The Senate races… ups and downs.

Nebraska.  It is startling, but there it is.  Bob Kerrey’s initial positive internal polls showing him closing in on Deb Fischer has been corroborated by other polls and by a “Crossroads” GOP shadow organization ad buy dump.  Given that this is the state that the state Republicans held a kind of “Don’t blame me.  I voted for McGovern” esque pride in the fact that it was the last state visited by President Clinton — and in his second term — the current campaign tour of Clinton doesn’t do too much good.
So we get this instead.  Chuck Hagel Endorses Bob Kerrey.
Kerrey may be the least frustrating of the “Red to Purple State” running on “bridge party lines” campaigners.  He has done a bit of “Brutal Truth telling” campaign in the mode of “Nothing Left to Lose” — coming out for gay marriage and lecturing state voters on Global Warming.  And his political calculus may be something in the line of assuming he’ll be out after one term.  If I had to choose between Kerrey beating tea party Fischer or … oh, North Dakota’s (oil drenched) Heidi Heitkamp picking off old garden variety Republican Rick Berg… I’d choose Kerrey.
The Weekly Standard chimes in with a reminder.  He’ll be backing Reid for Senate leader.  Well, yeah, that’s always the trump card in pushing for a wide partisan skewed voting electorate.

Missouri, for instance.  The group’s ad is less than a ringing endorsement: It focuses on winning Senate control and defeating incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), and asks voters who “don’t agree with everything he says” to back Akin anyway.  You know… that thing he said about Rape.

Minnesota.  The great thing about the Internet is you can look over and see commenters from deluded true believers.
 Sen Klobuchar is embroiled in the billion dollar Ponzi schemer Tom Petters mess andKurt Bills is getting a lot of TV interviews about it. Fingers crossed, MN is now in play
I take it this random Internet commenter read the Dick Morris “Romney landslide” piece.
Or maybe… just maybe it’s more like this.

Mississippi.  Letter to the Editor promoting Albert Gore for Senate.
Which brings me to what I like best about Mr. Gore: His independence. No lobbyist, no party insider, no media figure will be able to sway Mr. Gore from doing what is best for our state.
And from the Wicker Campaign we get this:
According to a Twitter from United States Senator Roger Wicker, “To understand the world your must first understand a place like Mississippi.” After initiating that message he wished Nobel Laureate William Faulkner a Happy Birthday.
Here’s the totality of the campaign news.   Good to finally see Albert Gore on the same platform as Roger Wicker.  Pity to the Reform candidate, who gets the “Also running” after the Republican, Democratic, and Constitution candidates.

California.  Elizabeth Emken does the “splice together a youtube debate” thingy with Feinstein.
I really would like to see sillier things coming out of Feinstein’s mouth with these things.

Delaware.  I could care less about anything else in this story (for the conservative blog/newssite that’d be pro-Wade), but this sentence…
Kevin Wade’s rebuttal, “The Senator is no parasite,” drew the loudest applause of the evening.
Beyond that, the story is curious on its emphasis on seat placement.

 Michigan.  Pete Hoekstra (Pre Tea Republican) calls a few countries stupid for investing in clean energy.

New Jersey.  The Daily Caller reported Thursday that two prostitutes from the Dominican Republic have alleged that Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) paid them for sex this year. The two women claim that Menendez agreed to pay them $500 for sex acts while the senator was visiting the Caribbean island this year – however, they allege that Menendez only paid them $100 each.
The real scandal here would be the underpayment, of course.

New Mexico.  I have nothing snarky to say about it, but it is interesting politics… which way the Navajo Nation is splitting.

North Dakota.  The former president told a packed house at the Fargo Civic Center Monday that the Coen brothers flick was a favorite cult film on Air Force One during his second term in office.
Just the kind of pandering you expect from political pros like Clinton.

West Virginia.  Will Joe Manchin vote for Barack Obama?  Apparently not.  Such a story espouses hope in the Republican blogosphere and… hm.  Seeing that the Democrats are expected to hold onto the Senate, better wait for 2014.

Wisconsin.  “one happens to be straight and one happens to be a lesbian.”

Maine.  It is rare when the Democratic spoiler potential is the nominated Democrat.

Tennessee.  Mark Clayton’s got his supporters!  Bonnie Hudgens, 73, was one of the supporters on hand. If nothing else, she said, Clayton has the support of many in the Whites Creek neighborhood.
“He’s a good human being, and it really made me angry how they said he was with a hate group,” she said. “We don’t like the way he was treated. That’s why we’re all sticking with him.”
I hate it when that happens.
 The crowd began to thin after a few people finished their meals and headed toward the door. One supporter lingered to thank Clayton for the invitation.
Considering that it started with a dozen people, “thinning” seems an oddly forced word.

Utah.  The Democratic candidate accidentally called everyone at 6 in the morning.  That dooms him even further.

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