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Leaders Mitch McConnell and John Boehner said Sunday they couldn't bank on Democrats' ethics troubles to win in November.

Proposition 14, which was spearheaded by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), passed with 54 percent of the vote in June.

A group of coal companies has a new 527 group in the works that will target candidates it deems "anti-coal" this fall.

According to a letter obtained by the Lexington Herald-Leader, among the targets are Kentucky Senate candidate Jack Conway (D) and Rep. Ben Chandler (D-Ky.).

The group said it was spurred to action by the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling, which struck down laws prohibiting spending by corporations and unions on political campaigns.

From the Herald-Leader:

"With the recent Supreme Court ruling, we are in a position to be able to take corporate positions that were not previously available in allowing our voices to be heard," wrote Roger Nicholson, senior vice president and general counsel at International Coal Group of Scott Depot, W.Va., in an undated letter he sent to other coal companies.

Nicholson declined to comment on his letter Tuesday, after the Herald-Leader obtained it.

"A number of coal industry representatives recently have been considering developing a 527 entity with the purpose of attempting to defeat anti-coal incumbents in select races, as well as elect pro-coal candidates running for certain open seats," Nicholson wrote. "We're requesting your consideration as to whether your company would be willing to meet to discuss a significant commitment to such an effort." ...

In his letter, Nicholson said his company and three others — Massey Energy, Alliance Resource Partners and Natural Resource Partners — "have already had some theoretical discussions about such an effort and would like to proceed in developing an action plan."

Several of those companies have been involved in recent mine disasters that led to congressional scrutiny of their safety problems. International Coal Group owns the Sago mine in West Virginia where 12 miners died in 2006. Massey owns the Upper Big Branch mine, also in West Virginia, where 29 miners died in April. Two miners died in April in a Western Kentucky mine owned by an Alliance Resource subsidiary.

President Obama will be in Columbus next month to help Gov. Ted Strickland (D) and the Ohio Democratic Party (ODP).

Obama is set to deliver a speech Aug. 18 on the economy and then host a fundraiser for Strickland’s reelection bid and the ODP, a White House official told the Columbus Dispatch. They’ll be separate events.

The ODP is one of the largest state parties in the country. It’s been raising money to help Senate candidate Lee Fisher in his race against Republican Rob Portman. Fisher clearly needs all the fundraising help he can get, as he’s at a 9-to-1 money disadvantage. 

Obama’s expected to have a busy travel schedule in August. He’s already set to appear in Atlanta for Democratic fundraisers on Aug. 2 and Chicago for an event benefiting Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias (D) on Aug. 5. Obama is also set to headline an Aug. 9 fundraiser in Austin for the DNC and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

--Updated at 10:21 p.m.

Republicans and Democrats are marking the official start of the campaign season this weekend with pleas to activists and donors.

Mark Williams, the former Tea Party Express chairman who was widely criticized for penning a racially charged blog post earlier this month, stepped down from his role as spokesman for the group Friday.

In a letter to the Tea Party Express, Williams said he was “compelled to separate” himself from the organization so he could “free the tea party movement from any more distraction based on my personal comments or blogs.”

The post set off a feud between Williams’s group and the so-called Tea Party Federation, which expelled the Tea Party Express from its membership after it declined to rebuke Williams.

On his blog, Williams wrote a mock letter to President Abraham Lincoln from Benjamin Jealous, the president of the NAACP. It came on the heels of the NAACP’s July 13 passage of a resolution calling on Tea Party leaders to repudiate racist elements of the movement.

The mock letter began: “We Colored People have taken a vote and decided that we don’t cotton to that whole emancipation thing. Freedom means having to work for real, think for ourselves, and take consequences along with the rewards. That is just far too much to ask of us Colored People and we demand that it stop!”

Last week, Rep. Walt Minnick (D-Idaho) declined the endorsement of the Tea Party Express, citing the group’s lack of action against Williams.

Several Democrats in tough election fights are getting financial help from powerful defense contractors who are spending at record levels this cycle.

According to The Hill's Roxana Tiron, defense companies and their affiliated interests are fighting to preserve their contracts and bottom lines. "That, in many cases, means seeking support for current spending levels from members of Congress, who hold the power of the purse," Tiron reported.

Lockheed Martin's PAC, for instance, has contributed $2,352,950 during the 2010 election cycle, with several Democrats benefiting from its largesse. 

Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, received $10,000 from the PAC — the maximum contribution per cycle — as did Reps. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.) and Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.), who are running for Senate.

Meanwhile, Boeing Co.'s PAC, which has spent $2,197,000 this cycle, donated the maximum to Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), who's facing a tough reelection fight against Rep. John Boozman (R-Ark.).

The defense PACs are hedging their bets, also giving significantly to Republican members.

The president and vice president will have a "tag-team arrangement" during the 2010 midterm campaign.

President Barack Obama will continue raising money while trying to rekindle the enthusiasm of his 2008 supporters. Meanwhile, Vice President Joe Biden will travel to working-class congressional districts that are receptive to "his blue-collar persona," according to the Los Angeles Times.

"We'll be going where candidates ask us to go," explained Obama adviser David Axelrod. "We'll raise some money. And in the end, it will be important for him to communicate to those voters who supported him in the last election and might not generally vote in an off-year election as to why it's important to come out. And only he can really do that."

Some House Democrats told the paper the tag-team plan was preferable to having Obama campaign in more conservative districts where his message isn't resonating.

"We don't want to be seen with him, but we still need our base to turn out, and our base pays attention to him," one House Democratic aide said.