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.
* It’s primary day in Florida, Vermont, Oklahoma, Arizona, and Alaska. Among the statewide races to keep an eye on, other than the Florida contests, are the five-way Democratic gubernatorial primary in Vermont, the McCain-Hayworth contest in Arizona, and the Republican Senate primary in Alaska.
* Just a week after Rep. Joe Sestak’s (D) Senate campaign in Pennsylvania won an endorsement from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I), the retired three-star Navy admiral won the support this week of former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.).
* Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D) new ad in Nevada reminds voters that Sharron Angle (R) has opposed an effort to save school teachers’ jobs and has demanded that the government shut down the Department of Education. It’s part of the “too extreme” message.
* The Arkansas AFL-CIO has announced that it will not endorse a candidate in the state’s U.S. Senate race. Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D) could no doubt use the help, but her hostility towards labor made the union’s announcement easy to predict.
* In Louisiana, a poll conducted by WWL-TV and other local stations shows Sen. David Vitter (R) leading Rep. Charlie Melancon (D), 48% to 36%.
* The GOP primary in Florida 24th congressional district is getting so vicious, the chairman of the NRCC said this week, “It makes me sick to my stomach.”
* In West Virginia’s Senate race, Gov. Joe Manchin (D) appears to be off to a good start, leading John Raese (R) in one recent poll, 54% to 32%.
* In New York, gubernatorial hopeful Carl Paladino (R) has suggested transforming state prisons into dormitories for welfare recipients, where low-income Americans would be trained in, among other things, “personal hygiene.”
