In what was seen as a rebuke to Rand Paul (R), the Kentucky Senate passed a sharply-worded resolution expressing its support for the Civil Rights Act and criticizing as "outside the mainstream of American values" those who oppose any part of the law.
In recent interviews Paul, the Kentucky GOP's nominee for U.S. Senate, cited parts of the law as an example of government over-involvement in the lives of its citizens.
Senate Resolution 31 was co-sponsored by all but one member of the Republican-controlled chamber. It passed on a voice vote last Friday.
"There's not very much in this resolution that anyone could disagree with," state Senate President David Williams (R) told the Lexington Herald-Leader.
"Suggestions have appeared recently that we retreat from the core values of the protection of equal rights of the citizens of the United States," the resolution states. Only an "extreme minority of persons in the United States" would support such a move. It does not mention Paul by name.
The Paul campaign declined to comment on the resolution.
California Senate candidate Carly Fiorina (R) launched her fifth TV ad of the primary campaign Wednesday. The new spot, titled "Safe," argues that Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) is focused on climate change as opposed to terrorism.
The ad features footage of Boxer talking about how climate change is "one of the very important national security issues we face."
Fiorina: "Terrorism kills and Barbara Boxer's worried about the weather. I'm Carly Fiorina. I ran Hewlett-Packard. I chaired the external advisory board for the CIA. We’ve had enough of her politics. I’ll work to keep you safe."
The 30-second ad marks an early pivot away from her primary opponents and toward the general election against Boxer. But to get there, she still has to beat former Rep. Tom Campbell (R) and state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore (R) in the June 8 primary.
Strategic Perception's Fred Davis is the "creative" force behind Fiorina's ads.
In response to the ad, the Boxer camp tried to turn the tables on the Republican.
"Fiorina has a troubling record on protecting Americans from terrorism," Rose Kapolczynski, Boxer's campaign manager, said in a statement. "During her tenure at HP the company was trading with Iran, a state sponsor of terror."
The California Democratic Party also piled on.
"Fiorina is in no position to assail Senator Boxer's record. After all we're talking about someone who is so far out of the mainstream that she believes it's ok to let people on the no-fly list walk into a gun show and purchase an assault rifle," Tenoch Flores, a party spokesman, said in a statement.
First lady Michelle Obama touted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) record on women's issues during a trip to Reno Tuesday.
"Over the years, he has been a tireless advocate on behalf of women," Obama told the audience of some 1,600 at the Women's Summit 2010 in downtown Reno. "This state and this country are lucky to have Harry Reid working on our behalf in Washington."
Obama encouraged the audience to support Reid in November, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal.
"It's up to all of you everyday women to carry that role forward," she said. "What we’re working toward is to ensure our daughters and our granddaughters can dream just a little bigger and reach just a little higher than we did."
Later on Tuesday, the first lady attended an event with Reid in Red Rock Canyon as part of her effort to combat childhood obesity. But there too she plugged the Senate majority leader for reelection.
"He's just been a tremendous asset, not just to my husband but to the country and to all of you kids," Obama said, pointing at the 18 Las Vegas schoolchildren who did exercises with her and Reid.
"Everybody hears about what the president does, but presidents can't do anything if they don't have a good team. And Sen. Reid is a member of that good team,” she said according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The June 8 primary was a week away but Reid declined to speculate about his potential opponent. "I have no idea who will be my opponent," Reid said. "I don't vote in the Republican primary so I don't study it very much."
Despite some troubling poll numbers, Reid said he's confident he'll win in November.
"We'll have to work hard. There's five months to go," he said. "I'm not one that is very boastful. I'm just going to continue doing the best I can. The people of Nevada know me pretty well."
The Chicago Tribune published a report Tuesday that disputes Rep. Mark Kirk's (R-Ill.) account of how he learned he was mistakenly claiming to have earned an honor he was never awarded.
Kirk says his staff discovered he was mistakenly claiming to be the U.S. Navy intelligence officer of the year, but a military spokesman said today the Navy alerted Kirk about the inaccuracy after media inquiries.
Cmdr. Danny Hernandez, a Navy spokesman, said the service notified Kirk’s office last Thursday that the Navy was releasing information to the media, including to the Chicago Tribune and the Washington Post. “We just let him know that you, the media, were asking questions about who the Intelligence Officer of the Year was,” Hernandez said. “We let him know that there was an individual who was named reserve intelligence officer of the year.”
In the clear-the-air statement Kirk sent to supporters on May 30, he wrote: "The error was discovered last week by my staff. Going through my Fitness Reports for 1999/2000, we recognized that referring to an award as 'Intelligence Officer of the Year' was not precise -- so we corrected my biography with the official name of a very distinguished award that I am honored to have received."
Meanwhile, his campaign released a statement Wednesday from his former commanding officer.
"When I nominated Mark for the Rufus Taylor award, I thought it was more specific to Mark and not his team," said retired Navy Captain Clay Fearnow. "But the reality is, there would have been no team without Mark Kirk's leadership, and there certainly would have been no award.
"I can certainly understand why he would have referred to this award over the years as intelligence officer of the year – it's how I viewed the award. And in actuality, the two awards in question are of equal stature and significance."
It's never a good sign when a candidate's campaign goes dark a week before the primary election.
In California, Republican Senate candidate Tom Campbell has pulled all his TV ads and is relying on Web ads and phone calls to get out the vote, reports the Los Angeles Times.
Tuesday was his last day on the air and the decision could help give the nomination to former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. Fiorina has lent her campaign several million dollars from her personal fortune, including an additional $3 million in the past few weeks.
On Tuesday, Campbell wrote on his campaign website's blog: "I don't have personal millions like Carly Fiorina to spend on my campaign – but I do have something my opponents can't offer. According to a just released LA Times/USC poll, I am defeating [Democratic Sen.] Barbara Boxer by 7 points – the first time a Republican has ever led her. The poll shows Carly Fiorina losing by 6 points, and Chuck DeVore losing by 10. I can defeat Barbara Boxer, my opponents can't. … While 30-second TV ads have had an impact in this race, the most powerful way to sway voters is through a personal contact from a friend or colleague – you."
The same Los Angeles Times/University of Southern California poll that Campbell referenced showed Fiorina leading Campbell, 38 percent to 23 percent, for the GOP nomination. Former state assemblyman Chuck DeVore came in third with 16 percent.
Campbell spokesman Jamie Fisfis told the Times that the campaign is making “day-to-day decisions on how to spend our money” and plans to target many likely Republican voters with automated calls Thursday.
“It’s a question of how we get our message out. TV isn’t always the most efficient,” Fisfis said.
The primary is June 8th. California has one of the most expensive media markets in the country.
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist may have dodged a bullet in his independent campaign for the state's Senate seat.
The conservative Club for Growth (CFG) may not organize a refund effort for Crist's donors as it did last year for donors to Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.).
Specter's switch to the Democratic Party came with an offer by him to return funds from GOP donors. CFG officials took him up on the offer and coordinated a refund effort that eventually netted around $1 million. Crist, however, has said he won't return funds from Republican donors.
CFG spokesman Michael Connolly said Tuesday the group is "still reassessing" whether it will organize any refund effort for Crist donors. "It's possible that we may not, ultimately," Connolly said. "If he's making it pretty plain that he intends on running with ill-gotten funds, he's made his position clear."
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal (D) went on-air on Tuesday with his first TV ads in the state's Senate race, highlighting his constituent service records.
Blumenthal's campaign released a trio of ads featuring Connecticut residents raving about the work he has done fighting insurers or other work he's done on behalf of constituents since becoming the state's top law enforcement official in 1991.
Democrats said the ads are meant to play up what they say are wide advantages in character measures over Blumenthal's Republican opponent, former WWE executive Linda McMahon, as evidenced in a Quinnipiac University poll last week.
That poll showed Blumenthal maintaining a 56-31 margin over McMahon, even after a report emerged suggesting Blumenthal had, at times, misrepresented his military service record.
The Q-Poll found 53 percent of Connecticut voters were satisfied with Blumenthal's explanation of the matter and that he was found to have more of the requisite experience needed to be the state's next senator.
A spokesman for Republican Senate candidate Linda McMahon said Blumenthal's ads were an attempt to "reshape his image" after the recent controversy over his military service.
"Dick Blumenthal knows he's in trouble and that is why he is spending money to reshape his image," said Ed Patru, a McMahon spokesman. "People don't agree with his claim that lawsuits create jobs, and he has a major credibility problems as a result of his fabricated military record. His numbers have taken a serious hit, by every measure they are moving in the wrong direction, and he's trying to hold on."
Democrats have Illinois Senate candidate Mark Kirk (R) on the ropes for his mischaracterization of his military service, but it may be a short-lived advantage in the media war.
Jury selection begins Thursday in the corruption trial of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D). Corruption is a preeminent concern in Chicagoland and even the preliminary proceedings of the trial will be closely watched. As Kirk tries to move the storyline beyond what Navy awards he did or did not receive, the trial coverage will help remind people about the downfall of the state's former top Democrat.
The sprawling case covers years of investigation of Blagojevich and his closest associates, with whom he allegedly conspired to run Illinois government as a criminal racket from his earliest days in office. Also on trial with Blagojevich will be his brother, Robert, who once ran the governor's campaign fund.
Included in the broad array of charges against Blagojevich are accusations that he schemed to bring in campaign donations in exchange for official acts, including the naming of a replacement for President Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate.
The list of those he allegedly tried to extort ranges from the leader of a children's hospital to an executive at a horse racing track to the heads of Tribune Co., parent of the Chicago Tribune. The prosecution's case, which grew out of a federal investigation dubbed "Operation Board Games," will feature scores of secret recordings made in late 2008 of Blagojevich on the phone and in his political office.
It also may include testimony from as many as four key Blagojevich insiders, all but one of whom have already been found guilty of charges connected to the investigation. The government claims Blagojevich's alleged plotting peaked when he tried to shop the Senate seat to the highest bidder when Obama appeared headed for the White House in 2008.
"I've got this thing and it's (expletive) golden," Blagojevich was recorded as saying in December 2008 in perhaps the most memorable of the excerpts made public by prosecutors so far. "And uh. … I'm not just giving it up for (expletive) nothing."
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