U.S. Senate: Update on Key Races

Before jumping into the state-by-state news, take note of this current polling chart from RealClearPolitics which the Democrats are hoping you will overlook because it shows Republicans currently in a position to win back a Senate majority in November….

In Virginia, more troubling news for the Democrats as a new poll from NBC/WSJ/Marist poll finds that former DNC Chairman Tim Kaine has lost 6 points since their last poll back in May and is now under-performing President Obama on the ballot by three points, while George Allen is over-performing. 

• And Virginia Watchdog reports that George Allen continues to remind voters in the Commonwealth that Tim Kaine was the number one cheerleader for President Obama’s failed policies.  Allen, for his part, has used numerous ads highlighting Kaine’s term as chairman of the Democratic National Committee to tie him to President Barack Obama, hoping a tepid economic recovery will provide a distinctive choice in voters’ minds.

• Meanwhile, the NRSC reminded Virginians of Tim Kaine’s liberal, job-killing record on energy.  Despite Kaine’s election year posturing, he’s actually been a staunch supporter of President Obama’s job-killing cap-and-trade proposal.  Additionally, Kaine has also fought against offshore energy exploration, which would create thousands of jobs and lower the price of gasoline.  “Former DNC Chairman Tim Kaine’s ad is incredibly misleading, because not only does he oppose offshore energy exploration – which would create jobs and lower gas prices – he also supports President Obama’s job-killing cap-and-trade proposal,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Brian Walsh.  “With a record like that, it’s clear Chairman Kaine’s  record on energy is wrong for Virginia.”     

In Connecticut, today released its newest ad entitled “Pattern.” The ad highlights Congressman Chris Murphy’s disturbing pattern of behavior as an elected official by revealing several questionable facts about his inability to handle his personal finances and his lack of attention to the demands of his taxpayer-funded job in Congress.  

• And Murphy is still playing defense into the weekend as the CT Mirror reports that he’s refusing to release his credit score or any documentation related to his sweetheart mortgage loans.  The U.S. Senate campaign of Democrat Chris Murphy says it will not release his application for a $43,000 home-equity credit line that Republican Linda McMahon claims was a sweetheart deal from a political ally, Webster bank.  Murphy’s campaign spokesman, Ben Marter, responded with a one-word answer when asked by The Mirror if the candidate would disclose the application, related documents or his credit score: “No.”

• Meanwhile, Hearst News reports that McMahon is winning the news cycle day-after-day while defining her opponent as Chris Dodd 2.0.   Politics 101: define your opponent before he can define himself.  Linda McMahon is following the syllabus.  After a week of winning the news cycle against Chris Murphy thanks to opposition research that the congressman was threatened with foreclosure, McMahon is overtly trying to tie Murphy to fellow Democrat and former Sen. Chris Dodd.  In a news release this morning, McMahon labels Murphy “Chris Dodd 2.0,” harkening back to the Countrywide VIP loan scandal.

In Massachusetts, it’s a bad sign when even your hometown newspaper turns on you but even the Harvard Crimson is lamenting the state of their Professor Elizabeth Warren’s campaign these days – Warren Struggles In Home Stretch….

• The Harvard Crimson: “Almost a year to the day since Elizabeth Warren declared her candidacy for the U.S. Senate outside a South Boston MBTA station, Democratic political consultants and professors said that the Harvard Law School professor still faces the same uphill battle that has beguiled her campaign since its earliest days.”

• The Crimson: “Now, with a year of campaigning behind her, Warren is anything but inexperienced, but political consultants and political science professors said she has failed to grasp the heart of the problems facing her campaign.”

• The Boston Globe’s Joan Vennochi: “Agreed: Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren wasted millions on ads that turned her into every man’s worst nightmare: a smarter-than-thou older woman sporting granny glasses and sensible hair.”

• Democratic Strategist Dan Payne in the Crimson: “My critique of it is simple: it’s not about Massachusetts. … It’s as though she’s running a national campaign. Brown, on the other hand, his advertising is very attached to the state.”

• Meanwhile, Worcester Politics reports – Republican Senator Scott Brown announced another addition to his “Democrats for Brown” coalition on Friday, former Democratic Mayor and current Lowell City Council, Rita Mercier.  Mercier has sat on the City Council since 1996, and she was the third woman ever to hold the office of Mayor in the City of Lowell when she took on the role back in 2002.   Mercier joins the likes of former Democratic mayors Konnie Lukes of Worcester, Ray Flynn of Boston and Charles Ryan of Springfield in crossing the aisle to support the Republican Senator this November.  Brown has now picked up support from former Democratic mayors in the Commonwealth’s four largest cities.

In Ohio, The Hill reports that Josh Mandel is reminding voters that liberal Democrat Sherrod Brown has missed over 350 votes, while voting to increase his pay 6 times.  Republican Josh Mandel’s campaign is out with a new ad in his fight for Sen. Sherrod Brown’s (D-Ohio) Senate seat, this time attacking the senator’s attendance record during his tenure in Congress.  The ad points out that Brown missed over 350 official votes, a tally that comes from the site GovTrack, which keeps record of all congressional votes. It also highlights his votes in favor of bills that would result in a pay raise for members of Congress.

In Florida, the Orlando Sentinel reports that Connie Mack is up with a new ad that reminds voters that Bill Nelson voted for ObamaCare.  Republican U.S. Senate nominee U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV has released a new TV commercial in which he focuses on what he says are the three differences between himself and incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson: ObamaCare, taxes and belief in free enterprise.  Mack’s take: Nelson voted for ObamaCare, also known as the Affordable Care Act, and he votd against. Nelson voted for tax increases, whiile Mack voted for tax cuts. Nelson believes in government, while Mack believes in “you, free enterprise, and the spirit of the American people.”

• Meanwhile, the Palm Beach New Times reports that on October 17, Connie Mack will debate Bill Nelson’s job-killing record.  The Bill Nelson-Connie Mack race is pretty much America’s most closely watched Senate race. And now incumbent Nelson — the Democrat — and Mack — the Republican — have agreed to the only confirmed statewide televised debate on October 17.

In North Dakota, The Hill reports that Rick Berg is calling on Heidi Heitkamp to pull a false political assault ad.  Rep. Rick Berg (R-N.D.) slammed Democratic challenger Heidi Heitkamp on Thursday for what he called a “false political assault” in a new ad from her campaign that attacks his business record, calling for her to remove the ad from the airwaves. Berg flew back from Washington, where Congress is currently in session, to North Dakota on Thursday — the same day the ad was released — to address the claims made in the ad. “North Dakotans know that political campaigns are hard-fought, but expect them to be fought fairly. Heidi Heitkamp’s claims are 100 percent false. I’m disappointed in Heidi, as I’m sure so too are the people of this state,” Berg said during a press conference held Thursday morning to address the ad.

• Meanwhile, Huffington Post reports that while Heidi Heitkamp tells North Dakotans she’s for fracking, her #2 contributor is an anti-fracking law firm based in New York.  According to campaign records tallied by the Center for Responsive Politics, Heitkamp’s second-largest group of contributors are employees of Weitz & Luxenberg, a mass tort law firm that has represented those arguing the harms of fracking in the past. The law firm’s employees have given Heitkamp at least $22,400.

In Montana, the Associated Press reports that Denny Rehberg is demanding that we get the farm bill passed.  U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg is increasing his criticism of party leaders and demanding a farm bill amid pressure from state agricultural groups.  Rehberg says he is signing onto a bipartisan resolution to force GOP House leaders to bring the farm bill out for a vote. Without it, many programs popular with farmers will expire.  Rehberg says he understands the move will put a “burr under the saddle” of his party leaders, but says election year politics can’t get in the way of a farm bill.

In Nebraska, where Deb Fischer has a very comfortable lead, the Associated Press reports that Fischer continues to hammer Bob Kerrey for his time in New York City.  With roughly 35 million head of cattle grazing on nearly half the state’s land, ranching retains an iconic status in Nebraska.  So it’s no surprise that Republican U.S. Senate candidate Deb Fischer’s campaign ads show her leaning up against fence posts while she’s described as a rancher who is “sharp as barb wire, tougher than a cedar fence post.”  Her opponent, Democrat Bob Kerrey, is a former governor and senator who for a decade was president of a university in New York. Fischer’s campaign frequently emphasizes the contrast between their occupations, clearly betting that it will play well with Nebraska voters who have become more conservative and suspicious of government since Kerrey left the Senate in January 2001. … Polls indicate she retains a solid lead in the race.

• Meanwhile, the Weekly Standard reports that Deb Fischer is out where a new ad telling Nebraskans where she stands on the important issues.  Republican Senate candidate Deb Fischer of Nebraska has a new television ad out. “In Nebraska we solve problems by governing responsibly and sticking to our principles,” Fischer says in the ad. “Time Washington did the same.” Watch the ad below:  “Here’s where I stand: Let’s repeal Obamacare and replace it with a fair market system that doesn’t raise taxes,” Fischer says. “Raising taxes will only hurt job creation. And besides, you pay enough already.”

• Finally, Roll Call reports that Deb Fischer has agreed to the third and final debate against New York liberal Bob Kerrey.  State Sen. Deb Fischer (R) and former Sen. Bob Kerrey (D) have agreed to a third debate, according to the Associated Press.  The debate will take place on Oct. 1 and will air statewide on public television, radio and online.

In New Mexico, a monkey made an appearance at Martin Heinrich’s office to symbolizes his vote for the failed $825 billion stimulus, which spent money to see how monkeys would react to cocaine.  As KOB-TV in Albuquerque reports:  Well the guy in the monkey suit is to represent two things – first he’s to represent that we’re tired of politicians like Congressman Heinrich who are monkeying around in Washington – but the other thing he’s to represent is specifically some of the foolish money that was spent for the 800 billion dollar stimulus bill that was spent to observe monkeys fighting.

In Arizona, the Lake Powell Chronicle reports that Jeff Flake hammered President Obama and Richard Carmona for their war on coal.  Rep. Jeff Flake, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, spoke to a packed house at the Page Community Center Sept. 5 about issues surrounding the Navajo Generating Station.  Currently the future of the plant resides on how the owners choose to handle the proposed ruling that the Environmental Protection Agency is expected to hand down soon.  “There is a war on coal at the EPA. Let’s call it for what it is,” Flake said. “And they’re going to use anything they can, it seems, to push forward that war on coal.”

In Hawaii, the Honolulu Civil Beat reports that Congresswoman Mazie Hirono voted against funding the Tsunami Warning Network.   U.S. Senate candidate Mazie Hirono earlier this year voted against funding the Tsunami Warning Network that provides Hawaii with early tsunami detection and warnings. The high-tech buoy network faced $4.5 million in cuts in February, and Hirono opposed bipartisan House legislation to fully fund the critical system for FY2013.  “Hirono voted against the best interest of our state — a state in a Tsunami high-risk zone — and against one of our most important life-saving tools, by voting against fully funding the Tsunami Warning Network,” said former Director of Hawaii Civil Defense and Linda Lingle Campaign Manager Bob Lee.