TUESDAY’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.
* West Virginia holds its primary elections today, and there will be considerable attention focused on Rep. Alan Mollohan (D), who’s facing a tough primary challenge.
* Slipping in the polls with only a week to go before the primary, Sen. Arlen Specter (D) is unveiling a new television ad in Pennsylvania, touting his support from President Obama.
* And speaking of Pennsylvania’s Democratic Senate primary, Rasmussen shows former Rep. Pat Toomey (R) leading both Democratic candidates, but he fares much better against the incumbent. Toomey leads Specter in a general election match-up by 12, while leading Rep. Joe Sestak (D) by 2.
* A shadowy group called Americans for Job Security is spending more than $1 million to attack Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter in his Democratic primary against Sen. Blanche Lincoln. And what is Americans for Job Security? No one seems to know, though it’s “headquarters” points to a P.O. box in a D.C. suburb. Greg Sargent noted that it’s “remarkable that this group could help decide who represents the state of Arkansas in the upper chamber — even though we know nothing about who’s funding it, why, and who the group even supports.”
* In California, Meg Whitman’s lead in the Republican gubernatorial primary has all but disappeared. A new SurveyUSA poll shows the former eBay CEO leading state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner by just two points, 39% to 37%. Last month, she led by 22.
* Why do so many Dems feel like they have a shot at beating Sen. Richard Burr (R) in North Carolina this year? Because of polls like this one — a new survey from Public Policy Polling shows both of the remaining Democratic candidates (Elaine Marshall and Cal Cunningham) within single digits of the incumbent.
* Of all the candidates to mull a comeback, disgraced former Rep. Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.) seems especially misguided.
