Hotline Sort: Betty White Dives Into Politics

By Sean Sullivan  //  May 1, 2012 | 8:26 a.m.

Welcome back to Hotline Sort. President Obama hits Romney's Swiss bank account, Scott Walker is shattering fundraising records, Lugar won't commit to backing Mourdock and Betty White appears in a campaign ad for Howard Berman. Here's today's rundown:

10) Democrat Joe Garcia, who has twice run for Congress and lost, is challenging Republican Rep. David Rivera. But national Democrats appear to prefer businesswoman Gloria Romero Roses.

9) Democratic state Auditor Hector Balderas is the last of the three major New Mexico Senate candidates to go up on TV. This week, he's launching a 30-second spot highlighting his humble beginnings and underscoring the importance of education. Balderas is an underdog against Rep. Martin Heinrich in the June 5 primary.

8) New York state Board Of Elections commissioners will vote today on whether to accept a clerk's report that Rep. Michael Grimm, R-N.Y., did not collect enough signatures to run on the Independence Party line.

7) Betty White and Wendie Malick appear in California Democratic Rep. Howard Berman's latest TV ad. Berman also landed the coveted endorsement of the Los Angeles Times in his race against fellow Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman in the 30th District. Meanwhile, a pro-Berman super PAC has bought $500,000 worth of TV ad time and also faces questions from the Sherman team.

6) The Office of Congressional Ethics has cleared Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., of any insider trading wrongdoing.

5) A judge has given the green light to Florida's new congressional map -- a blow to Democrats challenging it. 4) This isn't likely to win him some much-needed good will: If he loses the May 8 primary to state Treasurer Richard Mourdock: Sen. Richard Lugar is not saying whether he will support Mourdock in the general election, the Evansville Courier & Press reports. 3) Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., opposes President Obama's health care law, but takes advantage of it to keep his 23-year-old daughter on his congressional health plan, the Boston Globe reports. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Warren's heritage continues to dominate the race. New evidence shows she's 1/32 American Indian while Warren's campaign manager says "the qualifications and ability of a woman are being called into question by Scott Brown who did the same thing with the Supreme Court nomination of Elena Kagan. It's outrageous." 2) Obama's campaign has launched a new TV ad in Iowa, Virginia, and Ohio defending his record on energy while attacking Mitt Romney for outsourcing jobs and having a Swiss bank account. 1) Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's fundraising pace is shattering previous records: He raised $13 million in the most recent campaign filing period, bringing his total to more than $25 million raised since January 2011, the Wisconsin State journal reports. While you can find Walker's fundraising numbers, finding his campaign office is a more difficult task.

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