MONDAY’S CAMPAIGN ROUND-UP….Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers.
* In a surprise development, RNC Chairman Michael Steele appeared on a radio program last week, and seemed to agree with a radio talk-show host who blasted House GOP leaders John Boehner and Roy Blunt. With the latter running for the Senate next year in Missouri, the remarks are likely to be widely circulated.
* Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) appears to be struggling badly in his re-election bid in Nevada next year. The latest Mason-Dixon poll shows Reid trailing both real estate lawyer Danny Tarkanian and state GOP Chairwoman Sue Lowden in hypothetical match-ups.
* And speaking of Nevada, if scandal-plagued Gov. Jim Gibbons (R) seeks re-election, he’ll likely lose badly in a GOP primary.
* If California, former eBay CEO Meg Whitman is moving forward with her Republican gubernatorial campaign, but she’s declining invitations to debate her GOP primary rivals. Her refusals are raising questions about Whitman’s readiness for prime time.
* In New York, a new Siena Poll shows Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s (D) re-election prospects looking shaky, in part because of weak name i.d. (Gillibrand was appointed to the Senate seat after Hillary Clinton became Secretary of State). The poll found 24% of New Yorkers who said Gillibrand deserves to win a full term next year, 35% who prefer someone else, and 41% who are unsure.
* And in Georgia, the latest Rasmussen poll shows former Gov. Roy Barnes leading the 2010 Democratic gubernatorial primary, well out in front of state Attorney General Thurbert Baker.
