The Tea Party’s message of fiscal conservatism might have limited influence in Alaska — a state that welcomes federal dollars.

The congressional campaign of businessman Francisco Canseco (R) is touting new internal numbers it says have him leading Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D-Texas).

According to a poll for the campaign done by the firm On Message, Inc., Canseco leads 43 percent to 37 percent. The poll has a margin of error of 4.9 percentage points. 

Canseco is on the National Republican Congressional Committee's list of "Young Guns," but Democrats have hammered him in recent weeks over hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax liens on several of his properties. 

Despite Republicans viewing the seat as a potential pick-up opportunity in the fall, Rodriguez is in a strong financial position ahead of November. The incumbent had more than $700,000 cash on had at the end of the second quarter. 

The company once headed by Connecticut Senate candidate Linda McMahon (R) is pushing back against a former wrestler who claims the WWE encourages steroid use. 

Former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) employee Chris Nowinski recently charged that the company should be held responsible for the death of wrestler Lance Cade, who died of apparent heart failure on Aug. 13.

Nowinski claims that Cade, whose real name is Lance McNaught, was a steroid user during his time in the WWE. He also alleges that the company encourages its wrestlers to use steroids.

The WWE's treatment of its performers has become a recurring campaign issue for McMahon, who won the GOP Senate nomination on Aug. 10 and will face Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal (D) in November.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis (D) doesn't think much of a potential 2012 presidential bid from his fellow former Bay State Gov. Mitt Romney (R). 

Dukakis, the Democratic nominee for president in 1988, called Romney "the biggest disappointment I think I’ve ever seen" in an interview Monday with the State House News Service in Massachusetts. 

Asked about the prospect of a Romney presidency, Dukakis said it would be "disastrous." 

Dukakis, unvarnished, spoke warmly of Romney’s father George, who governed Michigan in the 1960s, noting that George Romney’s use of a fuel-efficient car inspired him to court his wife, Kitty, in a “little yellow Rambler convertible.” 

“I thought we were going to get a junior version of George Romney with Mitt,” he said, adding, “There’s no core to this guy ... I think he’d be a disastrous president.”

Mitt Romney’s spokesman fired back in an email to the News Service. “Mike Dukakis sounds like a very angry and bitter old man,” he said. “I think it’s sad.”

Attorney Joe Miller is still considered a long shot ahead of Tuesday's Republican Senate primary in Alaska, but the Tea Party Express has spent nearly $150,000 running radio and TV ads on his behalf over the past week. 

The PAC's latest Federal Election Commission filing shows another $18,915 buy placed Sunday. The group has also spent close to $36,000 on two last-minute mailers that hit mailboxes over the weekend. In all, the Tea Party Express has spent more than $500,000 in the state this year.

Still, Sen. Lisa Murkowski's (R-Alaska) campaign appears confident ahead of Tuesday. Miller's camp claims internal polling has the race within single digits, but a source close to Murkowski's campaign said their internals have the senator well ahead. 

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), who endorsed Miller in June, recorded a last-minute robocall for the campaign that went out to voters Monday. She also posted a fundraising appeal on her Facebook page trumpeting Miller's efforts to raise $30,000 for a late TV buy. 

"Joe may be the underdog in this fight (because by using the power of a politician’s incumbency after being given her Senate seat by her father, Lisa Murkowski has outspent Joe six to one), but Alaskans see through this and are recognizing Joe’s ability to be a real leader," Palin wrote on her Facebook page. 

Palin's political feud with the Murkowskis began in 2006 when she defeated Gov. Frank Murkowski (R) in a Republican primary. Palin has had a rocky relationship with his daughter, Lisa Murkowski, since.

In the robocall she recorded for Miller, Palin also hit Murkowski for voting with Senate Democrats and accuses the senator of "co-sponsoring cap-and-trade."

Despite being wooed by Senate Democrats, Murkowski opposes the current cap-and-trade proposal backed by President Obama. In 2007, Murkowski did co-sponsor a scaled-back version of the bill as part of an attempted bipartisan compromise.

—Updated at 3:05 p.m.

Staten Island Republican Michael Grimm is using an endorsement from Rudy Giuliani in his latest TV ad. The former New York City mayor says Grimm "knows first-hand the destruction caused by terrorists."

The ad comes on the heels of a TV spot released Michael Allegretti, Grimm's rival for the nod to face Rep. Mike McMahon (D-N.Y.). Allegretti's spot focused on the economy, and featured several shots of downtrodden-looking residents staring forlornly at the camera.

New York's primary is Sept. 14. Grimm is considered the frontrunner, having been backed by Giuliani and other high-profile Republicans such as Sarah Palin and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

Allegretti's spot was released last Friday.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) is denying an accusation from a Florida blogger who wrote over the weekend that Huckabee offered his endorsement to Florida gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott for $250,000. 

The blogger said the information came from a source inside the Scott campaign, and claimed the candidate rejected the offer.

Scott, who is largely self-funding his campaign, is locked in a tight primary with Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum (R). Huckabee has publicly backed McCollum, and headlined a rally with him ahead of Tuesday's primary.

HuckPAC responded forcefully Monday, calling the claim an outright lie and denying any contact between Huckabee and Scott. 

"Governor Mike Huckabee has never had a conversation with Rick Scott or anyone on his staff about such matters," HuckPAC's Hogan Gidley said in a statement Monday. "In fact, at the time the Scott campaign claims this was being discussed, Governor Huckabee had already early voted for Bill McCollum." 

"This lie from a mysterious source within the Rick Scott campaign shows how dishonest and desperate his campaign is," Gidley continued. "If Rick Scott made this claim, he needs to publicly and immediately admit this is total lie — and if he didn’t say it, he needs to fire whichever member of his campaign staff said it."

Ahead of Tuesday's primary, polls in the state show the McCollum-Scott race is too close to call. 

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) will go toe-to-toe with George W. Bush — for book sales.

The release of Jindal's book, titled Real Hope, Real Change: New Conservative Solutions to Rescue America, has been pushed back to November. The delay, which a spokesman said resulted from the BP oil spill and its aftermath, means Jindal's book will be released at the same time as Bush's memoir, Decision Points.

Bush's book, and the coinciding interviews that are already scheduled, will draw national attention and Jindal might lose more than just royalties as a result. He could miss an opportunity to burnish his credentials as a national figure. The governor is widely considered to be a potential presidential candidate, although he recently said he plans to run for reelection in 2011.

If Democrats are going to minimize their losses this fall, the party has to mobilize enough of last cycle's so-called "Obama coalition" — largely young, minority and first-time voters in 2008. 

Those are all groups that are usually less likely to vote in midterm election years but will be key for Democrats in November.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is promising a robust get-out-the-vote effort this fall and is touting its start Monday with a Web video. 

It features Democratic field organizers talking up their efforts in scenes from the districts of several endangered Dems in 2010, including Reps. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Ohio) and Tom Perriello (D-Va.). Watch it here. 

The committee has a series of house parties set for this week to drum up attention for Saturday's "National Day of Action." The goal is to knock on some 200,000 doors in what the committee says is the earliest it has ever started its GOTV efforts.

The DNC is also promising a $50 million effort in 2010, largely focused on field operations.