“As he has risen in prominence as a Republican presidential contender,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) “is avidly courting a small but influential cluster of wealthy libertarians,” the New York Times reports.

“His pursuit offers an intriguing window into an eclectic network of potential donors who have made fortunes in Silicon Valley start-ups and Wall Street hedge funds, a group that could form a vital donor base if he makes a bid for the Republican nomination. A tight-knit tribe of philanthropists and entrepreneurs, they have exerted enormous intellectual influence on conservative policy. But they have historically spent more on nonprofit groups and endowing college economics departments than they have on backing candidates.”

“GOP leaders have launched a new effort to try to turn Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada into a political symbol of all that ails Washington, just as they did with House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California in past election years,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

New television ads show how the GOP “is trying to highlight the national political stakes in the midterm elections–control of the U.S. Senate–at a time when Senate Democrats running for re-election in conservative states are trying to keep voters focused on the local choice between two candidates.”

Personal testimonials don’t get much better than this one for Monica Wehby (R) in a new ad for her U.S. Senate campaign in Oregon.

[Read more…]

A new Rasmussen survey in Florida finds Charlie Crist (D) leading Gov. Rich Scott in the race for governor, 45% to 39%.

The widow of Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R) says she no longer supports Rep. David Jolly (R). “the man who campaigned as a ‘Bill Young Republican’ and was elected to her husband’s seat in the House of Representatives,” WFLA reports.

Said Beverly Young: “No, I won’t support him.”

“It’s quite a switch for Young, who appeared in a Jolly commercial and with him at the rally to announce his candidacy for Congress. But Young is disappointed and upset that Jolly did not hire more of her husband’s staff to carry on what they started under the 22-term congressman, who died in October.”

Wall Street Journal: “The political arms of large corporations have given nearly five times as much money to Sen. Mary Landrieu as to her Republican opponent, Rep. Bill Cassidy… Industry groups have run television advertisements supporting her re-election. And several big Washington trade associations that normally back Republicans, led by energy groups, are throwing their support behind the incumbent.”

Morning Line: “Of all the Democrats running, Landrieu’s race may be the most important. In many ways, she’s a keystone. It’s hard to see Democrats holding the Senate if she loses, but it’s also hard to see them losing the Senate if she wins.”

“Despite assurances that he’s not planning to run for governor, Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson told a group of local business leaders Wednesday he’s tempted to run because he doesn’t like where Florida is headed,” the Daytona Beach News-Journal reports.

“Speculation has mounted that Nelson might enter the governor’s race if Republican-turned-Democrat Charlie Crist stumbles in challenging Scott.”

“Scott Brown’s entrance into New Hampshire’s U.S. Senate race has created a political and media firestorm that some analysts believe will damage critical underpinnings of Charlie Baker’s gubernatorial candidacy in Massachusetts,” the Boston Globe reports.

“Many of the state and national Republican resources that would have been showered on Baker’s race for governor — in terms of fund-raising, strategists, and manpower — will now be directed at Brown’s challenge to Senator Jeanne Shaheen.”

“No one in either party today brings the level of missionary zeal to the task that Rand Paul does…. Spend five minutes with Paul and it’s clear he doesn’t care what you look like or where you’re from. He’s beating the bushes for anyone who prizes liberty…. He’s having fun too. And that’s contagious.”

— Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), writing for Time magazine.

“Would you call and tell my mom?”

— Jeb Bush, quoted by Politico, in a reference to his mother Barbara Bush’s comments that there have been enough Bushes in the White House.

A new Quinnipiac poll in Colorado finds Sen. Mark Udall (D) barely edging challenger Cory Gardner (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 45% to 44%.

Colorado voters are divided 42% to 42% in their approval of the job Udall is doing as a U.S. Senator and say by 46% to 40% he does not deserve to be reelected.