Hotline Sort: Allen West, Palin Endorse Sandy Adams
Welcome back to Hotline Sort. Crossroads GPS switches up their strategy in New Mexico, the Chamber of Commerce sets its sights on Angus King, Mike Bloomberg is hosting a fundraising for Scott Brown, and we finally have some polling on dressage.
10) Riding the day: Dressage. ABC News/Washington Post is polling on it (47 percent said they had a favorable impression of the horse riding competition, while 27 percent said they had an unfavorable impression and an equal percentage had no opinion. Meanwhile, the New York Times profiles Rafalca, the horse partly owned by Ann Romney. (Rafalca has been eating a lot of watermelon, according to the story.)
9) Nebraska Senate candidate Bob Kerrey has penned an op-ed titled "Congress Can't Be Trusted to Fix Itself." It appears in The Atlantic. This comes after his wife, Sarah Paley, wrote a piece for Vogue (which caused some controversy in the state).
Given that the Democrat is fighting against the perception that he's an elitist carpetbagger from New York after spending a decade there, it might be a good idea for Kerrey/Paley to try a Nebraska-based publication next time.
8) Good get for Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass.: NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg is hosting a fundraiser for him in August, Politico reports. Brown has been heavily emphasizing his bipartisan credentials, so a nod from the Independent mayor doesn't hurt.
7) Freshman Florida Republican Rep. Sandy Adams is getting a boost from fellow freshman Rep. Allen West this morning, as the fiery congressman is endorsing her over veteran Republican Rep. John Mica in Florida's 7th District primary. Mica landed the backing of Mike Huckabee on Wednesday and Adams previously scored the backing of Sarah Palin. Endorsements rarely decide races, but in a GOP primary, having West and Palin in your corner is an impressive feat.
6) Underfunded and trailing in the primary polling, former Connecticut Republican Rep. Chris Shays is offering scorching rhetoric in media interviews, in an attempt to change the shape of the race. In a meeting with the editorial boards of the Stamford Advocate and Greenwich Time, Shays said GOP opponent Linda McMahon "is into issues like brutality and so on" and Democratic frontrunner Chris Murphy is "not running as a Democrat, he's a socialist."
Absent a paid TV campaign -- which Shays is not running -- it's difficult to see any way he makes this thing close before the August 14 primary.
5) Crossroads GPS is launching a round of television ads late this week targeting Democratic Senate candidates in Nevada, North Dakota and New Mexico.
Most interesting? The ad hitting Rep. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M. While Crossroads has run other ads in the state, their previous commercials have been positive spots building up Republican nominee Heather Wilson -- an unusual strategy they haven't used in any other Senate races this cycle.
But Wilson's campaign released their first negative ad earlier this week, and now Crossroads is following suit.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has purchased what appears to be close to $200,000 in ads in Maine media markets, according to several public disclosure documents at local stations. The ads target Angus King, the independent former governor who enjoys front-runner status in recent polls.
White House officials and the Obama campaign said the presence of the men at Obama headquarters doesn't suggest discontent with the campaign's operations. The visits are meant to ensure the White House and campaign are aware of what the other is planning and to align campaign schedules and messages, advisers said. But others close to the campaign say Mr. Rouse in particular has been on hand to support campaign manager Jim Messina, who hasn't before run an organization as large and complex.
Leave A Comment