West Virginia U.S. Senate candidate John Raese (R) compared no smoking laws to one of Adolf Hitler’s most notorious policies.

Said Raese: “I don’t want government telling me what I can do and what I can’t do because I’m an American. But in Monongalia County you can’t smoke a cigarette, you can’t smoke a cigar, you can’t do anything… I have to put a huge sticker on my buildings to say this is a smoke free environment. This is brought to you by the government of Monongalia County. OK? Remember Hitler used to put Star of David on everybody’s lapel, remember that? Same thing.”

[Read more…]

Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) has been “quietly making it official” that he’ll seek re-election in 2014, the Arkansas Times reports.

A letter to friends which was described as a “somewhat rambling” eventually “got around to the point that he’d definitely be running in 2014. It noted that there’d been rumors that he would not run, that he might run for governor, that he might once have been interested in the presidency of the University of Arkansas. He said those rumors weren’t true, that his family was happy at their home in Little Rock and that he looked forward to another race.”

“The debt number is alarming and gives you great concern, of course, because we’re moving toward the Greek-type numbers. My guess is, by the way, at the Democratic convention, he will not be appearing in front of Greek columns like in Denver. He won’t want to remind people of Greece.”

— Mitt Romney, in an interview on Fox News.

A new Quinnipiac poll shows President Obama holds a thin 46% to 42% lead nationally over Mitt
Romney in the presidential race.

Said pollster Peter Brown :”Obama has a big lead among women and is seen as the candidate most
in tune with their needs. He is seen as more in touch with average Americans. Republican
Romney seems to hold an edge on the economy – the top issue of the campaign – and holds his
own against the incumbent on being a strong leader. His opening is that by 56% to 38%
voters disapprove of the president’s handling of the economy.”

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) told the CBS affiliate in Dallas that he’s going to give the “appropriate consideration” to running for re-election as governor in 2014 and said he was leaning toward running for president again in 2016.

Said Perry: “2016 is way down the road, but I’ll assure you one thing, if I decide to run for the presidency in 2016, I’ll be way in before the summer of 2016; 2015, even.”

A new Dartmouth College poll in New Hampshire finds Mitt Romney edges President Obama in a general election match up, 44% to 42%.

A new CNN survey of Republican voter preferences for Mitt Romney’s vice presidential running mate finds Condoleeza Rice with 26% support, ahead of Rick Santorum at 21%, Marco Rubio at 14%, Chris Christie at 14%, and Paul Ryan at 8%.

Dan Amira: “Rice hasn’t been considered a very plausible contender in the Mitt Romney veepstakes so far, and perhaps with good reason. Rice was a central figure in the Bush administration, particularly in terms of homeland security and foreign policy, which are most prominently defined by the worst terrorist attack in American history and a widely unpopular war, respectively. And if the Obama campaign decides to portray a potential Romney presidency as a retread of the Bush years, putting one of Bush’s closest advisers on the ticket would be a big help.”

While recent polls may disagree on whether President Obama or Mitt Romney is leading, Mark Blumenthal notes they all show both candidates getting an average of 88% to 90% support from members of their own parties.

John Sides:
“Remember when Obama was going to lose the support of all those Democrats dissatisfied with his weak-kneed compromises? And remember how Romney was going to struggle to win over the base because, like, ‘Anybody but Romney’ was 75% of the GOP? Well, here it is only April, and the bases are basically unified.”

“I mean, it’s going to be the dirtiest campaign you’ve ever seen. I would say: Hide the children and check the plumbing because you’re going to have to shower several times a day.”

— Charles Krauthammer, in an interview on Fox News.

[Read more…]

Despite a dismal 36% approval rating, a new Public Policy Polling survey finds Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) continues to lead all of his potential Republican opponents by double digits.

Nelson leads Connie Mack (R) 47% to 37%, tops Mike McCalister (R) 47% to 35% and beat George LeMieux (R) 48% to 34%.

Most interesting: An astounding 33% of voters have no opinion about Nelson even after 12 years in the Senate.

A new Democracy Corps survey in the 56 most-competitive Republican held congressional districts finds President Obama now edging Mitt Romney, 48% to 47%. In December, Obama trailed by seven points.

Key finding: “Democrats are winning the image battle, up and down the ticket. While half of the voters in these districts register cool feelings toward the Republican Party and Republican Congress, the Democratic Party has enjoyed an 8-point bump in favorability since September 2011, and Democrats in Congress have seen a 7-point rise.”

Also interesting: “The Ryan budget is in trouble. Just 41% support it in these Republican districts with no description other than the fact that it cuts spending. When described, including using Ryan’s own language, support collapses to 34%.”

A new Dan Jones & Associates poll of Utah Republican state delegates shows Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) is on the cusp winning 60% at this weekend’s state Republican Party Convention, and thus winning his record-setting seventh nomination.

It Hatch gets 60% at the convention, he’ll avoid a June 26 Republican primary against Dan Liljenquist (R).