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A new poll of likely voters conducted for Townhall by Gravis Marketing reveals that Louisiana's US Senate race is statistically deadlocked, with support for incumbent Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu mired in the low-to-mid 40's. In a three-way contest among the top contenders, Landrieu attracts 43 percent support, with Republicans Rep. Bill Cassidy and Col. Rob Manness combining for 44 percent: In the likely runoff match-up (see below) between Landrieu and Cassidy, the candidates are separated by two-tenths of a percentage point. Neck and neck: Within the still-sizable cohort (10 percent) of undecided voters, nearly two-thirds identify as political "independents" who...

Another surprising Quinnipiac poll out this morning puts Republican Bob Beauprez up 10 points over Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper among likely voters, 50 percent to 40 percent. The Democratic incumbent is badly underwater in the Q poll, viewed unfavorably by 51 percent and favorably by 43 percent. Beauprez, a former congressman, is viewed positively by 49 percent and negatively by 31 percent. Beauprez leads by 13 among independents, 50-37. And he’s neck-and-neck with Hickenlooper among women, edging him out 47-46, while carrying men by 20 points, 54-34. No one in the game really believes that Beauprez is ahead by double...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) was selected today to be the next chairman of the Senate Steering Committee, a caucus of conservative senators. Senator Lee will assume the post at the start of the 114th Congress in January. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) served as chairman for the past two years. “Mike Lee is a knowledgeable and principled movement conservative, and he has done a terrific job as vice chairman of the Steering Committee this Congress,” said Sen. Toomey. “I’m pleased to hand the gavel to him. I look forward to continuing to work with Mike, and my...

For the past several weeks, a group calling itself the "NRSC" has been inundating my inbox, warning that Obama was about to "grant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants." I could combat this by donating money to ensure the Republicans win control of the Senate. Apparently, this "NRSC" is the National Republican Senatorial Committee, a pillar of the same GOP establishment that previously spent that past year and a half trying to pass amnesty under the guise of "comprehensive immigration reform." I must have a new email filter that turns even Republicans in Washington into conservatives. In the months following...

Congress just returned from a five week break on Sept. 8 and they are now ready to pack up again. The House and Senate are poised to potentially wrap up business this week, lawmakers say, and if they do, they’ll leave town to campaign and won’t return until after the November election. The Senate was initially scheduled to be in session until Sept. 23 while the House was supposed to be in for business until Oct. 2. Nothing has been publicly announced, but congressional leaders have sent the word out to lawmakers that they can start packing for a nearly...

Senate Republicans on Tuesday agreed to transfer $3 million in personal campaign funds to the National Republican Senatorial Committee in their bid to capture the Senate majority this November, sources confirmed. With control of the Senate on the line and Democrats and their allies pouring millions more into competitive contests than the Republicans and their supporters, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., made an impassioned plea to his conference during Tuesday’s weekly caucus lunch. Sources said McConnell, himself embroiled in a tough re-election contest, told members that they have a historic opportunity to govern and need to do their part....

Republican Joni Ernst has pulled ahead of Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley in the Iowa Senate race, according to a new poll that points to a heated battle for votes in the final stretch. The Quinnipiac University survey showed Ernst, a state senator, leading Braley by 6 points, 50-44 percent among likely voters. The poll also showed her leading among independents, a key voting bloc. The results are a break from earlier polling which for months has shown Braley leading or tied with his GOP rival. Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University poll, said in a statement put out...

For months, the GOP consulting class has been relentlessly and primarily beating the ObamaCare drum despite calls from the grassroots and news outlets, most especially Breitbart News that the ground was shifting and it was time to broaden the message. Clearly immigration, foreign policy and the economy have been increasingly foremost in the minds of voters, including the GOP base, as we head on toward November. Now, finally, the Republican establishment and consulting class appears to be getting the message - and getting their own messaging right in the process. Polls show that voters don't see the law as a...

All things being equal, Republicans should feel reasonably good about winning the Senate in seven weeks. They currently hold a polling lead in six Democratic-held seats. They are within five points in another four seats, and mid-September polling often underestimates the position of the ultimate victor. Meanwhile, the two seats that were long thought to be vulnerable -- Georgia and Kentucky -- look reasonably firm for them. Pat Roberts But this is the Republican party we are talking about, and all else is not equal. Because of Kansas. A new poll by Democratic polling outfit Public Policy Polling puts incumbent...

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is breaking with conservative Sens. Ted Cruz and Mike Lee over the legislative prospects for the post-election lame duck congressional session. While Cruz (R-Texas) and Lee (R-Utah) have been raising alarm surrounding any significant legislation moving through Congress during the lame duck, McConnell told reporters on Tuesday that he had little fear that controversial legislation would be jammed through by senators and representatives that just lost their seats. “There’s almost no likelihood that the House will become Democratic. So I am personally not fearful that bad things will happen to the country during the lame...

Hat tip to our friend Mike Flynn of Breitbart for his column noting that top political odds maker Nate Silver has lowered his forecast for a GOP takeover of the Senate. Two weeks ago, noted Flynn, Silver estimated the GOP had a 64% chance of winning a Senate majority. On Tuesday, Silver lowered his estimate to 55%. The landscape still favors the GOP, says Flynn, but the trend-lines are ominous. As Mike Flynn and others, including CHQ Chairman Richard A. Viguerie, have noted “the GOP could take the majority by simply winning Senate races in states carried by Mitt Romney.”...

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) criticized Republicans who disagree with his positions on Tuesday, telling members of the International Franchise Association, “I have a few knuckleheads in my conference.” The jibe came in the midst of remarks on the dangers of a politicized National Labor Relations Board with the power to exercise the will of whichever party controls the Oval Office at a given time. Reforming President Barack Obama’s NLRB has been a top Republican priority for some time. From the Senate floor Tuesday, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said that a Republican-controlled Senate could make that goal a reality....

Democrats are now (very slightly) favored to hold the Senate majority on Nov. 4, according to Election Lab, The Post's statistical model of the 2014 midterm elections. Election Lab puts Democrats' chances of retaining their majority at 51 percent — a huge change from even a few months ago, when the model predicted that Republicans had a better than 80 percent chance of winning the six seats they need to take control. (Worth noting: When the model showed Republicans as overwhelming favorites, our model builders — led by George Washington University's John Sides — warned that the model could and...

I’m not Barack Obama. I disagree with him on guns, coal and the EPA.” No. That sentence was not uttered by a right-wing, tea-party, Republican. It was uttered by a Democrat in Kentucky. Barack Obama is, apparently, so politically toxic that moderate Democrats are not content with merely distancing themselves from him; they are now actively campaigning against the Democrat who lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. In fact, the ad is downright convincing… Frank Underwood would be proud: Alright. So, Democrat Alison Grimes is no fan of team Obama. Got it. Of course, this kinda raises a few questions, doesn’t...

Independent Greg Orman has opened up a lead in his effort to unseat Republican Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts, according to a new poll from Democratic firm Public Policy Polling. Orman leads Roberts 41-34, with Democrat Chad Taylor — who announced plans to end his campaign earlier this month — capturing 6 percent of the vote. Libertarian Randall Batson earned 4 percent support in the poll, which was first provided to the Huffington Post. The automated phone and online survey of 1,328 likely voters was taken between Sept. 11 and Sept. 14. The margin of error is plus-or-minus 2.7 percentage points....

In a video first released to Breitbart on Tuesday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) announced his effort to combat President Barack Obama’s potential executive amnesty action, which could come following November’s midterm elections. Viewers are encouraged to visit StopObamasAmnesty.com to sign a petition. “Sen. Ted Cruz is leading the fight to secure the border,” the video explained. “Stop Obama’s amnesty and celebrate legal immigration. But he needs your help to hold Obama and Senate Democrats accountable.” The amnesty effort from Obama would likely include an expansion of his so-called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and apply it to an...

Emerging from a GOP leadership meeting Monday evening, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy signaled that, after the midterm elections, there’s a decent chance the House holds a new vote authorizing military force in the Middle East. Asked during an impromptu hallway interview with a gaggle of reporters whether the House would be working on a new Authorization for Use of Military Force to combat Islamic State terrorists, McCarthy said that “after November,” he thought there would be an “opportunity” to at least debate an AUMF. “I know a lot of members would want start to have that debate, or at least...

As the November elections approach, we’ve heard nothing but deafening silence from the GOP as to why the electorate should put Congress in its hands. Now, I have nothing against the ages-old stratagem of not interrupting an enemy in the process of making enormous mistakes. But, we’re not simply considering a ‘my team good’ vs. ‘their team bad’ situation, as if the outcome was nothing more than a sporting event to be remembered until the next big game. Some fundamental American freedoms have been under assault for decades, and Obama and his party have accelerated the trend. Where is the...

Of all the malfeasant scandals the Clintons have committed, from lying under oath, to Whitewater to the Marc Rich pardon, little compares to the politically craven 1999 clemencies to 16 unrepentant terrorists of the Puerto Rican terrorist group FALN (Armed Forces for National Liberation). Fred DuVal was the co-chair of President Clinton’s White House Interagency Group of Puerto Rico, one of the groups that actively promoted clemency for terrorists. frauncestavernbombingFrom 1974 to 1983, the FALN waged a merciless, bloody war against the United States, attacking civilians mainly in Chicago and New York. On January 24, 1975, the FALN’s most deadly...

Remember how the National Republican Senatorial Committee wanted everyone to know just how terrible the Senate Conservatives Fund is? Remember how NRSC consultants took to op-ed pages, pushed reporters, and tweeted about the lavish and extravagant expenses of SCF? Remember how when a candidate got endorsed by SCF, everyone knew immediately NRSC would support the opposite candidate out of spite? (See e.g. Ben Sasse v. Shane Osborn) Remember how the NRSC, Chamber of Commerce, and other establishment groups poured tons of money into primaries to stop SCF gains and those of other outside groups? Well, NRSC spent so much money...