Hotline Sort: An Extra Seat At The Table
Welcome back to Hotline Sort. Yet another poll shows President Obama's favorability sliding while Gary Johnson snags a spot in Thursday's debate and Jamie Radtke wonders why she can't participate in one between Kaine and Allen. Meanwhile, early voting kicks off in West Virginia, Feinstein will give to her own campaign and Twitter begins to sell political advertising. Here's today's rundown:
10) Make room for one more: Gary Johnson will take part in Thursday's Fox News debate in Orlando because he cracked 1 percent in the latest five national polls in which he was included.
9) Mitt Romney announced on Tuesday that he was forming a Congressional team to recruit party leaders to join his campaign led by Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.
8) The first debate in the heavyweight matchup between firmer Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine and former Sen. George Allen is set for Dec. 7 in Richmond. But Republican candidate Jamie Radtke isn't happy about the criteria used to select participants. "The AP and VCCA is using its Mainstream Media power to shut down conservative Virginians, saying: We will pick your Senate candidates," she said Tuesday, urging supporters to contact the debate's organizers.
7) Twitter is beginning to sell political advertising, Politico's Ben Smith reports. A source told Smith that Romney and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee are among the early advertisers.
6) Florida Gov. Rick Scott's disapproval rating is at 50 percent according to a new Quinnipiac survey. Just 37 percent of Sunshine State voters approve of the job Scott is doing. Scott's approval rating has climbed from 29 percent in a May survey and 35 percent in August. Asked if they like Scott as a person, voters are split, with 37 percent saying they do and 37 percent saying they don't like him. That's also an improvement from August when 45 percent said they didn't like him and 34 percent said they did.
5) Could Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Ill., soon be getting a GOP challenger? Jason Plummer, who was the GOP's nominee last year for lieutenant governor, will be in DC for a conference and political meetings according to a GOP source, as he weighs a challenge to the longtime Democrat, who the National Republican Congressional Committee believes could be vulnerable in redistricting, and has already targeted him with an ad earlier this year.
4) The St. Louis Beacon reports that an aide to Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said the senator plans to make an effort to join President Obama during his Oct. 4 visit to St. Louis, and reports to the contrary are inaccurate.
3) The latest sign that a fraud case involving a Democratic campaign treasurer is creating turbulence in California: Politico reports Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., will put $5 million of her own money into her campaign.
2) Early voting kicks off Wednesday in West Virginia, where a tightening race between acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin and businessman Bill Maloney heads down the homestretch. Early voting ends on Oct. 1, in advance of the Oct. 4 election. Turnout is expected to be low in several areas.
The Charleston Daily Mail points out that if Maloney pulls off the upset, could have as little as about a week, to transition from the campaign trail to the Governor's Office, depending on how fast it takes the Secretary of State's Office to certify election results.
1) Yet another new poll shows President Obama's favorability falling, particularly among independents -- a troubling sign for his re-election campaign. This poll, from ABC News/Washington Post, pegs the percentage of Americans who view Obama favorably at 47 percent, just one percentage point higher than his unfavorable rating. But Texas Gov. Rick Perry (23 percent favorable/31 percent unfavorable) and Romney (33 percent favorable/31 percent unfavorable) don't fare much better. The news organizations promise us a weekly look at this measure through the campaign, so the trends will be quite telling.
--Jessica Taylor and Steven Shepard contributed to this post
Join the Discussion
The National Journal Group has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate.
Comments powered by Disqus