Bagels & Ballots: The Governator Jumps In
Pushing to the Finish Line: Today, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee was supposed to add 10 more races to its “Essential Races” list, but instead, plans to add 15, including state senate races in New York and Pennsylvania. With over 6,000 state legislative races across the country — many of which rarely receive attention or public polling — the list strives to bring attention to the ones the DLCC considers “most significant in 2010.” (Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee)
Banking on Illinois: “The Illinois Senate race has long been a contest about which candidate can better define his opponent in brutally negative terms,” writes Alexander Burns in his Politico Morning Score memo. Democratic Alexi Giannoulias has tried to depict Republican Mark Kirk as dishonest, and Kirk keeps returning fire by pointing to his opponent’s ambiguous descriptions of his family-owned bank. Today, he’s out with a new ad that shows Giannoulias saying: “You deserve a senator who will tell the truth.” A narrator says: “But Alexi doesn’t. … He told newspapers he was gone when Broadway loaned millions to convicted felon Tony Rezko. But Alexi told the IRS he was there, to take a $2.7 million tax writeoff.” The final zinger? “Alexi’s truth hurts — your wallet.” (Politico, via YouTube)
N’O-bama for the Jews? The American Jewish Committee published a survey on Jewish voters is out, and it looks like Barack Obama is losing Jewish support because of his Israel policy. 61% of Jewish voters see the issue as “very important” in choosing mid-term congressional candidates, making it the sixth-highest concern. (MitzVote)
From One Governator to Another: Arnold Schwarzenegger has endorsed fellow governor Charlie Crist, who’s running as an independent in Florida’s senatorial race. Republican opponent Marco Rubio is striking back with this message: “When it comes to inflicting ‘Collateral Damage’ on the economy, Charlie Crist and Arnold Schwarzenegger are definitely ‘Twins.’ Charlie’s flip-flops have made him a master at telling ‘True Lies.’ We all know the only thing Charlie cares about is the next election. But this year, Florida will take an ‘Eraser’ to ‘The Running Man.’” (Politico)
Campaigning with the Stars: Tuesday night marks, of course, the airing of the hit TV show “Glee.” But over the weekend, Matthew Morrison — best known as the earnest vocal coach Mr. Schuester — campaigned for Ohio’s Democratic senatorial candidate Lee Fisher. What’s next? Sylvester for Portman? (Uweekly.com)
iBarack: Our takeaway from Mike Allen’s preview of the New York Times magazine’s article on the presidency thus far: He doesn’t have an iPad. “I have an iReggie,” he said, referring to his aide Reggie Love. (We’ll bring you more tomorrow once the story is actually posted).
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