THURSDAY’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.
* Republican leaders, most notably John McCain, have reportedly been reaching out to Rep. Chris Carney (D-Pa.) about switching parties. Carney issued a statement late yesterday, saying, “I appreciate the Republican Party’s outreach, but I have no plans to change parties.”
* In related news, Rep. Parker Griffith of Alabama switched parties this week, but only after commissioning a general-election poll in his district.
* He’s not up for re-election until 2012, but Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) has not done much to improve his stature this year. CNN’s latest national poll found that Lieberman’s favorable rating has dropped 9 points over the last few weeks. The biggest decline came among self-identified independents.
* Several top Republicans, including Karl Rove, have been trying to recruit Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) to run in next year’s Senate race in New York, but the Long Island lawmaker has said he’s not inclined to try. “All I’ve told them is that over the holidays I’ll discuss it with my family, but I don’t see any reason to change my mind,” King said.
* In one of the bigger surprises of the 2006 cycle, Sen. Jim Webb (D) defeated incumbent Sen. George Allen (R) in Virginia, thanks at least in part to Allen’s infamous “macaca” slur. Allen conceded this week that he’s pondering a rematch in 2012.
