Hotline Sort: Hoosier State Heat

By Julie Sobel  //  October 17, 2012 | 8:13 a.m.

Welcome back to Hotline Sort. Obama and Romney spar in a heated second debate, new DSCC ads in Wisconsin and Nevada, a new poll shows a Christie-Booker race would be close, and Kerrey calls himself "half Republican."

12) Former Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey gets feisty in an interview with the Sioux City Journal's editorial board. Some choice quotes:

"We've become a bunch of wusses over campaigns," "Who the hell is (Koch) to tell me I'm not from Nebraska?" and "Oh hell, I'm half Republican anyway."

Kerrey is trailing GOP state Sen. Deb Fischer in the Nebraska Senate race.

11) The Hill reports that Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., "looks like a sure bet" to lead the National Republican Congressional Committee next year.

10) In New Jersey, a look ahead to 2013, where a new Quinnipiac poll shows a race between GOP Gov. Chris Christie and Newark Mayor Cory Booker would be very close. Booker has been hinting that he's considering challenging Christie in recent weeks, after the early CW was that he was more interested in running for the Senate in 2014.

9) As we pointed out yesterday, the second televised North Carolina gubernatorial debate was last night (and the first was the night of the Oct. 3 presidential debate). Here's the Charlotte Observer:

Trailing in the polls, Democratic Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton was frequently the aggressor portraying Republican Pat McCrory, a former Charlotte mayor, as someone who would be more attuned to powerful special interests than the average person.

8) In Washington's gubernatorial race, the Republican Governor's Association has now put $11.4 million behind supporting GOP Attorney General Rob McKenna. Our Washington (a coalition of the Democratic Governors Association and labor groups) has put $7.9 million into supporting former Democratic Rep. Jay Inslee.

And the two candidates met for their final debate.

7) Majority PAC is launching a $8.4 million Senate ad blitz in 9 races, The Fix reports: Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Virginia, Ohio and Connecticut, Arizona, Indiana (with Center Forward) and Nevada. 6) Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., has been targeting Elizabeth Warren over her work for Travelers Insurance -- but just before starting his ad campaign attacking her on it, the Boston Globe reports that he "quietly returned $7,000" to the company's PAC. 5) In Virginia's Senate race, Democratic nominee Tim Kaine is out with a new ad this morning hitting GOP opponent George Allen on cuts and spending. 4) In Indiana's Senate race, Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly's new ad hits GOP Treasurer Richard Mourdock on the "my way or the highway" theme that Donnelly's campaign has emphasized. The spot uses clips of Mitt Romney and Bill Clinton knocking the "my way or the highway" concept. "Richard Mourdock disagrees," says the ad's narrator. "He's all about my way or the highway," 3) House Majority PAC announced it would start running new ads in four districts, including their first in Indiana's 2nd District hitting Republican Jackie Walorski. That's Donnelly's current district, and his standing in the Senate race is causing Democrats to be a little more optimistic about Iraq war veteran Brendan Mullen's chances. That said, it's very cheap to advertise in the South Bend media market, and Walorski is still the favorite. The others hit Rep. Dan Lungren in California's 7th District, Rep. Mike Coffman in Colorado's 6th District, and Rep. Dan Benishek in Michigan's 1st District. 2) The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has two new IE ads out: One spot hits Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., on education, saying he "joined tea party Republicans to slash school funding." The other, an attack on Wisconsin GOP Senate candidate Tommy Thompson, hits on Medicare, calling him, "the point man for a plan that prohibits negotiating lower drug prices." 1) President Obama and Romney faced off in their second debate last night. Here's the New York Times:

Mr. Obama, criticized by his own party for a lackluster debate performance two weeks ago, this time pressed an attack that allowed him to often dictate the terms of the debate. But an unbowed Mr. Romney was there to meet him every time, and seemed to relish the opportunity to challenge a sitting president Mr. Obama's assertive posture may well have stopped the clamor of concern from supporters that had been weighing on his campaign with three weeks and one more debate to go before the election.

Here's the Washington Post on Romney's missed opportunity on Libya. And two post-debate polls showed Obama with a narrow win.

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Reid Wilson, Editor-in-Chief
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