Daily News Round Up for May 28, 2009

Hartford Courant (Hartford, CT)
Democratic Senator Chris Dodd (CT) continues to trail his Republican challenger and suffer from unfavorable job approval ratings.

Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA)
Rep. Joe Sestak (D., Pa.) has begun telling close supporters that he intends to run against newly Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter in the 2010 primary, setting the stage for a battle that party leaders hoped to avoid.
Politico (Washington, DC)
Continuing on the Sestak news, new polling shows that Senator Specter is still having problems convincing Pennsylvanians to re-elect him after his Party switch.
CQ Politics (Washington, DC)
The Alaska Democrat who almost toppled Rep. Don Young last year is gearing up for another statewide race -- against Gov. Sarah Palin, if she chooses to run for re-election.

Boston Globe (Boston, MA)
Tainted from the day he was appointed, Senator Roland Burris again finds himself denying any role in a pay-to-play scheme as newly revealed wiretaps show him begging for his Senate seat and offering to donate to the campaign of Illinois's ousted governor, Rod Blagojevich.

Daily News Round-Up for May 8, 2009

Washington Post's The Plum Line Blog ( Washington , DC )

In a move that will surprise gay activists and liberals, a spokesperson for Focus on the Family, a top religious right group, tells me that his organization has no problem with GOP Senator Jeff Session's claim today that he's open to a Supreme Court nominee with "gay tendencies."

Gallup Polling ( USA )

Among women, Democrats maintain a solid double-digit advantage in party identification over Republicans, 41% to 27%.

Politico ( Washington , DC )

The party's road to winning back a Senate majority, it seems, is paved with moderates whose records are sure to make conservatives blanch.

Pioneer Press's Political Animal Blog ( St. Paul , MN )

Republican Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty today further laid out his thinking on whether he would sign a U.S. Senate election certificate after the Minnesota Supreme Court makes its final ruling in the Franken-Coleman case.

Washington Post ( Washington , DC )

The modest proposal to slice $17 billion from 121 government programs quickly ran into a buzz saw of opposition on Capitol Hill yesterday, as an array of Democratic lawmakers vowed to fight White House efforts to deprive their favorite initiatives of federal funds.

The Hill ( Washington , DC )

Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) said he would like to keep his job in the Senate, but will make a formal decision whether to seek reelection in the next few weeks based on his ability to raise money for a campaign.

Cornyn knows that moderates are needed to win

Senator John Cornyn, the head of the NRSC, is out with a new interview with The Hill where he talks about his worries about not losing any more seats in the 2010 Senate Elections. Interestingly enough, a seat that seems worrisome to Cornyn is the Pennsylvania Senate seat- the same seat that real Republican is fighting off extremist Pat Toomey for in an already bitter primary. Cornyn recently sent a letter to Pennsylvania GOPers saying that he needed Specter to win in 2010, and Cornyn seems to fully realize that a Toomey victory would spell disaster for the PA GOP and the NRSC.

However, Cornyn did speak about the fresher faces challenging embattled Democrats, many of which includes more moderate Republicans like former Rep Rob Simmons, who is challenging Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT). This might be a sign that the NRSC understands that moderate Republicans must be welcomed into the Party and whole-heartedly supported if they are going to not dip any further below the number of seats they hold now- and even win a few more. Finally, after two cycles of brutal losses, the Party seems to be getting it. We can only hope that extreme fundamentalists are able to see the same and pay attention to the signs of life emerging from the moderate base.

Daily News Round-Up for April 6, 2009

Associated Press (USA)

The staid Capitol Hill Club dining room was quiet. Except for former Rep. Rob Simmons, who is taking on Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT).

Roanoke Times (Roanoke, VA)

Virginia Republicans took the extraordinary step of dumping extremist Chairman Jeff Frederick on Saturday, hoping to put an end to a tumultuous, 10-month period marked by missteps, controversy and defeat at the polls.

New York Daily News (New York, NY)

Officially, Rudy Giuliani says he won't decide until the fall whether to run for governor next year. Unofficially, his schedule reveals a man who's keeping his options open - very open.

St. Paul Pioneer Press (St. Paul, MN)

Former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman is no longer denying the FBI has contacted him in its inquiry into allegations that a longtime friend and benefactor tried to funnel $100,000 his way via his wife's employer.

The Buffalo News (Buffalo, NY)

A familiar figure in New York politics who has evaded the spotlight for almost a decade surfaced in Buffalo on Saturday as he explores a possible Republican campaign for governor.

Updates from the Northeast

Today, RRM has two updates on races in the Northeast: the NY-20 Special Election that took place on Tuesday and has yet to be resolve, and the 2010 CT Senate Race. In NY-20, Democrat Scott Murphy’s lead of 59 votes has been sliced down by more than half to 25 votes, and this includes none of the military and overseas absentee ballots that will not be counted until April 13th. Both sides are predicting a win in this tightly contested and highly watched race. Keep checking back with RRM for more details as developments occur.

In Connecticut, the 2010 Senate race continues to heat up for Senator Chris Dodd (D) and former Rep. Rob Simmons (R). Simmons, a real Republican who represented Connecticut’s 2nd District as a strong fiscal conservative and bipartisan legislator, is still incredibly popular in the state. This is shown by a new Quinnipiac University poll, taken last week, which shows Simmons leading Dodd 50-34%. This has come after weeks of questions about Senator Dodd’s role in the recent financial crisis and his ties to AIG and Countrywide Financial. We will continue to update our members and our blog as this race continues to develop.