Hotline Sort: Democrats Motoring On

By Sean Sullivan and Julie Sobel  //  July 25, 2012 | 8:39 a.m.

Welcome back to Hotline Sort. With Mitt Romney headed to London for the Olympics, Priorities USA dings him with an Olympic-themed ad on outsourcing, Saul Anuzis helped form a super PAC helping Clark Durant, Democrats in the Rust Belt are touting their support for the auto bailout in new ads and the Club For Growth targets Rep. Paul Gosar in a new ad.

9) The Hill's 50 Most Beautiful People list is out. Check out who made the cut.

8) Former Queens Assemblyman Jimmy Meng -- father of Assemblywoman Grace Meng, who's running for Congress in New York's 6th District -- was arrested for allegedly soliciting $80,000 from a defendant, claiming he would use the money to bribe prosecutors. Oh, and a fruit basket was involved. City And State:

Federal investigators found the ex-legislator did not contact anyone in the district attorney's office and planned to keep the bribe money for himself. ...Meng was arrested after a cooperating witness (CW) brought the $80,000 in a fruit basket to a lumber yard owned by Meng.

Grace Meng released a statement saying she was unaware of what her father was doing.

7) Here's an unexpected story out of Wisconsin: Democratic state Sen. Tim Cullen has quit the Senate Democratic caucus and may become an independent (but not a Republican), the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. Cullen said the state Senate Democratic leader didn't give him a meaningful committee chairmanship.

Democrats hold a slim 17-16 advantage in the Senate, following this year's recall election. The Journal Sentinel reports the advantage would be 17-15 (counting Cullen as a Democrat) when a Republican leaves to join Walker's administration next month. The upper chamber isn't back into session until after the November election, which could change the balance of power once again.

6) Missouri Senate candidate Sarah Steelman gave $100,000 to her campaign on Friday, Roll Call reports.

Steelman's fundraising has been consistently weak as she battles Rep. Todd Akin and businessman John Brunner in the GOP primary -- while the second quarter was her best so far, she still pulled in just $241,000.

5) The Club for Growth launched its first ad targeting Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., the Arizona Republic reports. One of Gosar's primary challenger's, state Sen. Ron Gould, is favored by the Club. The spot hits Gosar on voting to raise the debt ceiling, opposing spending cuts, and "worst of all, Gosar voted to give our tax dollars to ACORN, the radical liberal group," says the announcer.

The Club aired some small buys against Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Tim Murphy and Michigan Republican Rep. Fred Upton, but has not gone hard after all that many House incumbents this cycle.

4) Democrats want to drive home a sharp distinction between Rep. Joe Donnelly and Indiana Republican Senate nominee Richard Mourdock on the issue of the auto bailout, and Donnelly's latest TV ad seeks to do that. "I joined Senator Lugar to save Indiana auto jobs. Richard Mourdock wasted millions suing to kill Chrysler jobs," Donnelly says in the ad. Mourdock's effort to try to stop the Chrysler bankruptcy deal is something we'll hear Democrats mention often this fall in Indiana, especially before the state's many blue-collar voters. Donnelly's not the only Democrat talking about the auto bailout on the air. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, is also touting his support for the auto bailout in his latest ad. Look for Democrats in states with blue-collar voters (like Ohio) to use the issue to go on offense in the fall campaign. At the top of the ticket, the president is sure to mention it, too. 3) Rep. Allen West, R-Fla., is releasing a dramatic new ad featuring Robert Delgado, soldier who served under him in Iraq. "Before we went in to Iraq, he gave me his body armor," says Delgado of West. He describes getting shot, and likely surviving due to the body armor. West "saved my life," he says. Thanks to redistricting, West faces a tough race this year in a swing district. 2) It looks like well-known Michigan Republican operative Saul Anuzis was involved in the formation of a super PAC supporting Republican Clark Durant that recently hit the airwaves with a six-figure ad buy. Anuzis is a supporter of Durant and his brother, Andy Anuzis, manages Durant's campaign. The Gongwer News Service reported the news. From the report (subscriber):

In an interview with Gongwer News Service, Mr. McLellan was asked how he came to be involved in Prosperity for Michigan. "Saul showed up one day and said, 'I've got to do a Super PAC. Will you file it?' I said sure," Mr. McLellan said. Mr. Anuzis, asked whether he played a role in setting up the Super PAC, said, "I'm not in a position to get into that right now." He said he is not running the Super PAC and has "no idea" who is.

Pete Hoekstra's camp is trying to ding the group by complaning that it violated campaign laws. Meanwhile, Durant's campaign picked up some more momentum on Tuesday when it scored the endorsement of FreedomWorks. Look for a nasty finish to this primary. 1) With Mitt Romney heading to London for the Olympics, pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA is out with a new Olympic-themed ad going after Romney for outsourcing jobs and his foreign bank accounts. "Ya gotta say this about Mitt Romney," the announcer concludes. "He sure knows how to go for the gold -- for himself." The ad will run in Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia during the Olympics.

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