Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's (R) work for Republican candidates is "helping" Democrats, their Senate campaign chief said Friday.

Sen. Robert Menendez (N.J.), the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), said that Democrats would have an easier road to holding onto their seats this fall due to Palin's choice of candidates.

"I appreciate Sarah Palin helping us by having candidates [who] are rather extreme for their states," Menendez said during an appearance on MSNBC. "If she wants to continue to endorse candidates that are out of the mainstream, in places like Arizona and Colorado, then let her continue to do so."

Palin has been an active participant in Republican primaries in House, Senate and gubernatorial elections throughout the year, backing candidates through missives on her Facebook page and donations from her SarahPAC.

Many of the candidates Palin has backed have fallen squarely in the camp of the "Tea Party" movement, the more stridently conservative faction that's made itself known in GOP primaries throughout the country. Those primaries have resulted in a number of first-time candidates: Sharron Angle in Nevada, Rand Paul in Kentucky and others.

But those primaries have also meant defeat for many of the Republican candidates in those races Democrats feared most come November. Top-tier recruits like former Rep. Rob Simmons (R) in Connecticut lost or withdrew from many races, leaving states like Connecticut with GOP nominees like former WWE CEO Linda McMahon.

Palin has put a special emphasis on conservative women in general, who are running in competitive races across the county.

These "mama grizzles" as Palin calls them, includes women like California Senate candidate Carly Fiorina and South Carolina gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley, who she's formally endorsed, and women like McMahon and Angle, who have not received a formal nod of approval from the former governor.

"This year will be remembered as the year that common-sense conservative women get things done for our country," Palin said in a speech, as highlighted in a video released by her political action committee on Thursday.

Menendez brushed off the success Palin has had in more reliably red states, where she's managed to help more conservative candidates snag the GOP nomination.

"Well, South Carolina is not a place that we would be playing in these races," he said. "I'm not worried about Sarah Palin; I'm happy that she's supporting candidates that are winning against the establishment, and are out of the mainstream for the electorate in the general election."

Updated at 9:28 a.m. and 11:16 a.m.

Democrats launched a new website on Friday highlighting "BP Republicans" meant to highlight different GOP lawmakers' defenses of the oil company.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) seized on Nevada Republican candidate for Senate Sharron Angle's criticism of a $20 billion fund BP created to pay damages to victims of the oil spill, and sought to tie other GOP lawmakers to BP.

The DNC set up a new site, BPRepublicans.com, which casts GOP lawmakers as representing the interests of the oil company in Washington, and not their constituents.

The first image on the site targets Angle, who called the $20 billion account a "slush fund" on Wednesday, before backing off those remarks later in the day.

The site builds on political momentum Democrats saw after Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) expressed similar sentiments about the fund during a hearing last month where BP CEO Tony Hayward was testifying.

"It's more than Barton redux, it proves that an expression of empathy toward BP is not an isolated misstatement by a wayward Republican," said a DNC official, pointing also to Republicans' opposition to raising the liability cap for oil companies who cause accidents, or the GOP's opposition to an energy and climate bill.

But the site is just as much about taking issue at Angle as it is anyone.

"If Sharron Angle's going to fight for BP and be their candidate we thought we'd make it official. Besides, we understand that Sharron Angle is a fan of having more than one campaign website," said the DNC official. "Since she took down the one the one with her true positions, we thought the voters of Nevada would be interested to know who she's really fighting for."

Angle is the Republican candidate this fall against Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who, as Senate majority leader, serves as the top Democrat in that chamber. Republicans have made a point of trying to defeat Reid this fall in what has become an especially heated race.

To that end, President Barack Obama was in Nevada on Thursday evening to help raise money for Reid.

Obama himself ripped Angle during his visit to Nevada.

"Let me tell you, most Nevadans I meet -- and I've spent a lot of time here -- you know that," Obama said of Angle's remarks. "I've been seeing you.  Most of the people I meet here in this state, they don't think like that.  They don't subscribe to that kind of thinking.  So why would you want somebody who has that philosophy representing the people of Nevada?"

Tancredo was speaking at an event for a Colorado Senate candidate, who denounced the comments.

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), who has weighed in on a handful of contested Republican Senate primaries this cycle, stumped for Colorado Senate candidate Ken Buck on Thursday. 

DeMint endorsed Buck in April, and his Senate Conservatives Fund has donated to Buck’s primary campaign against former state Lt. Gov. Jane Norton (R).  

On a conference call with reporters Thursday afternoon, DeMint downplayed the division that has defined several GOP primaries across the country this cycle.

“I think it’s healthy for the party when Republicans have some good choices in primaries,” DeMint said.

Asked whether he would support Norton should she win the nomination: “I will definitely support her,” DeMint said. 

Ohio Senate candidate Lee Fisher (D) continues to trail his Republican rival in fundraising.

Fisher announced Thursday he's raised some $1 million since March 31 and now has "more than" $1 million cash on hand.

Earlier in the day, former Rep. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) announced he raised $2.65 million in the second quarter. That leaves him with $8.8 million cash on hand, according to the campaign.

Portman has been able to stockpile cash after getting a clear path to the nomination. Fisher, however, had to spend more than $2 million to defeat Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner in the May Democratic primary.

The Fisher camp tried to put a brave face on the numbers.

"Lee will have the resources he needs to make the choice clear -- between Congressman Portman's 20 years in Washington and Lee's work to create jobs in Ohio," Fisher spokesman John Collins said in a statement.

Democrats were obviously concerned about Fisher's fundraising. Vice President Joe Biden made his second fundraising trip to Ohio for Fisher last week, speaking at a lunch in Cleveland.

The Portman campaign said there is an "apparent enthusiasm gap" between the two sides.

One of the GOP’s handful of black candidates for Congress condemned President Barack Obama for exploiting race for political gain. 

Allen West, the Republican challenging Rep. Ron Klein (D) in Florida’s 22nd congressional district, sharply criticized the Obama administration for having declined prosecuting the New Black Panther Party on voter tampering charges allegedly for political reasons.

“For an Administration that promised a new era in race relations, Obama and the Democrats in Congress have demonstrated that race will continually be exploited for political gain,” West said in a statement. 

West was picking up on a meme that’s made its way through conservative blogs in recent days, based on whistleblower claims made by a former Justice Department employee. Charges against the New Black Panthers for their actions on Election Day 2008 weren’t pursued because of racial politics, the employee charged. The Justice Department says charges were dropped due to lack of evidence. 

West drew on his own history with race to condemn the New Black Panthers, as well as other black Democrats who he said had “remained silent” when he’d been called racially-tinged names during the course of his campaign. 

“The die has been cast in this election cycle — Democrats and their liberal progressive socialist allies will continue to play the race card when it is politically expedient,” West said. “I demand an investigation of the New Black Panther Party and the placement of it, along with any extremist group, onto the Terrorist Watch List if warranted. If that is not done prior to my taking the oath of office as a United States Congressman, it will happen soon thereafter.”

The words have more weight coming from this candidate, who’s seen as one of two black Republican candidates who have a good shot at making their way to Washington next year. 

West is seen as a top challenger to Klein after having come closer than expected to the incumbent Democrat in 2008. Republican Tim Scott is seen as likely to win his race in South Carolina’s first congressional district this fall, too. Either man, if elected, would be the first GOP African-American lawmaker in Congress since former Rep. J.C. Watts (R-Okla.), who retired in 2003.

—Updated at 11:30 p.m. July 10

This post has been corrected from an earlier version

President Barack Obama attended two fundraisers for Senate candidate Robin Carnahan (D) in Kansas City.

The decision clears the way for Gov. Joe Manchin to call a November 2010 special election for Byrd's seat.

At least one lawmaker was noticeably absent from President Obama's Thursday visit to Smith Electric Vehicles in Kansas City, Mo.

Both sides of Kansas City were represented in Reps. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) and Dennis Moore (D-Kan.), but Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), whose district borders the city limits, wasn't there.

Skelton, who chairs the House Armed Services Committee, is expected to have a tough reelection race this cycle, and it's possible that appearing with Obama would make it more difficult. The president's approval rating in Missouri was at 40 percent in a recent poll.

Skelton's office said it came down to a scheduling conflict.

"As the details of the president's trip were finalized after the congressman had cemented his schedule, he was attending previously arranged engagements," William Chapman, a spokesman for Skelton, said in an e-mail.

Skelton's perceived vulnerability has drawn a number of Republicans to seek the nomination to face him. Whoever emerges from the crowded field is expected to be competitive against the 17-term incumbent.