Senate races

Does Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul (R) support bartering for healthcare?

He did in 2002, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal, which conducted a review of Paul's public appearances from the last dozen years.

From the paper’s Sunday edition:

_{Paul has condemned Medicare as ‘socialism;’ denounced seat-belt and anti-smoking laws as ‘Nanny-state’ paternalism; called for voluntary, rather than mandatory, accommodation of people with disabilities; and suggested using satellites to monitor America's borders for illegal immigrants.}

But what may be more troubling for the National Republican Senatorial Committee is that Paul also "criticized private health insurance, saying it keeps patents from negotiating lower prices with their doctors."

"We need to get insurance of out of the way and let the consumer interact with their doctor the way they did basically before World War II," he said during a local TV appearance on Dec. 2, 2002.

A spokesman for the Paul campaign did not respond to a request for comment. 

Bartering comments have caused problems for other Republicans this cycle.

Nevada Republican Sue Lowden was the frontrunner for her party's Senate nomination until she made similar remarks at a town hall event in Mesquite, Nev.

She continued to expand on the bartering theme during the campaign.

"Before we all started having healthcare, in the olden days, our grandparents, they would bring a chicken to the doctor," Lowden said during a TV interview. "I'm not backing down from that system."

Lowden subsequently lost the primary to former state Assemblywoman Sharron Angle (R) by 14 points.

In North Carolina's Democratic Senate primary, Secretary of State Elaine Marshall is banking on what her campaign is billing as its superior ground game to carry the candidate to victory in Tuesday's runoff against former state Sen. Cal Cunningham. The winner will face Sen. Richard Burr (R) in November. 

It's a grassroots surge the Marshall camp said is a result of voter anger over the national party's role in the primary. Marshall has worked to label Cunningham as the candidate of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), pointing to financial support his campaign has received from a handful of sitting Democratic senators. While the committee has not weighed in officially, the DSCC played a hand in convincing Cunningham to jump into the race last year.  

"We've got a large volunteer base and we're basically on the phones around the clock," said Thomas Mills, an adviser to the Marshall campaign, which has been pushing the anti-establishment line hard. "I don't think the folks at the DSCC realize how angry people are down here." 

Publicly, the DSCC denied it has a favored candidate in the race. In a statement, DSCC national press secretary Deirdre Murphy said, "Given Richard Burr's blank slate of North Carolina accomplishments and his anemic approval numbers, we believe either Democrat who wins the runoff could make this a competitive race." 

But privately some national Democrats have indicated they view Cunningham as the more electable candidate against Burr.  

Mills said the storyline is motivating Marshall supporters ahead of a runoff where turnout is expected to be low. Reports out of the state over the weekend showed the early voting numbers were even lower than expected. Party officials said the best-case scenario is that 100,000 voters come out Tuesday.     

The Marshall camp has longtime Democratic consultant Jim Spencer running its voter contact effort, which is focused heavily on phone contact. Spencer heads the Boston-based firm The Campaign Network. "I don't want to sound overconfident, but the numbers are trending stronger our way," Spencer told the Ballot Box. "We've invested a lot in this program."  

Cunningham, meanwhile, has been on a "Beat Burr" bus tour for the campaign's final stretch, criss-crossing the state with the argument that he is best positioned to defeat Burr. Campaign spokesman Jared Leopold said he is confident Cunningham's voter contact effort is more robust than Marshall's and that he does not think the "Cunningham as establishment candidate" storyline is selling in the state. 

"I don't hear people talking about Washington, unless I'm in Washington, North Carolina," said Leopold. 

The Tea Party Express launched a get-out-the-vote effort on behalf of Utah Senate candidate Mike Lee (R) on Monday.

The group, which helped Sharron Angle win the GOP nod in Nevada, will get its 375,000-strong national membership to call in to Utah to encourage Republicans to get to the polls for Lee on Tuesday. "Our membership is excited about Mike Lee's candidacy, and we're working hard to get his supporters to the polls," Bryan Shroyer, the group's political director, said in a statement.

The group has also spent "tens of thousands of additional dollars" on radio ads supporting Lee.

Lee faces businessman Tim Bridgewater in the Republican Senate primary for Sen. Bob Bennett's (R-Utah) seat. 

A large turnout isn't expected for tomorrow's vote. 

"Unfortunately, I think that the turnout is going to be fairly low," Dave Hansen, chairman of the Utah Republican Party, told the Ballot Box. "Some are predicting around 10 percent, some are saying it could go as high as 15. We're all doing everything we can to encourage everyone to vote. We'll have to wait and see — the weather will be good."

The Bridgewater campaign said it's also focused on turnout. Bridgewater is appearing at several honk-and-waves around the state Monday and his campaign plans to make 50,000 calls Tuesday, according to Tiffany Gunnerson, a spokeswoman for his campaign.

A Deseret News/KSL-TV poll released over the weekend showed Bridgewater with a nine-point lead over Lee.

The June 12-17 survey of 581 highly likely GOP primary voters statewide found that 42 percent planned to support Bridgewater and 33 percent were going for Lee.

Economist and author Peter Schiff has qualified to be on the ballot against former WWE CEO Linda McMahon in Connecticut's Republican Senate primary.
 
Connecticut Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz confirmed Monday that Schiff earned a position after gathering more than the required 8,268 signatures.
 
"I look forward to waging a competitive campaign and defeating Linda McMahon August 10th," Schiff said in a statement. "I am confident as voters learn more about me, they will like what they see and hear."
 
A Tea Party favorite, Schiff did not win enough delegates at the Republican State Convention to qualify and therefore had to gather signatures.
 
Former Rep. Rob Simmons (R-Conn.) is also running against McMahon. He qualified for the ballot at the convention, but has since suspended his campaign. He does, however, plan to remain on August's ballot.

McMahon is the favorite to win the nomination and has invested millions of her own money into the race.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee has more cash in the bank going into the summer than its Democratic rival. 

The NRSC announced Monday it banked $18.1 million, compared to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee's $17.57 million by the end of May. Strategists for the GOP were quick to note that this time last year, Democrats were ahead by close to $17 million.

The DSCC, however, continues to outraise the NRSC, pulling in $5 million to its $3.6 million last month. Neither committee has any debt.

Meanwhile, NRSC Chairman John Cornyn (Texas) sent out an e-mail fundraising pitch Monday that focused on Nevada Senate candidate Sharron Angle (R).

"This is one of the most important races in the country this year," he wrote. "Sharron Angle and our candidates need your support. We plan to be heavily invested in Nevada and many other states but we need your help to do to it."

He asked supporters to give to the NRSC "so we can help her fight and win in Nevada."

Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman (I) indicated Sunday that he is unlikely to weigh in publicly on the Senate contest between state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal (D) and Linda McMahon (R). 

In an interview on CNN's "State of the Union," Lieberman said, "There's a high probability that I'm going to spend the rest of this year focusing on my Senate responsibilities." Lieberman said he is leaning toward voting "quietly and privately" rather than making a public endorsement.

He did leave the door open to a possible endorsement of McMahon, the former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO who won her party's endorsement at the state convention in May. Shortly after, McMahon's primary opponent, former Rep. Rob Simmons (R) suspended his Senate campaign. But in an interview last week, Simmons would not rule out jumping back into the contest at some point. 

McMahon is self-funding her campaign and has already spent some $16 million of her own money on the race. McMahon has endured a series of negative stories that have focused attention on her tenure as CEO of WWE.

The primary is August 10.

Nevada Senate candidate Sharron Angle's (R) campaign released a Web ad Monday that's supposed to “introduc[e] Angle to the voters of Nevada,” according to a release. But the minute-plus-long video provides no information about Angle's policy positions or biography — she's not even featured speaking direct to camera. It instead keeps the focus on Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

"Within hours of Sharron Angle becoming the nominee to face Reid in November, Reid launched a brutal advertising assault that is a slap in the face to all Americans," the announcer says.

The ad closes, "If you think it's time to end the bailouts, end the power of the special interests, and above all take back the America we love, then please visit SharronAngle.com and contribute today, and do it before Harry Reid attacks again."

Watch Angle's video after the jump.

J.D. Hayworth is throwing a birthday party for Joe Arpaio, the controversial Maricopa County sheriff, as a way to bolster his stuttering Senate campaign.

Hayworth is selling tickets to the anti-illegal immigration advocate's "biggest best dang birthday dash" in order to raise money for his bid to unseat Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

"Sheriff Joe has been a wonderful public servant and a great friend of my campaign," Hayworth said in a statement. The even takes place Saturday at the Silver Spur Saloon and Eatery in Cave Creek, north of Phoenix.

Hayworth's campaign has been struggling to fundraise. Earlier this week, it fell some $5,000 short of its goal of raising $800,000 in a "money bomb."

Moreover, Hayworth was passed over by the group Tea Party Express as it made another round of endorsements this week. The former congressman did, however, get the backing of the local North Phoenix Tea Party.

For his part Arpaio, has become a kind of novelty fundraiser. In April, Arizona House candidate Vernon Parker (R) offered supporters a bus trip to the border with the sheriff at the cost of $200 per person.

South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Carol Fowler told the Ballot Box Friday that she's still hopeful Senate candidate Alvin Greene will withdraw from the race, even after the state party's executive committee declined to overturn his victory in last week's primary.

"I haven't given up hope that he will realize that he is a very weak candidate, with no apparent resources or inclination to campaign, who also has an indictment hanging over him," Fowler said in an e-mail. "Maybe when the current media frenzy subsides he will give more thought to withdrawing."

On Thursday night, the executive committee rejected Democrat Vic Rawl's challenge of last Tuesday's primary results. Rawl had asked the committee to overturn Greene's win, offering evidence of voting irregularities. Members of the committee ruled that the evidence wasn't enough to take the drastic step of invalidating the result.      

Nevada Senate candidate Sharron Angle (R) is making herself more available to the press, but in some cases she's refusing to answer detailed questions about her past policy positions.

Angle told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Reid is trying to change the subject from his record. "The issue isn't about me. It's about Harry Reid and our houses and our jobs and the economic crisis," she said.

Fair enough, this is the year of the incumbent and Reid has a long record. But Angle is an unknown to the majority of voters in Nevada and asking questions about her past positions is perfectly reasonable — although she doesn't seem to think so.

Las Vegas 8 News NOW Reporter Nathan Baca caught up with Angle at a campaign stop Thursday and asked her about Social Security.

Her website during the primary had called for "transitioning out" of Social Security and Medicare.

"Why do you want to eliminate [Social Security] for younger folks, because your plan calls for transitioning out," Baca asked Angle.

"You believe the Harry Reid lie," Angle replied.

Angle goes on to dodge the reporter's questions and then ignore him as she walks to her car.

The bottom line: She can make this race about Reid, but not before she explains who she is and where she came from. If those questions remain unanswered, reporters will continue to focus on her colorful history. And she'll continue to look defensive and ill prepared on television.

Meanwhile, she did respond to the questions about whether she was calling for an armed revolution or a political revolution at the ballot box during her Review-Journal interview.
 
"I can’t believe people are even asking that," Angle said. "I’m very much a proponent of the Second Amendment and the Constitution. But what we have to focus on here is a movement, a movement that’s about retiring Harry Reid" by voting him out of office.
 
The Reid campaign is using Angle's words to raise money, saying in a fundraising letter sent Thursday to supporters that the Republican is "as wacky as her views are."

—Updated at 11:14 a.m.