Hotline Sort: Calm Before the Storm

Welcome back to Hotline Sort. McCaskill hits Akin on the rape comments again in a new spot, Casey and Smith meet for their one debate, Clinton campaigns for Chris Murphy, and House Majority PAC goes back into DesJarlais's district.

11) In the wake of a second woman claiming she had an affair with Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn., while he was her doctor, House Majority PAC is going up with a second ad targeting the congressman. The ad hits directly at the allegations, calling him "a hypocrite" and "a fraud." The buy costs $180,000.

10) In Connecticut's Senate race, Bill Clinton hit the campaign trail for Democratic Rep. Chris Murphy.

9) Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., and his GOP challenger Tom Smith met for their lone debate. The Phildelphia Inquirer:

In their one-and-only debate, Senate candidates Tom Smith and Bob Casey differed sharply over federal spending Friday, with Smith saying he'd close the Department of Energy and "look at" shutting the Department of Education, and Casey charging that, in his zeal to find cuts, Smith would "end Medicare as we know it."

8) New television ad out from Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., today. The ad casts Brown as bipartisan, and Elizabeth Warren as "fiercely partisan."

"Scott Brown: Low taxes for everyone," says the narrator. "Warren supports higher payroll and high small business taxes." It also says she "supports giving your tax dolalrs to illegals."

7) For the campaign's closing week, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., returns to GOP Rep. Todd Akin's comments on "legitimate" rape in a new ad, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. It uses the clip of Akin saying "if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."

6) Montana Hunters and Anglers Leadership Fund, a PAC that supports Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, dropped $500,000 on an ad buy encouraging voters to support the third candidate in the race, Libertarian Dan Cox, the Billings Gazette reported. The ad criticizes GOP Rep. Denny Rehberg and concludes, "Vote Cox. The Real Conservative." 5) A Honolulu Star-Advertiser poll of Hawaii's Senate race shows Democratic Rep. Mazie Hirono leading former GOP Gov. Linda Lingle by 22 point, 57 percent to 35 percent. Meanwhile, the Star-Advertiser endorsed Hirono. 4) NRSC Vice Chair Carly Fiorina weighed in on the controversy surrounding Indiana GOP Senate nominee Richard Mourdock's comments about rape and abortion. "First of all, talk about bad timing for Mitt Romney's endorsement," she said on Meet The Press. "Richard Mourdock said a really stupid thing, and he apologized." She also called him "clearly more extreme" on abortion than his Democratic opponent, Joe Donnelly. 3) A few new Senate race polls: In Virginia, a Washington Post poll shows Democratic nominee Tim Kaine leading GOP opponent George Allen 51 percent to 44 percent. And an Ohio Newspaper Organization poll shows Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown leading GOP Treasurer Josh Mandel 51 percent to 47 precent. 2) The League of Conservation Voters and Majority PAC are launching an $800,000 ad buy today targeting Virginia GOP Senate nominee George Allen. The ad says if Allen goes to Washington, then companies that ships jobs overseas, millionaires and big oil win -- while "families relying on Medicare and Social Security, workers fighting to keep their jobs, and small businesses struggling to get by" lose. 1) Romney received the Des Moines Register endorsement this weekend -- one of the few newspaper endorsements that could matter, given the tightness of the race in Iowa. Meanwhile, Romney is running a new television ad implying Chrysler plans to move U.S. auto jobs to China, though that is not true. And with Hurricane Sandy approaching, President Obama cancelled a Florida campaign rally and is headed back to DC to monitor the storm.

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