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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Republican Sen. George Allen, bedeviled by his own mistakes and an unpopular president, battled for his political life Tuesday against Jim Webb, whose disgust with the GOP made him a Democrat. Final independent polls in a Virginia race that could determine whether Republicans keep control of the U.S. Senate showed the two candidates were about even. Reports from around Virginia early Tuesday indicated an extraordinarily high turnout for a midterm election, with perhaps 65 percent of registered voters expected to cast ballots, a state elections officials said. That would double the midterm turnout in 2002. In...

All Press Releases / October 30, 2006 Steele to Make Major Campaign Endorsement Announcement TEMPLE HILLS, MD – Today, Michael Steele will make a major campaign endorsement announcement in Prince George’s County at 12:45PM. WHO: Michael Steele WHAT: Major Campaign Endorsement Announcement WHEN: TODAY Monday, October 30, 2006 12:45PM WHERE: Infusions Tea Cafe 800G Shoppers Way Largo, MD 20774

Virginia Sen. George Allen (R) and Democratic challenger James Webb are virtually tied in a race that could shift the balance of power in Washington and reinforces the differences between Northern Virginia and the rest of the commonwealth, according to a new Washington Post poll. Allen gets 49 percent, compared with 47 percent for Webb, within the 3 percentage point margin of error for the poll conducted over three days last week. With few respondents saying they are undecided and most seemingly locked in for their candidate, the poll indicates that the candidates' strategic decisions on supporter turnout will be...

Friday, October 06, 2006 A Churchillian Moment U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum was only half way through his declamation on Islamofacism yesterday (Thurs. 10-06) when a quote from Winston Churchill, nestled somewhere deep within my brain, struggled up to the surface. It was his famous definition of a fanatic -- as someone who can't change his mind and won't change the subject.Santorum was visiting the Inquirer's Editorial Board for its endorsement meeting, an on-the-record interview that is a ritual for candidates at election time. Santorum's relationship with the Editorial Board has not been one of mutual warmth and affection, but it...

Webb's comments to the Times-Dispatch prompted Allen campaign officials to direct a reporter to Dan Cragg, a former acquaintance of Webb's, who said Webb used the word while describing his own behavior during his freshman year at the University of Southern California in the early 1960s. Webb later transferred to the U.S. Naval Academy. Cragg, 67, who lives in Fairfax County, said on Wednesday that Webb described taking drives through the black neighborhood of Watts, where he and members of his ROTC unit used racial epithets and pointed fake guns at blacks to scare them. "They would hop into their...

In August, the Rasmussen Reports election poll showed Democratic candidate Bob Casey, Jr. leading Republican Senator Rick Santorum by just 48% to 40%. It was the closest the candidates had been all year and many wondered if it marked the beginning of a surge that would enable Santorum to draw even closer. So far the answer is No. The latest Rasmussen Reports survey shows very similar results; with Casey leading 49% to 39%. Green Party candidate Carl Romanelli continues to attract 5% support and it's unlikely his slice of the electorate will grow much larger. The two major-party candidates recently...

First came Sen. George Allen's Macaca Moment. Then we learned of challenger Jim Webb's thoughts on the "horny" women of the Naval Academy. Now, just when you thought Virginia's U.S. Senate race couldn't get any weirder, the Jews of Tunis are making a cameo. At a debate in Tysons Corner yesterday between Republican Allen and Democrat Webb, WUSA-TV's Peggy Fox asked Allen, the tobacco-chewing, cowboy-boot-wearing son of a pro football coach, if his Tunisian-born mother has Jewish blood. "It has been reported," said Fox, that "your grandfather Felix, whom you were given your middle name for, was Jewish. Could you...

Facing a federal investigation just two months before his election, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez offered a fiery defense of his honor yesterday and accused the U.S. Attorney of engaging in an "orchestrated" smear campaign to destroy him. The Democratic senator at tacked the timing of a subpoena is sued by federal investigators seek ing documents related to a rental deal Menendez had with a nonprofit agency in Hudson County from 1994 to 2003. The subpoena was delivered to the North Hudson Community Action Corp. earlier this week, sources familiar with the move told The Star-Ledger Thursday night. During a defiant...

September 5, 2006George Allen Steals Durbin Amendment – Calls It His Own(Perhaps He Thought We Wouldn’t Notice the One Word Difference – Nice Work Skippy)Washington, DC – U.S. Senator George Allen today stole a Department of Defense appropriations amendment written, printed and prepared by Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill), and then announced the amendment as his own, moments before Durbin was prepared to introduce the amendment on the Senate floor. The following is a chronology of what happened earlier this afternoon: At 2:30 PM this afternoon the U.S. Senate began debate of the Department of Defense appropriations for FY 2007.Already on...

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr. is virtually tied with Republican opponent Bob Corker, according to internal poll results released by the Ford campaign. Rep. Ford, a U.S. congressman from Memphis, leads the former Chattanooga mayor 44 percent to 42 percent in the poll of 1,118 likely Tennessee voters. Thirteen percent of respondents were undecided in the head-to-head matchup. The poll was taken Aug. 10-15 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.93 percent. Ford campaign senior adviser Michael Powell said during a Tuesday morning conference call that Mr. Corker was hurt during the fierce Republican...

Less than a month before the Republican primary, Senate hopeful Kathleen "KT" McFarland announced Monday she is temporarily suspending her campaign. In a statement, McFarland says the decision follows her daughter's shoplifting arrest on Long Island. McFarland's spokesperson says she is be no means dropping out of the race, just taking time off to deal with the situation with her daughter, Camilla. The 16-year old was arrested on Saturday, caught shoplifting from two stores in Suffolk County. Camilla McFarland has been charged with two counts each of petty theft and possession of stolen goods. In a statement, McFarland says: "My...

Married women with children, the "security moms" whose concerns about terrorism made them essential to Republican victories in 2002 and 2004, are taking flight from GOP politicians this year in ways that appear likely to provide a major boost for Democrats in the midterm elections.... Married mothers said in interviews here that they remain concerned about national security and the ability of Democrats to keep them safe from terrorist strikes. But surveys indicate Republicans are not benefiting from this phenomenon as they have before. Disaffection with President Bush, the Iraq war, and other concerns such as rising gasoline prices and...

The 2006 Senate Races, with state, Senator, party, 2005 ACU rating (American Conservative Union), current outlook. 4 Republicans likely to be defeated, Burns MT, DeWine OH, Santorum PA, and Chaffee RI. 1 NJ, Menendez, D, 0, leans D 2 MO, TALENT, R, 84, leans R 3 CT, Lieberman, D 8 primary, leans D 4 MD, Sarbanes. D, 0, retiring, leans D 5 MN, Dayton, D, 16, retiring, leans D 6 VT, Jeffords, I, 8, retiring, leans I (D) 7 TN, FRIST, R, 92, retiring, leans R 8 CA, Feinstein, D, 12, safe D 9 DE, Carper, D, 8, safe D...

Had the opportunity to attend the debate between Senator George Allen and challenger James Webb today held at The Homestead near Hot Springs Virginia. It was an interesting debate for the format of the debate incorporated several techniques for the questions to be asked of the candidates. First there was a panel made up by 3 individuals that asked questions of both the Senator and his challenger. The candidate was permitted to answer the question and then the other candidate was permitted 2 minutes for a statement and then the original person answering the question was usually allowed a minute...

UPDATE 7/1 INCLUDING FREEPER INPUT SAFE SEATS (GOP) IN- (R= current seatholder)- Lugar safe ME- "R"- Snowe safe (RINO) MS- R- Lott safe NV- R- Ensign safe TX- R- Hutchison safe UT- R- Hatch safe WY- R- Thomas safe GOP: 7 safe + 40 carryovers = 47 minimum SAFE SEATS (DEMS/INDEPENDENTS) CA- (D=current status)- Feinstein safe CT- D- Lieberman/Lamont safe for Dems (DEM Primary Aug 8! Lieberman 50/50 vs. liberal Dem Lamont) DE- D- Carper safe FL- D- Nelson safe HI- D- (Akaka seat) safe for Dems MA- D- Swimmer Kennedy safe NM- D- Bingaman safe ND- D- Conrad safe...

primary Incumbent Challenger AZ Sep 12 Sen Jon Kyl / some rat CA Over Feinstein / Dick Mountjoy CT Aug 08 Lieberman / Alan Schlesinger DE Sep 12 Carper / 3 candidates FL Sep 05 Nelson / Katherine Harris HI Sep 23 Akaka / Mark Beatty IN Over Sen Ricard Lugar / UNOPPOSED MA Sep 19 The Swimmer / Kevin Scott MD Sep 12 OPEN rAT SEAT / Michael Steele Hot ME Over Sen Olympia Snow / some rat MI Aug 08 Stabenow / M Bouchard and K Butler Hot MN Sep 12 OPEN rAT SEAT / Mark Kennedy...

LATEST NEWS FROM MCBRIDE FOR U.S. SENATE CAMPAIGN Will McBride Campaign Gaining Momentum ORLANDO-Republican United States Senate candidate Will McBride announced today that he is in the process of assembling a campaign team, and will soon be announcing his campaign staff. “I have been talking to some of the top Republican political operatives from across Florida and the country,” McBride said, “and I look forward to presenting a strong campaign team in the coming days.” Will McBride stated that he has been receiving encouragement and support from across Florida and looks forward to getting on the campaign trail. “Republicans from...

From the start of the Democratic state convention Friday night, there was something different from past gatherings of the faithful. Even U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, always a crowd favorite, could not work his usual magic with a speech nominating his senatorial colleague Joseph I. Lieberman for re-election. He sounded hackneyed compared to Annie Lamont's earnest seconding speech for her insurgent husband. A Dodd tub-thumper on the virtues of being a Democrat is typically guaranteed to get the delegates in their seats and then on their feet. Not on Friday. His meandering address avoided getting to Lieberman until he had...

It turns out the numbers in the Comptroller's race aren't the only interesting ones in a new poll commissioned by Del. Peter Franchot (D-Montgomery), a hopeful for the office. The same poll, conducted by Garin Hart Yang, showed the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in a statistical dead heat between Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin of Baltimore and Kweisi Mfume, the former congressman and NAACP leader. Cardin had the support of 32 percent of likely Democratic voters, while Mfune netted 31 percent. No other caniddate received more than 3 percent and 32 percent were undecided. In the Democratic primary for governor,...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- On the eve of a showdown over a historic overhaul of U.S. immigration law, congressmen drew lines in the sand Sunday, leaving it all but impossible to envision what kind of legislation may ultimately win passage. "It is incumbent upon us in the Senate to compromise," Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist told CNN's "Late Edition." He called the nation's immigration system "flat out broken." The fierce debates -- centering mostly on what to do with the millions of undocumented immigrants currently in the country -- don't fall along a simple partisan divide. Splits within each party and...