Discover GOP Opprobrium

[teapeebubbles]

Today's installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn't generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers.

* A new Quinnipiac poll shows New York Gov. David Paterson (D) trailing state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo (D) in a hypothetical match-up, 61% to 18%. In a hypothetical general election match-up, Paterson also loses to Rudy Giuliani by 21 points, while Cuomo leads Giuliani by 17 points.

* Speaking of New York, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), hoping to discourage potential challengers, announced this morning that she's raised more than $2.3 million in the two months since she was appointed to the Senate.

* Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) must be pretty worried about the prospect of a Pat Toomey primary challenge because the incumbent senator is already very much on the offensive.

* How close the special election race in New York's 20th district? At one point over the weekend, Jim Tedisco (R) and Scott Murphy (D) were literally tied.

* Rep. Don Young (R) of Alaska wouldn't mind seeing former Sen. Ted Stevens (R) challenge Gov. Sarah Palin (R) in a Republican primary.

* Former House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R), currently a leading Senate candidate in Missouri, has run into a little tax trouble.

* Roger Pearson, a former local official in Greenwich, Connecticut, is apparently planning to challenge Sen. Chris Dodd (D) next year in a Democratic primary.

* Rep. Allen Boyd (D-Fla.), one of the House's leading "Blue Dogs," will face state Sen. Al Lawson in a Democratic primary next year. "From my perspective, a Blue Dog is just a closet Republican," Lawson said, casting himself as someone who is "committed to being a true Democrat."

* And while I don't usually report on state Senate races, there was a big contest in Louisiana over the weekend, featuring Lee Domingue, a right-wing Republican who enjoyed the enthusiastic support of Gov. Bobby Jindal (R). Domingue, a Biblical literalist who wants creationism taught in public schools and supports banning single Louisiana citizens from adopting children, lost badly.