Murkowski Collecting Lawyers     Permalink

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) is leaving no stone unturned in her role as an incumbent underdog write-in candidate in Alaska. She has a slogan ("Fill it in, write it in") to remind voters they have to fill in the bubble as well as writing in her name. She is distributing tens of thousands of bracelets with her name spelled correctly: M-U-R-K-O-W-S-K-I. And most important, she is hiring lawyers for hand-to-hand combat over each ballot in the event of a close election. Shades of Franken vs. Coleman in Minnesota.

One possible complication for her is that the head of the Alaska Division of Elections has said that while "Lisa" would not count as a vote for her, "Lisa M." would count because Alaska law says the "intent of the voter" is primary. However, if the Republicans can find a Lisa Murphy or Lisa Montgomery or Lisa MacDonald to register as a write-in candidate, then "Lisa M." would not be good enough and votes for "Lisa M." would be discarded. You can imagine the legal fighting that will ensue if another Lisa M. registers as a write-in but does not campaign.

Obama Enters Attack Mode     Permalink

After remaining aloof for months, President Obama has finally decided to become more partisan and is starting to attack Republicans and their allies. In particular, he is going after the Chamber of Commerce, which is spending tens of millions of dollars attacking Democrats. There are widespread reports that the Chamber is using funds obtained from foreign corporations (including corporations controlled by foreign governments) to pay for ads against Democrats. The use of such funds is clearly illegal. The Chamber claims that it segregates foreign money from domestic money but money is fungible, of course. Even if the Chamber used its foreign funds for paying, say, the salaries of secretaries (which is legal), that would free up domestic funds for attack ads. Up until now, Obama has refrained from attacking Republicans and their allies, but apparently the scale of the looming disaster is begining to dawn on him and he is starting to get serious about fighting back.

GOP Women in California Use Different Tactics     Permalink

California has two top races in which female former top corporate executives are battling for office. Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman (R) is facing off against former California governor Jerry Brown (D) for the governor's mansion. Former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina (R) is up against Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) in the Senate race. The two women challengers are employing very different strategies. Whitman is running as a moderate and claiming she is a better manager than Brown. Fiorina is running as an unabashed conservative and claiming Boxer is too liberal. However, polls show both of them currently trailing.

Today's Polls: GA NC OK     Permalink

New Senate Polls

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