102406A');
FLORIDA: STATE JUDGE ORDERS REFORM NOMINEE INTO TV GOV DEBATE.
Wealthy businessman and term-limits activist Max Linn (Reform) won a very unexpected victory in Florida Circuit Court on Monday evening, as judge ordered Linn to be included in Tuesday night's televised gubernatorial debate. With the help of flamboyant trial attorney Ellis Rubin, Linn sued to win a spot in the debate. Rubin argued a 1998 US Supreme Court ruling held that candidate debates sponsored by public television stations cannot exclude candidates with a "substantial" campaign. Linn noted he has a professional campaign manager who has run winning statewide races, has a campaign headquarters and paid staff, and has run several hundred thousand dollars of TV spots. The debate sponsors said they set a neutral threshold of scoring 10% in an independent polls to earn a debate spot, and that Linn has remained in the 1-2% range. The judge Monday ruled the 10% requirement was "arbitrary" and not in the public interest. "Because the voters' rights are at stake in this case, it clearly rose to the highest level of constitutional importance. Our arguments in favor of voter rights were vindicated in a breathtaking decision. The judge utterly rejected all arguments that including a third party candidate in the debate would harm the conduct of the debate in any way," said Rubin. Unless an appellate court overturns the ruling within the ruling -- and with less than a day to go until the debate -- Linn could turn an otherwise predictable encounter into a wild event. Linn -- who has known GOP nominee Charlie Crist for over two decades -- has recently been openly challenging Crist to admit he is gay or bisexual. Linn says Crist told him this info first-hand in the mid-1980s. Crist denies he is gay. Crist's sexuality, however, seems relevant as he just last week started to make his newly declared anti-gay views part of his GOTV strategy. "I support a constitutional amendment to protect traditional marriages, and I oppose adoption by gay couples," says Crist in a round of newly recorded robo-calls to targeted Republican voters. You better believe Crist's campaign will do anything it can to keep Linn off the stage at Tuesday's debate against Congressman Jim Davis (D).
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 10.24.06 | Permalink | postCount('102406A');
FREE SPEECH ZONE.
With the Democrats surging in key contests in unlikely places like Idaho, Kansas and Nebraska, Howard Dean's once ridiculed "50-State strategy" looks like a pretty brilliant strategy these days. Let me be the first to say: Told 'ya so!
Posted by Ron Gunzburger - 10.24.06 | Permalink | postCount('102406A');
SEND A PIN = GET A FREE PLUG HERE.
Here's my open offer for every campaign (and campaign supporter): send me a button or pin from the Governor, US Senate, Congressional, Statewide Office, etc., campaign you are involved in -- feel free to add a sticker and brochure -- and I'll place a link to official campaign site here on our homepage in a daily "thank you" note. My address: Ron Gunzburger, 409 NE 17 Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301. OUR THANKS TODAY GO TO: Congressional aide Phil Hare, Democrat for Congress in Illinois' CD-17.
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I'm interested in building up my collection of Canadian campaign buttons. If you've got Canadian political buttons to trade, I'm interesting in swapping with you for some great US pins. Please drop me a note!
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