WE'VE MOVED! Democratic Convention Watch is now at http://www.DemocraticConventionWatch.com
Let’s start today with lying. The conventional wisdom is that when someone lies, their eyes look down and to the left. See if it doesn’t look that way to you as Gordon Smith (REPUBLICAN for Senate in Oregon) tries to tie himself to Barak Obama.
Jeff Merkley (D) actually is endorsed by Barack Obama (D). (Note the “D” relationship…)
Now a bit about money. In case you were wondering, the most expensive Senate race so far this year is the Minnesota race between Al Franken (D) and Norm Coleman (R). If you include everyone ever in this race this cycle, it comes to a little over $23 million, or about $22.5 million if you only include the last men standing. For a full list of the most expensive races this year, Open Secrets keeps the list. As an aside, I’ve mentioned before that self-funding doesn’t work so well. Back in 2006, 28 House and Senate hopefuls self-funded a minimum of a million dollars. Only three of them won.
Of course, the exceptions to this are Jon Corzine(D), who spent about $60 million of his own money to capture the NJ Senate seat in 2000, and Michael Bloomberg (I). who spent over $70 million of his own money to become Mayor of Gotham in 2001. Corzine is now Governor of NJ, and Bloomberg is still Mayor of NYC.
Norm isn’t, however, spending much money on rent. While in DC, he lives in the basement of a house worth $989,900, and pays $600/month in rent. Sometimes. But sometimes he pays in furniture and not in cash, and sometimes his checks do not get cashed. Last week the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington asked the Senate Ethics Committee to look into it.
Over at DSCC, Amy Rubin is out “setting the record straight” in various Senate races around the country. Below is her most recent work on Susan Collins (R – ME).
Her competitor is Tom Allen (D). If you live in New England, please be advised that tickets are still available for the Bonnie Raitt concert/Tom Allen fundraiser.
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