Polling and Political Wrap-Up, 6/23/09

This is going to be a fairly quick-hitter for a Wednesday, for a variety of reasons (one of which has to do with me not being able to wear shoes for part of the day…don’t ask). The main reason, though, is that new campaign news today has been harder to come by than the exact whereabouts of Governor Sanford. AK-Gov: Alaska Republicans Worry That Palin is Bailin’ Is Alaska Governor Sarah Palin about to go the Tim Pawlenty route? Over the past week, speculation has arisen that Sarah Palin may choose to forgo a second term as governor. A great quote in the article, by the by, from 2006 Independent candidate Andrew Halcro: “If you’re Palin, once you’ve flown first class, you don’t go back to coach.” GA-Gov: New Poll Shows Barnes, Oxendine Far In Front of Field Rasmussen polls both the Democratic and Republican primaries and show clear frontrunners in the field. Roy Barnes scores 48% of the Democratic primary vote (his nearest opponent, Thurbert Baker, had just 8%), while John Oxendine leads the GOP field with a lead of more than 20 points over Sec. of State Karen Handel. Rasmussen, for what its worth, releases their weekly generic Congressional ballot today, finding the Democrats with a two-point lead over the GOP. NY-23: Richter Not Inclined To Make A Save For Dems in Special Election The guys over at Swing State Project inquired about whether Mike Richter, onetime Rangers superstar goalie and New York resident, was interested in pursuing the special election in the 23rd district necessitated by the appointment of John McHugh to be Secretary of the Army. He has declined, as he has done so before when his name has popped up as a prospective Democratic candidate for office. DE-Sen: Castle Thinking About Florida No, Castle has not joined northerners Bob Smith and Tom Golisano (although Golisano shot down that rumor today) as people looking into the Florida Senate race. He is thinking about Florida, as in vacation. Or…possibly…retirement. Either way, it seems clear that he is not hankering to run for the Senate : They’ve asked me to run for the Senate as a Republican. I don’t know if I’m going to do that…my wife talks about beaches in Florida. I don’t know if I want to run for the House again, let alone for the four years of Biden’s term. Sounds like a guy who is only contemplating the race out of deference to his friends in the GOP. Not a ton of fire in that belly, if these remarks are to be believed. And the “run for the Senate AS A REPUBLICAN bit was kinda curious, as well.
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Polling and Political Wrap-Up, 6/23/09