2010 Senate

With Republicans picking up a Senate seat with Dan Coats's win and two House seats so far with Todd Young winning in the Ninth and Larry Bucshon winning in the Eighth (Brad Ellsworth's old district), the Hoosier State seems to have turned back to the GOP after its flirtation with Obama and the Democrats in 2008. Ben Smith reported senator-elect Coats's wife Marsha summing it up: "Indiana is a red state again." 

1. Latest signs of the Dem-Pocalypse.  PPP polls Maine and finds both Democratic  incumbents under 50%.  In ME-1, Democrat Chellie Pingree leads Republican Dean Scontras 47-38.  In ME-02, Democrat Michael Michaud leads Republican Jason Levesque 45-38.  This is despite the fact that the Republican challengers in both districts are so unknown that 2/3rds of the voters do not have an opini

Via Jennifer Rubin, Rasmussen shows Marco Rubio with a 10-point lead over Charlie Crist in the Florida Senate race:

Maybe if Rory Reid weren't having to distance himself from his father to the point of forgoing his last name, Harry Reid would be more familiar with the idea of a Nevadan, Hispanic Republican. In his quest for the Nevada governorship, Rory Reid is getting trounced in polls at the moment by Brian Sandoval, a former federal judge, Attorney General, and...Hispanic Republican.

Charlie Cook writes at the Cook Political Report (subscription required):

Rory: Well, this is awkward.

Harry: What, that I named you after a Gilmore Girl?

Rory: No, that that's the least offensive part of my name, now. No small feat, Dad.

Harry: It's like my ol' coach used to say, "If you're gonna hit the mat, hit it hard." Or was it, "take a lickin' and..."

Rory: Again with this?

Nevada GOP Senate candidate Sharron Angle's position on Social Security and Medicare--that the programs should be eventually phased out for a completely private system--is a big enough political liability that Harry Reid shouldn't feel the need to distort it. But that's exactly what he does in his first ad attacking Angle. 

Harry Reid's favorability numbers are in the gutter, voters hate the new health care law, and Nevada has the highest foreclosure rate and the second highest unemployment rate of any state in the country. By all indications, the Senate majority leader's seat should be ripe for the picking.

Republicans may have a better chance of winning the Senate than the House in the midterm election in November.  And their prospects for taking over the Senate appear to be getting better by the day.  At least that’s what polls indicate.  But politics can be fickle and poll numbers fleeting.  So nothing is guaranteed.

The Milwaulkee Journal-Sentinel caught the former governor before he gave a speech to a Tea Party gathering at the Wisconsin State Capitol today:

"My family didn't want me to run," Thompson told the Journal Sentinel moments before he gave a speech to a tea party gathering on the steps of the State Capitol.

This leaves the field open:

There's a reason he's been called "an inspiration to dour, foolish men everywhere."