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Let’s get ready to rumble

Thursday, September 30th, 2010

Instead of fighting for middle class families, New York’s Carl Paladino and Maine’s Paul LePage have turned their heated campaign rhetoric into threats of physical harm – against reporters. Paladino was caught on camera telling a New York Post reporter, “I’ll take you out, buddy” and LePage told a Maine Public Broadcasting Network reporter that he was “about ready to punch” her colleague.

Story below:

LePage’s Temperament Becomes Campaign Issue

For the second time in as many weeks, Republican gubernatorial candidate Paul LePage has generated headlines around the country. Two weeks ago he apologized for swearing at a reporter at a news conference, and storming out of another. And now LePage is saying he regrets making some remarks about President Obama this past weekend. The candidate’s temperament continues to be an issue in the five-way race, as has LePage’s relationship with the media.

For a man who prides himself on telling it like it is, Paul LePage, by his own admission, has said some things that he’d like to take back. He now regrets making this comment to a group of fishermen at a Republican forum in Brooksville over the weekend.

“And as your governor, you’re going to be seeing a lot of me on the front page saying: ‘Governor LePage Tells Obama To Go To Hell.’”

The comments were picked up by new outlets around the country, including by the New York Times. This comes on the heels of two highly-publicized news conferences called by LePage two weeks ago.

One at the State House abruptly ended when LePage stormed out after being asked about his wife’s residency in Florida. At the other, LePage swore at a reporter when asked about his children’s tuition status in Florida.

LePage later apologized to several reporters and described the day as a disaster. But this week, as he prepared to tape a television interview with MPBN’s Jennifer Rooks, LePage made a comment about MPBN’s A.J. Higgins, one of the reporters who pressed him for answers at the Augusta news conference.

“I’m about ready to punch A.J. Higgins,” LePage told Rooks.
Jennifer Rooks: “Don’t punch him.”
Paul LePage: “Oh, come on.”
Jennifer Rooks: “No, no.”

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Dayton’s lead growing

Wednesday, September 29th, 2010

Mark Dayton is consolidating Democrats behind his candidacy, picking up 11 points in the past month to hold a significant lead over Tom Emmer, a Tea Party darling. Dayton also goes on the air today with two new ads emphasizing his values commitment to helping the middle class and protecting them from tax hikes.

MPR-Humphrey poll: Dayton has significant lead over Emmer

by Mark Zdechlik, Minnesota Public Radio

September 29, 2010

St. Paul, Minn. — A new Minnesota Public Radio News-Humphrey Institute poll shows Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton with a significant and growing lead over Republican Tom Emmer.

A month ago, the poll showed Dayton and Emmer deadlocked at 34 percent each. But the latest survey shows Dayton with an 11 percentage point lead over Emmer — 38 to 27 percent.

Independence Party candidate Tom Horner, who had 13 percent a month ago, now has 16 percent according to the new poll.

So what’s changed?

“The big story in September is that the Democrats have woken up from their summer slumber,” said University of Minnesota political science professor Larry Jacobs, who oversaw the poll.

“When you go back to August, you find 57 percent of Democrats who are likely to vote saying that they had only a little or really no interest in voting come November,” Jacobs said. “Now we found a substantial 83 percent of Democrats saying they have a great deal or a fair amount of interest in this election.”

That 83 percent enthusiasm number for Democrats matches the Republicans’, meaning the GOP has lost the edge in election excitement it had enjoyed over Democrats.

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Sink’s unlikely ally: GOP contender Bill McCollum

Wednesday, September 29th, 2010

Former Republican gubernatorial contender Bill McCollum, who has said he has lingering questions about his opponent’s character and integrity, defended Democrat Alex Sink against false attacks from Republican nominee Rick Scott.  

Scott, who has some of the highest negative ratings of any candidate in the country for his long history of fraud and deception, has yet to convince Republicans like McCollum and moderates to line up behind his candidacy.

McCollum sticks up for Sink in latest Scott attack

TALLAHASSEE — Alex Sink’s attempt to rebut campaign allegations by Republican gubernatorial opponent Rick Scott that she fiddled while Florida’s investment portfolio burned was bolstered by an unlikely ally Tuesday: Florida Attorney General and former Scott foe Bill McCollum.

Days after Scott unleashed allegations that Sink was at fault for an investment freefall, Scott’s former Republican rival McCollum appeared to go out of his way Tuesday to steer the state’s top investment official to provide cover for the State Board of Administration’s investment oversight during the tumultuous years following the 2007 market crash.

In a series of questions, McCollum led SBA executive director Ash Williams down a path of questioning that sought to refute recent newspaper reports and a $1 million Scott ad campaign that paper losses in the state’s retirement and local investment funds were preventable and resulted in actual losses to retirees and local governments.

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Strickland now leads in new poll

Wednesday, September 29th, 2010

A day after three separate polls showed Gov. Ted Strickland in a dead heat with Wall Street banker and former Congressman John Kasich, a new poll released this morning shows Strickland up by 1 point. Respected Democratic pollster Benenson Strategy Group found Strickland is winning 41 percent of the vote to Kasich’s 40 percent, with Kasich’s fav/unfav rating underwater while Strickland remains much more favorable.

 Building a Stronger Ohio, an independent group with support and funding from the DGA, today launched its sixth ad exposing how Kasich got rich working for Wall Street. The ad is available here.  

 All recent polling shows the momentum in this race with Gov. Strickland, as he has closed a gap in the high single digits to make the race a dead heat.

 New CMM Poll Shows Strickland Forging Into the Lead

STRICKLAND LEADS KASICH BY 1 POINT

Building on a recent trend of favorable public opinion survey results, Gov. Ted Strickland (D) now has forged into the lead — 41% to 40% — over John Kasich (R) in a very hot gubernatorial race, according to a recently-concluded poll by the highly-respected Benenson Strategy Group of Washington, DC.

Six (6) percent of respondents chose other candidates and 13% were undecided. The poll of 600 likely voters was taken conducted from September 25 – 27, 2010.

Speaking for Benenson Strategy Group, pollster Peter Brodnitz said, “As early voting begins, the race for Governor is a dead heat: Governor Strickland leads John Kasich 41% to 40%, including leaners. While Kasich’s ballot support and favorability are essentially the same – 40% support Kasich and 41% are favorable toward him – Governor Strickland’s 47% favorable rating exceeds both his current ballot support [41%]  and is 6% higher than Kasich’s favorable rating.”

The margin of error is plus or minus 4% (see methodology memo).  The poll was commissioned by the Campaign for the Moderate Majority (CMM.)

Strickland had a favorable-to-unfavorable rating of 47% to 43%, with 11% stating ‘no opinon/don’t know’. In comparison, Kasich had a favorable-to unfavorable rating of 41% to 31%, with a surprisingly high 28% over stating ‘no opinon/don’t know’ about him with just five weeks left to Election Day.

The new Benenson poll follows closely on the heels of The New York Times/CBS poll yesterday showing that Kasich had slipped to a one-point lead – 43 % to 42 %  — over Strickland.

http://comecleankasich.com/content/new-cmm-poll-shows-strickland-forging-lead

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WaPo: O’Malley +11

Wednesday, September 29th, 2010

Gov. Martin O’Malley now holds a clear and convincing lead in the Maryland governor’s race, according to a Washington Post poll. O’Malley has consolidated Democrats, and is more popular now than any time since 2004.

Citizens for Strength and Security, an independent group funded and supported by the DGA, has been on the air in Democratic strongholds DC and Baltimore educating Marylanders about former Gov. Bob Ehrlich’s ties to big business and his fee hikes in office.

O’Malley gains ground over Ehrlich in Maryland governor’s race, poll shows

By Aaron C. Davis, John Wagner and Jon Cohen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, September 28, 2010; 11:53 PM

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley has opened a significant lead over former Republican governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. as newly energized Democrats have turned what appeared to be a dead heat into a double-digit advantage for O’Malley, a Washington Post poll has found.

Less than five weeks before the election, 52 percent of those most likely to vote support O’Malley, and 41 percent back Ehrlich. In May, likely voters were divided evenly between the contenders.

Ehrlich has the support of almost every GOP voter in the state, and he is winning independents by a wide margin in his effort to reclaim the Maryland governorship he lost four years ago. But that combined slice of the electorate, which is propelling outsider insurgents elsewhere, appears to be too little in Maryland. The former governor and congressman is failing to draw the cross-party appeal that vaulted him to victory in 2002.

Instead, despite widespread concern among Marylanders about the economy and direction of the state, Democrats have moved solidly behind O’Malley. And he is more popular now than at any time a Post poll has been taken since 2004.

In recent months, O’Malley has moved to invigorate his party’s base by adopting a campaign theme that asks voters to reject a return to Republican control. Four out of five Maryland Democrats say they are enthusiastic about voting for him, according to the poll. O’Malley has also emerged as the candidate more trusted by voters on the top issue in the race: Maryland’s economy.

Ehrlich has limited room to attract voters on economic issues. When it comes to dealing with Maryland’s $1.1 billion budget shortfall, 43 percent of likely voters say they trust Ehrlich; 40 percent side with O’Malley.

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Reuters: Kasich’s lead shrinks to 1 point

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

A second poll out today shows that Gov. Ted Strickland has narrowed the race to dead heat, with Wall Street banker and former Congressman up by 1 point – after Kasich lead by 9 in the same poll in August. A Fox News poll showed Strickland within two points earlier today. Both polls come on the heels of the highly respected Ohio Newspaper Poll, also showing Strickland within striking distance.

Read more here.

 

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GOP internal polling shows Dems in striking distance

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

Fox News polls out today in Ohio and Wisconsin show both Democrats in striking distance. According to the polls, available here:  

“But Republican John Kasich’s bid to unseat incumbent [Ohio] Democrat Gov. Ted Strickland has run into some bumps. Kasich’s lead of six points last week was cut down to 2 points, 45 percent to 43 percent, well within the polls’ margin of error.…In the race for [Wisconsin] governor, Republican Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker holds a 4-point lead over Democratic nominee Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, 49 percent to 45 percent.”

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ABC News: Dems on offense

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

In a volatile election year with the wind at Republicans’ backs, the Democratic Governors Association is going on offense across the country. From Florida to California – and, yes, deep in the heart of Republican territory in Texas and Georgia – the DGA is launching aggressive and historic campaigns to pick up governorships now in Republican hands. With Democrats running ahead or in striking distance in key states, the DGA’s Executive Director, Nathan Daschle, tells ABC News why Republicans who had pledged to hold as many as 38 governorships may be hard to reach for comment come election night.  And some of them are already getting harder to reach…

Democratic Governors’ Association: ‘We Can Go on Offense’

September 28, 2010 2:33 PM

News’ Rick Klein reports:

While Democrats are generally have the notion that they’ll suffer significant setbacks in races across the country this fall, the Democratic Governors’ Association is launching new rounds of ads in three of the nation’s largest states: California, Texas, and Florida.

All of those states now have Republican governors – and Democrats think they have a shot in all three, Nathan Daschle, executive director of the Democratic governors’ group, said on ABC’s “Top Line” today.

“We do think we can go on offense this year. There are no fewer than nine states where we think we have a chance of picking them up from Republican governors,” Daschle said.

“All these states currently have Republican governors, and all of these places are where the Democrat is either winning or in striking distance,” Daschle continued. “And the reason this is important is because it says something about this electorate. It says what we know the polls are already confirming: This is not a pro-Republican electorate. This is an electorate that might still have some dissatisfaction with politics as an institution. But they’re just as eager, particularly at the state level, to like the Republican as to like the Democrat.”

Democrats now control 26 of the 50 governors’ offices. But that number appears likely to drop after this fall, with Democrats in particular trouble across a wide swath of the Midwest.

Daschle said polls show Democrats getting closer in states including Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois. And he said Democratic gubernatorial candidates would exceed expectations this year.

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Brown heads into debate with serious momentum

Monday, September 27th, 2010

Jerry Brown is heading into tomorrow’s debate with some serious momentum. Five polls in five days have Brown either leading Meg-A-Spending Whitman or in a dead heat. The latest of these polls – this weekend’s LA Times/USC survey – shows Brown up five and leading in two crucial groups: Latino and women voters. Most notably, the poll reveals voters are responding to Brown’s plan to create jobs, giving him a 5-point edge over his opponent.

After failing to woo Californians despite her torrent of cash, Whitman’s team has to be asking themselves: how much more this is going to take?

Brown leads Whitman 49%-44% in poll

Boxer leads Fiorina 51%-43% in Senate race, survey finds. Both Republicans are hampered by voters’ negative impressions of them, poll says.

By Cathleen Decker, Los Angeles Times

Democrat Jerry Brown has moved into a narrow lead over Republican Meg Whitman in their fractious contest for governor, while his party colleague Barbara Boxer has opened a wider margin over GOP nominee Carly Fiorina in the race for U.S. Senate, a new Los Angeles Times/USC poll has found.

The Democratic candidates were benefiting from their party’s dominance in California and the continued popularity here of President Obama, who has retained most of his strength in the state even as he has weakened in other parts of the country. Support for Obama may play a key role in the Senate contest, one of a handful nationally that could determine which party wins control of the chamber.

At the same time, the survey showed, Republicans Whitman and Fiorina have yet to convince crucial groups of voters that their businesswoman backgrounds will translate into government success.

Brown, the former governor and current attorney general, held a 49%-44% advantage among likely voters over Whitman, the billionaire former chief executive at EBay.

Boxer, a three-term incumbent, led Fiorina, the former head of Hewlett-Packard, by 51%-43% among likely voters in the survey, a joint effort by The Times and the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.

Both Republicans were hamstrung by voters’ negative impressions

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Rory Reid gaining ground

Saturday, September 25th, 2010

New polling from Republican outfit Public Opinion Strategies shows Rory Reid within striking distance in the Nevada governor’s race. Reid, who has been offering concrete plans and challenging his opponent to debate all summer, is narrowing the gap with Brian Sandoval, who spent the summer ducking the debates and making trouble for himself with Hispanic voters.

Survey by national GOP pollster shows both Reids gaining ground

By Jon Ralston · September 24, 2010 · 1:37 PM

Reid the Elder is up 45-40 over Sharron Angle

Reid the Younger is down to Brian Sandoval, 45-39

Survey conducted this week for Retail Association of Nevada by nationally known Public Opinion Strategies pollster Glen Bolger. RAN is releasing today. Lots of good information on taxes, judical questions also in poll, which is posted at right.

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