President Obama can’t seem to stop bear-hugging red-state Democrats — and Republicans are the ones grinning with glee.
Obama’s recent comments that congressmen like Sens. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and Mary Landrieu (D-La.) “vote with me” and “have supported by agenda in Congress” were made on the heels of earlier comments that his “policies are on the ballot,” giving Republicans even more chances to tie Democrats to the unpopular president.
{mosads}Democratic chances of maintaining the Senate two weeks from Election Day are dimming — and their party’s leader seems bent on making it harder for them to turn things around.
SENATE SHOWDOWN
CO-SEN (UDALL): Hillary Clinton praised Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), a leading critic of the National Security Agency, for his work on intelligence reform and women’s issues during a campaign stop Tuesday.
KS-SEN (ROBERTS): Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney will campaign for Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) in the state next week, as he fights off a fierce challenge from independent Greg Orman.
SD-SEN (OPEN): Former FBI agent John Good, who was the supervising agent during the Abscam investigation, will campaign with former Sen. Larry Pressler (I) this week, to highlight the fact Pressler turned down a bribe during the FBI sting.
LA-SEN (LANDRIEU): Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) named Tea Party-backed Rob Maness one of “a new generation of Republican candidates … finding success by directly addressing Americans’ concerns and running on a conservative reform agenda.” He touted Maness, seen as a long-shot in his race, alongside stronger GOP candidates like Rep. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Nebraska GOP Senate nominee Ben Sasse, and said Maness “has begun to surge in Louisiana.”
AZ-SEN (MCCAIN): Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) will meet with supporters after the midterms to discuss his future political plans. He hasn’t yet indicated whether he plans to run for a sixth term, but appears to be leaning toward it.
GA-SEN (OPEN): The Georgia Democratic Party is invoking the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., to try to motivate African-American voters to the polls.
“If you want to prevent another Ferguson in their future, vote,” reads a mailer from the party over photos from Ferguson and young African-American children holding signs that say “don’t shoot.”
Just one-third of the more than 180,000 newly registered Georgia votes self-describes as white, a sign many — if not most — are Democratic-leaning minority voters.
NC-SEN (HAGAN): North Carolina Speaker Thom Tillis (R) will debate himself this evening, as a scheduled debate will go on despite former Sen. Kay Hagan’s (D-N.C.) decision not to participate.
Tillis will stump with Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) tomorrow.
IA-SEN (OPEN): Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is “going to be chairman of the Judiciary Committee” in a New York Times interview — inadvertently suggesting that Republicans will take Senate control and potentially suggesting that he might not think Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) will win his seat.
BATTLE FOR THE HOUSE
DCCC: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee invested $2 million more into protecting what it has, adding money for Reps. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.), William Enyart (D-Ill.), Rick Nolan (D-Minn.), Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), Dave Loebsack (D-Iowa) and the open seat held by Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa), who is running for the Senate.
NY-11 (GRIMM): New York NEXT, a new political action committee formed “to make New York City a better place for both this generation and those that follow,” is launching a field effort to support Democrat Domenic Recchia in his challenge to Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.).
MA-6 (OPEN): Former Republican Senate nominee Gabriel Gomez held a press conference with Republican Richard Tisei to push back on Democrat Seth Moulton’s charge that Tisei voted to cut funding for veterans’ services during his time in the Massachusetts Senate. Gomez is a former Navy SEAL, while Moulton is a former Marine.
LA-5 (MCALLISTER): Republican Zach Dasher, a cousin of the family in TLC’s hit reality television series “Duck Dynasty,” made a number of controversial comments prior to running for Congress, including warning America is “vulnerable to a Stalin-like tyranny.”
AD WATCH
GA-SEN (OPEN): EMILY’s List hits businessman David Perdue (R) for an equal-pay lawsuit against Dollar General that came when he was CEO.
AK-SEN (BEGICH): Dan Sullivan attacks Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) as “desperate” in a new ad.
Begich says he’ll “work with anyone” in a new ad pushing back against attacks on his tenure as Anchorage mayor.
KY-SEN (MCCONNELL): Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) new ad features Democrats endorsing him and touting him as committed to Kentucky. Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes hits McConnell for not doing enough to improve the Brent Spence Bridge in a television ad, and also launched a new radio ad aimed at African-American voters, featuring state Sen. Georgia Powers (D), the first woman and first African-American elected to the Kentucky Senate.
SD-SEN (OPEN): Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) goes to bat for former Gov. Mike Rounds (R) in the candidate’s latest ad.
LA-SEN (LANDRIEU): Tea Party-backed Rob Maness pledges to “make ObamaCare roadkill” in his new ad, which was chosen through votes from supporters. American Crossroads has launched a new ad in the race that targets Landrieu for cuts to Medicare Advantage and hits her on residency questions.
KS-SEN (ROBERTS): Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) ties independent Greg Orman to President Obama in a new ad. Orman frames himself as fiscally conservative with bipartisan support in a new ad that cuts together news clips highlighting his bid.
CAMPAIGN COMMITTEES: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee launched a series of ads aimed at African-American and Hispanic voters. The ads target Rep. Steve Southerland (R-Fla.) and an open seat in Arkansas, and look to boost Reps. Ron Barber (D-Ariz.), Julia Brownley (D-Calif.), William Enyart (D-Ill.) and Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.).
The National Republican Congressional Committee launched a spate of new ads as well on Tuesday, in districts held by Reps. John Barrow (D-Ga.), Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.), Ami Bera (D-Calif.), Scott Peters (D-Calif.), Steve Southerland (R-Fla.), Joe Garcia (D-Fla.), Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), William Enyart (D-Ill.), Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.), Chris Gibson (R-N.Y.) and Iowa’s open 3rd District.
AZ-2 (BARBER): Rep. Ron Barber’s (D) newest ads hits Republican Martha McSally on education funding, and targets Hispanic voters with a Spanish-language attack tying McSally to the Tea Party.
NE-2 (TERRY): Rep. Lee Terry (R) doubles down on his attacks against Democrat Brad Ashford for failing to oppose the state’s “good time” law, which lets criminals out of prison early for good behavior, in an ad featuring the president of the Omaha Police Officers Association.
CA-7 (BERA): Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.) hits former Rep. Doug Ose (R-Calif.) on abortion and birth control in a new ad.
CA-17 (HONDA): Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) ties opponent Ro Khanan to “billionaires” and “right-wing activists” in a new ad.
WV-2 (OPEN): Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) touts Democrat Nick Casey as a “true West Virginian” in the candidate’s new ad, which also hits Republican Alex Mooney as a “liar” and a “fraud.”
POLL POSITION
AR-SEN (PRYOR): Rep. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) leads Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) 49 percent to 41 percent in a new poll conducted by Arkansas Talk Business and Hendrix College.
CO-SEN (UDALL): Two new independent polls continue to show Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) battling for his political life against Rep. Cory Gardner (R), who holds a slight lead. A poll from Monmouth University gave Rep. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) 47 percent support to Udall’s 46 percent support, while a poll from Democratic firm Public Policy Polling gave Gardner 46 percent support to Udall’s 43 percent.
LA-SEN (LANDRIEU): A Raycom Media poll gives Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) a slight lead over Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) in a runoff, taking 43 percent to Landrieu’s 40 percent support.
NH-SEN (SHAHEEN): A new YouGov poll conducted for U-Mass Amherst gives Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) a slight lead over Republican Scott Brown among likely voters, taking 48 percent to Brown’s 45 percent support.
NC-SEN (HAGAN): Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) leads North Carolina Speaker Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) 46 percent to 43 percent in a new automated SurveyUSA poll.
MN-SEN (FRANKEN): Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) leads businessman Mike McFadden (R) 53 percent to 38 percent in a new automated poll from SurveyUSA for KSTP.
AR-2 (OPEN): Former North Little Rock Mayor Pat Hays (D) leads banker French Hill (R) 46 percent to 42 percent in a new poll conducted by Arkansas Talk Business and Hendrix College.
AR-4 (OPEN): Arkansas state Rep. Bruce Westerman (R) has a 44 percent to 42 percent lead over former Federal Emergency Management Agency Director James Lee Witt (D) in a new poll conducted by Arkansas Talk Business and Hendrix College.
VA-10 (OPEN): Virginia Del. Barbara Comstock (R) leads Fairfax County Supervisor John Foust (D) 51 percent to 35 percent in a new survey conducted by GOP pollster Kellyanne Conway for the conservative group Citizens United.
FUNDRAISING FIGURES
CA-52 (PETERS): Republican Carl DeMaio’s campaign said he raised $256,609 from the start of the month through Oct. 15 and had “roughly half a million dollars” heading into the final weeks of the campaign, a period that included a fundraiser with Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).
2016 RUMBLINGS
CLINTON: Hillary Clinton drew a reported crowd of 1,000 at a rally for Sen. Mark Udall (D) in Colorado on Tuesday, where she touted his work opposing the NSA’s surveillance program and his efforts on women’s issues.
RUBIO: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) will appear at a Road to Victory fundraiser for the South Carolina GOP on Wednesday.
PAUL: Former Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) again split with his son, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), this time on Paul and others’ calls for a travel ban for Ebola-infected countries, which the elder Paul dismissed as “politically-motivated.”
CHRISTIE: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) drew criticism when he dismissed the minimum wage debate during Tuesday remarks to the Chamber of Commerce. “I’m tired of hearing about the minimum wage,” he said.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Listen, I just say what I believe, and whoever is offended is offended.”
—New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), defending his argument that the next president should be a former governor