THURSDAY’S CAMPAIGN ROUND-UP…. Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t necessarily generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:
* Are pollsters ignoring cell-phone-only Americans, who are more likely to be younger and Democratic? The Pew Research Center suggests that’s the case, and Mark Blumenthal ponders the evidence.
* Dems had high hopes about the open U.S. Senate race in Missouri, but with polls showing Rep. Roy Blunt (R) with stubborn leads, it looks like the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is scaling back its investments. The DSCC is, however, boosting its role in Nevada.
* And with that in mind, in Nevada’s U.S. Senate race, the polls don’t offer much guidance. A new Suffolk University poll shows Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) leading Sharron Angle (R) by three, 46% to 43%, while Mason-Dixon shows Angle up by two, 47% to 45%.
* Questions of ideology aside, new evidence suggests extremist Senate candidate Joe Miller (R) in Alaska has a serious integrity problem. No wonder he refuses to answer questions about his background.
* In Florida’s gubernatorial race, the latest survey from Public Policy Polling survey shows Alex Sink (D) leading Rick Scott (R), 46% to 41%.
* In Connecticut’s U.S. Senate race, Quinnipiac had showed a tightening race, but its new numbers show Richard Blumenthal (D) leading Linda McMahon (R), 54% to 43%.
* In the state of Washington, a new Time/CNN poll shows incumbent Sen. Patty Murray (D) leading Dino Rossi (R) by eight, 51% to 43%.
* In Wisconsin, the new Time/CNN poll shows Ron Johnson (R) leading Sen. Russ Feingold (D), 44% to 52%, and Scott Walker (R) leading Tom Barrett (D) in the gubernatorial race, 52% to 44%.
* In West Virginia’s U.S. Senate race, the new Time/CNN poll shows Gov. Joe Manchin (D) and John Raese (R) tied at 44% each.
* In Delaware’s U.S. Senate race, Time/CNN poll shows Chris Coons (D) leading Christine O’Donnell (R), 57% to 38%, while a new Monmouth University poll shows Coons up by the identical margin.
* In related news, Rep. Mike Castle, who lost to O’Donnell in a GOP primary, has announced he won’t make an endorsement in the race.
* And in New Hampshire, a couple of controversies are threatening leading Republican candidates. In the U.S. Senate race, the saga of Kelly Ayotte’s politicized emails continues, this time with evidence that Ayotte may have politicized a death penalty case involving a murdered police officer. And in a U.S. House race, former Rep. Charlie Bass (R), hoping to make a comeback, appears to have helped a company with the Bush administration shortly after buying stock in the same company.
