FRIDAY’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:
* President Obama’s travel schedule has added a few more campaign stops. In the final weekend of the election cycle, the president will hold rallies in Philadelphia, Bridgeport, Chicago, and Cleveland.
* In Ohio, the latest Time/CNN poll shows incumbent Gov. Ted Strickland (D) actually leading John Kasich (R), 48% to 47%. No other poll in recent weeks shows Kasich trailing, so take it with a grain of salt. The same poll shows Rob Portman leading Ohio’s U.S. Senate race by 15 points.
* Florida’s gubernatorial race couldn’t be much closer, with a new Sunshine State News Poll showing Alex Sink (D) and Rick Scott (R) tied at 45% each.
* Speaking of competitive gubernatorial races, the race to replace Gov. Ed Rendell (D) in Pennsylvania looked like a blowout up until very recently, and now a new Quinnipiac poll shows Tom Corbett’s (R) lead over Dan Onorato (D) shrinking to just five points, 49% to 44%.
* In Nevada, extremist Senate candidate Sharron Angle (R) has taken to literally shushing reporters who ask questions she doesn’t like.
* In a reminder of why GOP candidates are poised to do very well despite the Republican National Committee, the national party wrote a $15,000 check to Guam recently, hoping to boost a Republican candidate running in the island territory’s gubernatorial election.
* In Connecticut’s U.S. Senate race, Richard Blumenthal (D) appears to be pulling away, with a new Suffolk University poll showing him leading Linda McMahon (R), 57% to 39%.
* In Arkansas, the latest Time/CNN poll shows incumbent Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D) trailing John Boozman (R), 55% to 41%, in one of the year’s easiest GOP pick-ups. The same poll, however, also shows incumbent Gov. Mike Beebe (D) cruising to re-election, despite the state’s shift to the sharp right.
* In Illinois’ gubernatorial race, a new survey from Public Policy Polling shows Bill Brady (R) narrowly leading Gov. Pat Quinn (D), 42% to 41%.
* And in New York’s gubernatorial race, the latest Marist poll shows Andrew Cuomo (D) with a big lead over Carl Paladino (R), 60% to 37%.
