Archives for August 2014

A new Boston Globe poll in Massachusetts finds Charlie Baker (R) has edged ahead of Martha Coakley (D) in the race for governor, 38% to 37%.

Dan Balz: “He has waded into national issues. He has taken on President Obama over border security. He has spoken critically of the administration on foreign policy at the Heritage Foundation. He has appeared on Sunday talk shows and given numerous interviews. Along the way, he has scooped up favorable coverage from a once-scornful media.”

“Oh, yes. He also was indicted by a grand jury in Austin — two felony counts of abuse of power.”

The Des Moines Register reports Perry is headed to Iowa next week.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) “is expanding his political operation, a move sure to stoke speculation that the Texas Republican plans to run for president in 2016,” the Washington Examiner reports.

“In recent weeks, the Cruz team signed contracts with three Republican consultants with national experience and ties to some of the early presidential primary states.”

Amy Walter: “Despite dismal numbers for President Obama, a public deeply pessimistic about the direction of the country, and a Senate battleground based almost solely in red states, Republicans aren’t running up the score in Senate races, even in deep red states. Many are asking: why hasn’t the bottom dropped out on Democrats yet? The answer is: it already did.”

“Mitt Romney, widely criticized by Republicans for losing a presidential race that many thought to be winnable, is suddenly one of his party’s most sought-after campaigners,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“He has lent a hand to GOP Senate candidates in Arkansas, North Carolina, Iowa and New Hampshire in a travel schedule that has included three-dozen fundraising events and rallies in the past year.”

The Week: The amazing resurrection of Mitt Romney

“In Washington, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) lives in a stately, $2.5 million brick manse she and her husband built on Capitol Hill,” the Washington Post reports.

“Here in Louisiana, however, the Democrat does not have a home of her own. She is registered to vote at a large bungalow in New Orleans that her parents have lived in for many decades, according to a Washington Post review of Landrieu’s federal financial disclosures and local property and voting records.”

“A House Republican-led investigation of the 2012 terrorist attack on an American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, will extend well into next year, and possibly beyond, raising concerns among Democrats that Republicans are trying to damage Hillary Clinton’s presidential prospects,” the New York Times reports.

Wall Street Journal: Is the stage set for a 2016 campaign about foreign policy?

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D), “a 2016 White House aspirant trying to win backing in the first Southern presidential primary state, is sending four aides from his political-action group to help the S.C. Democratic party with the November election,” the Columbia State reports.

“No other major Democratic candidate has offered staffing help to the state party.”

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) will soon visit Iowa to support the re-election campaign of the state’s governor, the Washington Post reports.

“Pence’s trip, set for Sept. 8, is the latest sign that he is considering a 2016 presidential bid.”

Sam Wang has updated his Senate forecast which shows Democrats with a 70% probability of retaining control of the upper chamber.

One reason his forecast is more favorable to Democrats than others is that he’s relying more on actual polls than so-called “fundamentals.”

“This year’s Senate race is harder than any electoral forecast that the other forecasters have ever had to make. To be frank, 2008 and 2012 were easy. My own experience is guided by 2004 Presidential race, which was as close as this year’s Senate campaign. In 2004, I formed the view that the correct approach is to use polls only, if at all possible.”