Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.) indicated Wednesday that he would have a hard time backing his Democratic primary rival Jeff Greene, should Greene defeat him in Florida’s Senate primary.

On a conference call with reporters Wednesday, Meek said “I don’t like to live in the world of hypotheticals,” and labeled Greene “a Republican.”

“Hypothetically — and I do mean hypothetically in a big way — if he was to advance from the Democratic primary then Floridians would be looking at three Republicans debating one another,” Meek said on the call, referencing a potential three-way race between Greene, Marco Rubio (R) and Gov. Charlie Crist (I). 

The billionaire Greene is self-funding his bid and has already spent millions on TV ads. The latest polling numbers in the race have Meek and Greene close, but show a large number of undecided voters. 

Meek led Greene 28 percent to 25 percent, but a full 37 percent of voters were undecided in a recent Public Policy Polling poll.    

Last week, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) indicated that the DSCC would back the self-funding Greene if he won the primary, but may not fully contribute to his cause.

“We always support whoever is our nominee at the end of the day,” he said. “I expect that to be Kendrick Meek. And, you know, until it’s different, we’re with Kendrick Meek and we’re doing everything we can to help him.”

Asked specifically if the DSCC would embrace Greene, Menendez said, “We always support our nominees. Now ‘support’ has all different connotations to it. I don’t spend money everywhere I have a nominee, because I don’t have that much money.”

—J. Taylor Rushing contributed to this post.

New York House candidate Michael Grimm (R) now has the full support of his party’s 2008 presidential ticket.

Following an endorsement from Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) last week, Sarah Palin announced Wednesday she’s backing the former FBI agent.

“This decorated Marine and Persian Gulf War veteran took on organized crime and Wall Street corruption as an undercover agent,” Palin wrote on her Facebook page. “He’ll represent New Yorkers with just as much integrity and courage as he defended them in the FBI and the Marine Corps.”

Grimm said he was “proud” to have the former Alaska governor’s support. “Her support for common sense solutions to the problems facing our nation make her one of the most important leaders in the Republican Party today,” he said in a statement.

He’s vying against businessman Michael Allegretti for the GOP nod to face Rep. Mike McMahon (D-N.Y.). 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) maintains a narrow edge over his Republican challenger Sharron Angle, according to a new Rasmussen poll out Wednesday. 

The poll has Reid ahead of Angle by two points — 45 percent to 43 percent — with 7 percent preferring another candidate and 4 percent still undecided. 

The poll surveyed 750 likely voters and has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 4 percentage points.

A large part of the story continues to be the high unfavorable numbers for both candidates. A full 48 percent of respondents said they have a “very unfavorable” view of Reid, while 41 percent said the same about Angle. 

Overall, Rasmussen said 55 percent have at least a somewhat unfavorable opinion of Reid, and 56 percent view Angle at least somewhat unfavorably.

Given the recent polling trend out of the state, Rasmussen shifted the Nevada Senate race from the “toss-up” category to “leans Democratic” Wednesday. 

“While Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is barely ahead of challenger Sharron Angle, the fact that he has the advantages of incumbency and that Barack Obama won the state by 12 percentage points helps tip the balance towards the incumbent,” Rasmussen wrote. 

The Colorado Republican gubernatorial primary remains in disarray.

Businessman Dan Maes (R) on Wednesday said robocalls were going out to Republicans telling them he’s withdrawn from the race.

Maes and former Rep. Scott McInnis, the other Republican in the race for the GOP nod, had been asked to withdraw from the field by Tom Tancredo. The former Republican congressman said it would be a “disaster” if either man was their party’s nominee because McInnis is embroiled in a plagiarism scandal and Maes has been fined for campaign-finance violations.

Both have refused — this week, Tancredo entered the race on the American Constitution Party ticket.

Maes said the robocalls, which claim to be from “Maes campaign headquarters,” were “cheap shots.”

“My campaign has been focused on a positive, conservative message from the beginning, and dirty tricks in the 11th hour are a clear sign that my message is resonating with voters,” he said in a statement.

He was alerted to the calls by several supporters. 


“I’m proud to notify the citizens of this state that I’m in this race for the long haul, and I have every intention of becoming Colorado’s next governor,” Maes said.

The primary will be held Aug. 10.

Two freshmen Democrats said Wednesday they didn’t expect Rep. Charles Rangel’s (D-N.Y.) ethics problems to hurt the party in November. 

“Are people concerned about ethics in Congress? Of course, they always are,” Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) said at a breakfast hosted by the Third Way, a Democratic-leaning think tank. “Going back to the founding of the Republic, they think they’re all mostly scoundrels so it’s not entirely surprising that another one’s uncovered.”

Rangel has an organizational meeting with the House Ethics Committee scheduled for Thursday and could face a public ethics trial depending on whether a deal is reached. 

“I think it’s a sad and isolated case that will have a limited impact,” Connolly said. “It adds to the narrative that they’re all corrupt, sadly, but I don’t think it’s going to be a dispositive issue in the election.”

He added, “My constituents don’t even know who [Charlie Rangel is].”

Asked if Rangel should resign, Connolly demurred. “I’m not going to pre-judge anybody,” he said. “He has his day in court.”

Voters in Rep. Tom Perriello’s (D) south-central Virginia district haven’t raised concerns about Rangel.

“I was at several festivals this weekend in conservative-leaning counties and I didn’t get asked a single time about it,” Perriello said. “I think Republicans, who would be most likely to gin this up, have so many of their own ethics problems going on that I don’t think they’re really that eager to have that [be a defining issue].”

Concerns about the economy will override any headlines Rangel’s potential ethics trial would generate, he said. “People want jobs, people want to be able to feed their families and pay their bills right now.”

Ohio Senate candidate Rob Portman (R) went up this week with his third TV ad of the campaign. The latest spot picks up on a theme that was developed during the contentious Democratic Senate primary.

Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner (D) spent months criticizing Lt Gov. Lee Fisher (D) for leaving his post as the Strickland administration’s jobs czar, and now Portman is doing the same.

“Fisher says hold him accountable for his job record,” the announcer says in the new 30-second ad.

A spokeswoman for Portman said it’s a “statewide buy.”

Stevens & Schriefer Group is doing Portman’s TV advertising this cycle.

Fisher’s campaign called the ad a “political smear.”

“Congressman Portman spent 20 years in Washington supporting tax breaks to companies that sent Ohio jobs overseas,” Lynne Bowman, Fisher’s campaign manager, said in a statement. “If Ohio voters want to see the jobs Congressman Portman created after decades in Washington, they will have to go to Mexico, India, and China.”

—Updated at 2:40 p.m.

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.

The on-again, off-again Senate campaign of former Rep. Rob Simmons (R-Conn.) is apparently back on again less than two weeks before the Aug. 10 primary.

At a debate Tuesday night with businessman Peter Schiff, Simmons said, "I am running for the United States Senate," something he has not said with clarity over the past two weeks despite a recently launched statewide TV ad buy.

Simmons suspended his primary campaign after he lost out on the party's endorsement to former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon in May. McMahon has largely been focusing her fire on state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal (D) since then.

McMahon did not take part in Tuesday's primary debate, leaving the stage to Schiff and Simmons, whose intentions on the race were still unclear prior to the event.

In an interview with The Hill last week, Simmons denied his ad buy signaled a resumption of his primary campaign. Simmons labeled the ads "public service announcements," and said he simply wanted to ensure his supporters knew his name remained on the Aug. 10 ballot.

Simmons had pledged not to seek the nomination if he didn't win the party's endorsement at the state convention.

The McMahon campaign has criticized Simmons's indecision, but has thus far not re-focused any campaign attention on the former congressman.

But if Simmons plans to actively campaign across the state in the final stretch of the primary, McMahon will likely have to pay some attention to him, even though he lacks a staff or any real campaign infrastructure.

The Associated Press reported early Wednesday that Simmons's wife and daughter will handle his schedule for the remainder of the campaign.

Not since the mid-1990s have voters been so concerned about the federal budget deficit, according to polls.