Senate races

Republicans are pressuring Vice President Joe Biden to meet with Alvin Greene, the controversial Democratic Senate candidate in South Carolina.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) mused Friday as to why Biden, who is making a swing through South Carolina on Friday, in part to campaign, hadn't planned a meeting with Greene, his party's nominee.

"In South Carolina, Dem Senate candidate Alvin Greene has stimulus proposal of his own — will Joe Biden listen?" the RNC wrote, referring to Greene's proposal to manufacture action figures of himself to boost the economy.

Biden has the time to fundraise for Rep. John Spratt, surely he could make time for Greene," the GOP committee added.

At issue is Greene's odd candidacy. He is an unemployed military veteran who won the primary election despite never having campaigned, and his nascent candidacy has been marked by a series of bizarre moments, the latest being a rap song.

Most senior Democrats have kept a distance from Greene in the campaign, and House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) had suggested that he was a "plant" to disrupt the election.

The RNC noted Biden's heavy campaign role for Democrats in pushing for a meeting with Greene.

Nevada Senate candidate Sharron Angle (R) is using Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) campaign slogan against him in a new campaign ad.  

The 30-second spot features Angle talking to a small crowd of voters and pinning the blame on Reid for the state’s high unemployment and foreclosure rates. 

“Harry Reid says he does more for Nevada,” Angle says in the ad. “He’s done more for unemployment. We were at 4 percent. Now we’re at 14 percent.”

“Harry Reid has done more, and it’s time for us to say, ‘Stop doing it, we can’t stand anymore,’“ Angle concludes.

Reid has launched a series of ads that focus attention on how his stature in Washington helps Nevada, using the slogan “No one can do more.”

Recent polls have shown Reid surging into a lead in the race after months of trailing Republican opponents. Angle led Reid by double digits shortly after capturing the Republican nomination.

Arizona Senate candidate J.D. Hayworth (R) launched his most aggressive attack of the primary campaign against Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) Friday. 

The former congressman released his second TV ad of the race, which accuses McCain of supporting an “amnesty bill” for undocumented U.S. residents. 

The ad features footage of McCain and President Obama talking about the effort to get immigration reform through the Senate.

“I helped author with Senator Kennedy comprehensive immigration reform and fought for it twice,” McCain says in the footage. It then transitions to Obama saying, “I stood with Ted Kennedy and John McCain and took on this tough issue.”

With immigration overshadowing the primary race, this ad is probably Hayworth’s best shot at closing the gap with the incumbent senator. Early voting, however, starts on July 29, which doesn’t give it much time to sink in.

The ad went up statewide Friday; it’s airing on broadcast and cable. It was produced by the Strategy Group for Media. 

McCain's camp was quick to fire back.

"It's laughable for Congressman Hayworth to try and sell himself as a leader in the fight to secure our border just days after he viciously attacked Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, who is on the front lines of Arizona's battle against drug and human smuggling," Brian Rogers, a spokesman for McCain, said in a statement. "How can Arizonans accept Hayworth as a border security hawk after he tried to smear Sheriff Babeu — a man who will be charged with enforcing SB 1070 — as a racist? That dog won’t hunt."

Hayworth recently likened Babeu to "infamous KKK leader David Duke" in a statement after the sheriff appeared on on the white nationalist radio program Political Cesspool. Babeu, who's appeared in two TV ads for McCain, said he regretted granting the interview. 

--Updated at 6:48 p.m.

Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio acknowledged Friday he and the Chamber of Commerce are in disagreement over Cuba policy, but said the business group is “buying into our agenda.”

“My ideas today are no different ... than they were when I go into the race,” Rubio said on a conference call Friday. “Folks are buying into our agenda, we’re not buying into their agenda.”

The Chamber will formally announce it’s backing Rubio at an event in Orlando on Saturday. But despite the bonhomie, there’s a major policy disagreement between the former state House speaker and the powerful business group. The Chamber has pushed for an end to the trade embargo on Cuba, something Rubio opposes.

“I think we do have a difference of opinion,” Rubio said.

Bill Miller, a vice president of the business group, echoed that assessment. “I think that this is a respectful disagreement,” Miller said. Both men emphasized their agreement on other policies.

Rubio said the endorsement is a sign that the GOP establishment is coming around to support his candidacy.

“Unfortunately, a year ago, many in my party weren’t ready to embrace that,” he said. “We now realize we don’t need two Democratic parties in America.”

Rubio said the newfound support hasn’t changed him.

“The difference is that there are more people helping us, and we welcome their support,” he said.

After Vice President Joe Biden headlined a Democratic National Committee fundraiser Thursday night in Chapel Hill, N.C., he held an impromptu fundraiser for Senate candidate Elaine Marshall (D). 

Marshall is taking on Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) in the fall.

Marshall said the event was quickly put together and was limited to 15 people.

“There is a clear choice in this North Carolina election between a woman who knows what drive [forward] means and somebody who clearly is continuing to be backwards,” Biden said at the event.

With polls showing Marshall competitive with Burr in the fall election, tensions appear to be easing between Marshall and the national Democratic Party. Marshall won the Democratic nomination in a runoff last month against Cal Cunningham, who was the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s favored candidate in the race. 

A Survey USA poll from last month had Burr in the lead by 10 points. New numbers out Friday from the Democratic polling firm Lake Research Partners give Marshall a 2-point lead over Burr, 37 percent to 35 percent, but the survey polled registered voters, not likely voters. 

The poll found 23 percent still undecided. The sample was 600 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points.

Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio (R) is an upstart candidate no more.

The Chamber of Commerce is set to endorse the former state House Speaker at an event Saturday in Orlando.

“He is an invaluable leader who has a common-sense approach to job creation and getting America back on the road to recovery,” Bill Miller, a vice president of the business group, said in a statement.

Rubio built his early success on running as a grassroots conservative outsider, but as his campaign has picked up steam he’s taken on all the usual trappings.

Rubio is set to hold a conference call with bloggers shortly, wherein he’ll discuss the Chamber’s endorsement.

Senate candidate and Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) on Friday came out in support of Solicitor General Elena Kagan's nomination for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Kirk's backing of Kagan comes after weeks of not taking a stand on her nominaion even as reporters pressed and his Democratic opponent Alexi Giannoulias took aim at Kirk for not lending his support to the nominee.

In the contest for President Obama's former Senate seat, Kirk needs to find a way to appeal to independents and centrist Democrats in the blue state.

Of Kagan, Kirk offered tepid praise in a statement.

"Ms. Kagan appears to be modest and thoughtful not because she expected this nomination but because she is modest and thoughtful," Kirk said. "Under the Constitution, only the president can make this nomination and Solicitor General Kagan is one of the more careful nominees he could have picked."

In his statement, Kirk quoted Alexander Hamilton, who in the Federalist Papers wrote of the Senate's role, "the necessity of their concurrence would have a powerful, though in general a silent operation."

Kirk noted that recent justices have won confirmation with bipartisan majorities, though he left out the vote count on Justices Thomas, Alito and Sotomayor, which were considerably closer than those of Justices Ginsburg, Kennedy, Scalia and Breyer.

Former Rep. Simmons insists he is not campaigning for a Senate seat, except for the TV ads and campaign appearances.

New numbers out Thursday from Public Policy Polling give Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.) a 3-point lead over self-funding billionaire Jeff Greene in Florida's Democratic Senate primary.

Meek leads 28 percent to 25 percent, but a plurality of Democratic voters remain undecided.

The poll found a full 37 percent of respondents still aren't behind either Greene or Meek. The survey polled 339 Democratic primary voters and has a margin of error of +/- 5.3 percentage points.

From PPP's Tom Jensen: "Meek's small advantage is built on strong support from African-Americans and liberals. The race is even with whites, but Meek is up 44-19 with black voters. Meek has a 3 point lead with moderates that's balanced out by Greene's 19 point edge with conservatives, but the tie is broken by a 39-26 margin for Meek with liberal voters."

Meanwhile, a new Rasmussen poll out Thursday shows a general election match-up between Gov. Charlie Crist (I) and Marco Rubio (R) is still a toss-up.

In a three-way race Crist leads with 35 percent to Rubio's 33 percent. Meek comes in third at 20 percent.

Rasmussen notes that Meek's 20 percent number is actually a 5-point improvement from a poll at the beginning of the month. In a three-way race with Jeff Greene, not much changes. 

Crist still leads with 36 percent to Rubio's 34 percent. Greene is a distant third with 19 percent of the vote. The Rasmussen survey polled 750 likely voters and has a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points.

Republican Reps. Mark Kirk (Ill.) and John Boozman (Ark.) voted against a $34 billion extension of unemployment benefits Thursday, which opened up another round of sparring between the two Senate candidates and their Democratic opponents.

It continues what has already been a theme for Democratic candidates in recent weeks and likely straight through to November.

In a statement, Sen. Blanche Lincoln's (D-Ark.) campaign said Boozman "turned his back on Arkansas' working families," with his "no" vote. "I do not believe we should turn our backs on Arkansas workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own and continue to seek employment," Lincoln said in a statement. 

A Boozman spokesman said the congressman has repeatedly expressed a desire to extend benefits without adding to the federal deficit in the process. 

Some GOP lawmakers floated the idea of paying for the extension with unused stimulus funds. 

Democrat Alexi Giannoulias (Ill.) slammed opponent Mark Kirk as "heartless and hypocritical" in a statement. "What Congressman Kirk essentially is saying is, 'I know we steered the ship into an iceberg, but don't worry, we're burning the life rafts," Giannoulias said in a statement. 

In response, Kirk's campaign accused Giannoulias of trying to have it both ways by claiming his proposals are deficit neutral. "Congressman Kirk voted to extend unemployment benefits five times in the last two years," Kirk for Senate spokesperson Kirsten Kukowski said in a statement. “Congressman Kirk has also said he would vote to continue unemployment insurance benefits again if Congress pays for it by cutting other spending." 

Kirk and Giannoulias are locked in a tight race for President Obama's former Senate seat. In Arkansas, recent polls show Lincoln trailing Boozman by as many as 30 points. 

The bill passed the House Thursday by a vote of 272-152, with 31 Republicans in support of the measure. It passed the Senate by a vote of 59-39 on Wednesday.

After Wednesday's Senate vote, the National Republican Senatorial Committee hit a slew of Democratic senators for adding "another $34 billion on top of record $13 trillion federal debt."

In releases targeting Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) among others, the NRSC criticized the measure saying it will be "paid for with borrowed money and which future generations will have to pay back with interest."

--Updated at 4:45 p.m.