Senate Race Polls and Links as Democrats consider going Nuclear

http://www.dcpoliticalreport.com/2002/polls02.htm ^ | 10-11-02 | patriciaruth

[patriciaruth]

"Work as if everything depends on you; pray as if everything depends on God."

The Iraq debate is over. Democrats who are up for reelection in close Senate races voted for the Iraq resolution with the exception of Paul Wellstone (D-WI). Now with over three weeks left, they are going to hit hard on the economy, social security, negative attack ads, etc.

Anyone who can, send a credit card contribution online to one, some or all of the close Senate races listed here. Please mail a check now if you can't donate online. Even small amounts when combined with other FReepers can make a lot of difference.

This graphic is the property of D.C.'s Political Report and is being used with permission.

South Dakota: John Thune, current Congressman, (articulate, affable, attractive in an August debate with Johnson) running against Tim Johnson, current Senator.
Latest poll:Thune 43% Johnson 44% Evans (L) 2% Mason Dixon 9/16-19 MOE-3.5%

Link to www.johnthune.com

John Thune for South Dakota
P.O. Box 516
Sioux Falls, SD 57101

New Jersey: Doug Forrester (bio: former assistant state treasurer, now small businessman and university instructor) was running against Senator Robert Torricelli, but (since the NJ Supreme Court fix is in to reprint the ballots) is now running against the Democrat "Mafia" mascot, 78 year old, "have checkbook, will travel", former Senator Lautenberg.
Latest poll: Forrester 44% Lautenberg 44% Newark Star-Ledger of Likely Voters

Link to www.forrester2002.com

Forrester 2002, Inc.
3535 Quakerbridge Road, Suite 400
Hamilton, NJ 08619

Minnesota: Norm Coleman, former mayor of St. Paul, running against Paul Wellstone, current Senator.
Latest poll: Coleman 47% Wellstone 41% Zogby 9/18-19 4.5%

Link to www.colemanforsenate.com

Coleman for U.S. Senate
1410 Energy Park Dr, Ste. 11
St. Paul, MN 55108-9865

New Hampshire: U.S. Representative John Sununu, son of former Governor, defeated current Senator Bob Smith in the September 10th primary and faces current Democrat governor, Jean Shaneen, in the general election for Senator. Sununu has less than two months to knit the party back together for the general election to retain the seat against a tough opponent, who probably would have defeated Smith.
Latest polls: Sununu 44% Shaheen 46% Blevens (L) 1% Greenberg Quinlan Rosner (D) 10/2 4.4%
compare to Sununu 55% Shaheen 34% American Research Group 9/30-10/2 4%
Sununu 44% Shaheen 47% Univ. of NH Oct. 4%

Link to www.johnsununu.org

Team Sununu
PO Box 500
Rye, NH 03870

Missouri: Jim Talent, former Congressman from St. Louis, against current Senator Jean Carnahan (who was appointed when her dead husband narrowly "won" in 2000 election over John Ashcroft). If Talent wins he may be allowed to take the seat immediately. .
Latest poll: Talent 48% Carnahan 48% Survey U.S.A. 10/5-6 4.2%

Link to www.talentforsenate.com

Jim Talent for Senate
9433 Olive Boulevard
St. Louis, MO 63132

Arkansas: Senator Tim Hutchinson challenged strongly by state attorney general Mark Pryor. Sen. Hutchinson, a former Baptist minister, is in trouble for reelection because of his divorce and remarriage after winning the Senate seat in 1996 on a platform of family values. He won his primary by 70% against another Christian conservative so the voters may be starting to forgive him. Without help, this is our most likely loss.
Latest poll before Democrats went to Baghdad: Hutchinson 40% Pryor 50% Arkansas New Bureau 9/16-20 4.5%

Link to www.tim2002.com

Hutchinson for Senate
PO Box 998
Rogers, AR 72756

Texas: State Attorney General John Cornyn is running close in the polls to Democrat Ron Kirk, former mayor of Dallas. Current Senator Phil Graham is retiring.
Last reported poll done by Democrats: Cornyn 35% Kirk 39% Fairbanks Maslin Maullin & Assoc. (D) 9/22-24 3.6% compare to
Cornyn 56% Kirk 30% NBC5 9/30-10/6 4.1%

Link to www.johncornyn.com

John Cornyn for Senate, Inc.
P.O. Box 13026
Austin, Texas 78711

b>Colorado: Current Senator, Wayne Allard, a veterinarian, is facing stiff competition from slick former U.S. Attorney and environmentalist, Tom Strickland. The Libertarian candidate, businessman Rick Stanley, may draw away enough votes from Allard to cause a loss.
Last reported poll: Allard 42% Strickland 42% Zogby 9/17-18 4.5%

Link to www.allardforsenate.com

US Senator Wayne Allard
300 W. Plaza Drive #100
Littleton, CO 80129

Georgia: U.S. Representative Saxby Chambliss against current Senator Max Cleland.
Latest polls: Chambliss 42% Cleland 51% Mitchell Research 9/26-10/1 MOE 4%
Chambliss 41% Cleland 45% Public Opinion Strategies (R) 9/30-10/1 MOE 3%

Link to www.saxby.org

Chambliss for Senate, Inc.
P.O. Box 12469
Atlanta, GA 30355

Iowa: U.S. Representative Greg Ganske is challenging current Senator Tom Harkin.
Ganske has gained ground since the last poll and Harkin lost a point, possibly due to the spying scandal and the Iraq debate: Ganske 44% Harkin 53% Survey Iowa 13 4.1%
Harkin must be a bit unnerved as he voted for the Iraq resolution.

Link to www.ganskeforsenate.org

Ganske for Senate
1200 Grand Ave.
West Des Moines, IA 50265

West Virginia: Jay versus Jay. Jay Wolfe is trying to unseat current Senator Jay Rockefeller, using the same stealth grassroots tactics that won the state for George W. Bush. This one is under the radar, so you won't see any polls.

Link to www.jaywolfe.net

Friends of Jay Wolfe
P.O. Box 364
Salem, WV 26426

[victim soul]

Thanks for all your good. We MUST GET OUT THE VOTE!!!!

[Sloth]

If there were some real world payoff, I might understand.

Which one is the real-world payoff of blindly voting for Republicans -- McCain, or Jeffords?

[hinckley buzzard]

"...a splinter party of wellmeaning people."

I used to believe that too, until I stopped listening to their cheap talk and started watching what they do.

[ffrancone]

Which one is the real-world payoff of blindly voting for Republicans -- McCain, or Jeffords?

The real world payoff of a Republican Senate is the ability to get the next Anton Scalia or Clarence Thomas to the floor of the Senate for a vote. We could have up to three Supreme Court resignations this term. Do you understand how important that is? It will determine for the next twenty years whether the US is governed by Nine unelected tyrants who make up the law and Constitution as they go along or by men who actually interpret our Constitution according to what was intended.

No real progress is possible if the Court moves even a little to the left. They will block every serious conservative reform. And they are appointed for life. Come to TakeBackCongress.org and help take back the Senate.

[ffrancone]

I referred to libertarians as "...a splinter party of wellmeaning people."

You responded:

I used to believe that too, until I stopped listening to their cheap talk and started watching what they do.

******

I'm not sure what you are saying. Are you disagreeing with me about the "well-meaning" part or the splinter party part.

[Intolerant in NJ]

Several members of the Wall Street Journal editorial board tonight on their TVcast opined that "things aren't going so well for Lautenberg in New Jersey" - said that after he got an initial bump, his numbers had fallen off - they split as to whether they thought Lautenberg would eventually win, but there's hope.......

[ThePythonicCow]

Dang - that map is tight.

We take one from them (Minn), they take one from us (Ark), and five too close to call (NH, NJ, Missouri, SD and Colo).

[Theodore R.]

Instead of 34, it is 35 because the MO race is for four years only. It is the unexpired term of the deceased Mel Carnahan.

[Theodore R.]

This may be a very accurate map projecting the Senate races. I am still unsure if MN will elect a Republican to the Senate though it has done so a few times since the death of St. HHH. I was unsurprised to see the projection that the Democrat will win in AR. Tim Hutchinson's "family values" simply won't sell even in the land of AR Bill. And Ron Kirk may still have a chance in TX despite the lopsided poll (unlike the others) that came out this week showing a huge Cornyn lead. So, it will be a very tough fight to elect a bare Republican majority. What is depressing too is that there are no races at all where an upset is in the making. There used to be an upset in one or two places, but now it's all programmed in advance. Does anyone see a Republican winner that is now unexpected? There are very slim pickings out there. Also I was under the impression that Gordon Smith in liberal OR is very vulnerable.

[Theodore R.]

If Dakota were only one state, the GOP would have the numerical majority in the Senate. The Dakotas along supply four critical votes to the Democrat Senate.

[unixfox]

[Theodore R.]

Really, Hutchinson should have not sought reelection. He opens up the charge that the Democrats love to hurl: hypocrisy. The AR Demos will say that at least "their" Bill stayed married and did not break up "his family." What is the real story about Hutchinson's divorce? I don't think it has been told!!!! And IN PART because of Hutchinson's personal failings, AR will now have two liberal senators come Jan. 3.

[patriciaruth]

LOL! Flunked my math test for the day. There are TWO Senators from each of the FIFTY states.

Thanks for tactfully pointing out that I had slipped a cog.

[patriciaruth]

We could have up to three Supreme Court resignations this term. Do you understand how important that is?

Do we want Democrat Stepford wives to rule the U.S. Supreme Court like they do the New Jersey Supreme Court and the Florida Supreme Court?

Among other things they could totally gut the Second Amendment.

[MeekOneGOP]

how do you do things like that? Need special software or some other program? It's very nice.

That "bump" was made up by FReeper Joe Brower. He's quite talented. I just "lifted" it from him.

[patriciaruth]

Hey, thanks for the posting! Especially nice of you to include the correction on Wellstone's home State, not that he might not feel more at home in Wisconsin lately, especially Madison.

Did you see his debate with Norm Coleman earlier? Someone gave Wellstone Al Gore's playbook from the first Presidential debate in 2000 with Jim Lehrer as moderator. Coleman happily remained affable, civil, concise and informative while Wellstone cut his throat with bullying and hogging and generally running off at the mouth.

Assuming Minnesotans are salt of the earth people with common sense, I can't see them buying this guy for much longer, especially with his voting not to do anything about Saddam in Iraq and his history of gutting our national defense and support technology and weapons for our service members in harm's way.

[patriciaruth]

Does anyone see a Republican winner that is now unexpected?

Jay Wolfe in West Virginia is the darkhorse candidate. He has the same grassroots organization (NRA and pro-life activists) that pulled that state out for Bush in 2000 with very little dough from the national organization.

Their Senator Byrd is voicing continuous opposition to making Iraq accountable and I don't think his message will sit well with these down home folks.

So, I just sent them a thousand bumperstickers to pass out around their State that may generate some patriotic feelings.

[patriciaruth]

Ron Kirk may still have a chance in TX

Former and present First Ladies, Barbara Bush and Laura Bush will be hitting the campaign trail in Texas soon!

Be optimistic about Texas, but don't stop working like a son-of-a-gun!

[patriciaruth]

What is the real story about Hutchinson's divorce?

Man of God loses his mind.

He says it was all his fault. He married a younger, blonde staffer that work threw him together with a lot.

Same old story.

But that's why the base isn't energized.

I hope the voters in Arkansas decide it's more important not to punish President Bush and the conservative cause for Tim's fall from grace than to punish Tim.

[patriciaruth]

Things aren't going so well for Lautenberg in New Jersey" - said that after he got an initial bump, his numbers had fallen off -

Well, he would have to open his mouth and prove he's senile. Otherwise, he'd kept quiet and nodded, he might have had a better shot.

Now will Democrats in New Jersey vote for a senile Democrat over a very articulate Republican with all his marbles, plus some extra gems?

Will they be able to notice the difference?