Orange to Blue roundup, 9/26/2012

What's new in the Orange to Blue races? Keep reading.

Speaker Pelosi Project:

CA-07: In yesterday's debate between Dr. Ami Bera and incumbent Rep. Dan Lungren, the Republican couldn't distance himself from Mitt Romney far enough or fast enough.

I think he made a major mistake in calling people victims, saying that they want to be victims. I do think he pointed that there are approximately 47, 49 percent of the people who don't pay income taxes at the present time. But there are different categories of folks. Some don't because they're retired, they paid all their lives! I wouldn't call them trying to be victimized. Others because they have a low income, don't qualify for tax ' paying taxes at the federal level. [...]

I'm not like him! Really! Good luck with that, Lungren.

FL-26: Joe Garcia's primary opponent, Justin Lamar Sternad, has finally spilled the beans, telling the FBI that yes, Rep. David Rivera, the most inept crook Congress, actually ran his campaign.

NH-01: [Laura Clawson] The NRCC hasn't reserved any airtime to advertise for Frank Guinta. Orange to Blue candidate Carol Shea-Porter has led in recent polls, but not by so much you would expect the NRCC to be giving up on Guinta. The NRCC does have a lot of airtime reserved for Charlie Bass in the second district and could shift some of it to Guinta. But this is a hopeful sign for Shea-Porter.

NH-02: [Laura Clawson] A Charlie Bass staffer tracking Orange to Blue candidate Annie Kuster got a little aggressive over the weekend and, predictably, Republicans are trying to make hay of how Kuster responded. According to Kuster, "after the Bass staff member repeatedly interrupted a private conversation I was having and nearly hit me in the face with his video camera, I briefly took the camera from him and asked one of my supporters to return it moments later. The final thirty seconds of this episode were included in a video that the Bass campaign anonymously leaked to a Republican blog." Republican bloggers would also like us to be outraged that Kuster then said "F him." Really, she said "F," not the full word, and that's supposed to show that she's crude.

Upgrade the Senate:

To set the scene:

Along with recent missteps by presidential nominee Mitt Romney, the erosion of Republican prospects in the Senate has contributed to a grim feeling among party activists that an election year that once held out the possibility of regaining full control of the government could be souring on them.

CT-Sen: In case you missed it, Chris Murphy has widened his lead against Linda McMahon by two points, according to PPP. In last month's poll, he led 48-44. In the intervening month, McMahon has dropped two points, giving Murphy the edge 48-42. That suggests McMahon topped out last month.

OH-Sen: Sen. Sherrod Brown is flattening Josh Mandel in the Quinnipiac swing state poll on behalf of CBS/NYT. Ten points. Enough said.

WI-Sen: Karl Rove really doesn't want to lose this seat. Crossroads GPS has just sunk $1.2 million in the race against Tammy Baldwin. But hell, what's a better waste of Rove's money than trying to salvage Tommy Thompson's floundering campaign.

Daily Kos for Marriage Equality:

Maryland: New polling from Gonzales Research & Marketing Strategies has marriage equality winning, 51-43 with six percent undecided. That's encouraging, but the usual caveat that the issue polls better than it performs on the actual ballot is in order.

Minnesotsa: The forces of evil, in this case Minnesota for Marriage, have raised $1.2 million in their committee to bigotry in the state. The Minnesota Catholic Conference accounts for half of that total, and another $350,00 came from a wealthy individual donor and the Minnesota Family Council, so their success in fundraising is by no means a signal of great grassroots support for their anti-marriage agenda.The forces for good, on the other hand (in this case Minnesotans United for All Families) have reported raising more than $8 million in this election cycle.