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Grits
By Hastings Wyman
Southern Political Report
March 21, 2008 — GOP Targets Five Dixie Democratic Seats The National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee (NRCC) has included five Southern congressional districts among its 24 targets for making US House gains in this fall’s elections. The five Democratic incumbents that the GOP will focus on in Dixie are Nick Lampson (TX 22), Tim Mahoney (FL 16), Jim Marshall (GA 8), Ciro Rodriguez (TX 23) and John Yarmuth (KY 3). All are freshmen, when incumbents are traditionally most vulnerable, except Marshall, who was elected in 2002. Kentucky: McCain Leads Obama and Clinton A SurveyUSA poll of Kentucky voters released March 19 shows John McCain leading both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton by significant margins. McCain beat Obama 64% to 28%, a whopping 36-point margin, and beat Clinton by a still healthy 53% to 43%. While the Democratic candidates were not pitted against each other, the fact that even among Democrats, McCain garnered more votes than Obama suggests that Clinton will win the Bluegrass State’s May 20 primary. Mississippi: Lott Backs Underdog in 1st District Runoff Former US Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) is supporting second-place finisher Greg Davis, mayor of Southhaven, over top vote-getter Glenn McCullough, former mayor of Tupelo ,in the April 1 runoff to choose the GOP nominee for the 1st District vacancy created by the elevation of Roger Wicker (R) to the US Senate. According to Washington’s Roll Call newspaper, the Davis campaign released a letter from Lott donating $8,000 to Davis. Although Lott once supported the appointment of McCullough to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) board, the senator apparently became disenchanted with McCullough for failing to reduce the TVA’s deficit. Meanwhile, McCullough, who has been endorsed by third-place finisher Randy Russell, has released a poll showing him with a 45%-38% lead over Davis. The poll was taken for McCullough several days after the March 11 primary by On Message. The Democrats also have a runoff, between Prentiss County Chancery Clerk Travis Childers and state Rep. Steve Holland. The special General Election between the runoff winners is on April 22. Florida: Buchanan’s Poll Shows Solid Lead A Republican poll in Florida’s 13th District (Sarasota, etc.) shows freshman US Rep. Vern Buchanan (R) leading his second-time Democratic challenger Christine Jennings by 53% to 37%. The poll was taken March 5-6 for the NRCC. Buchanan’s lead in the survey shows a considerable improvement over his 369-vote win in 2006. Texas: Democrats Make Use of Primary Turnout When the votes were tallied in the Lone Star State on March 4, an astonishing 2,868,000 thousand Texas voters had participated in the hotly contested Clinton-Obama battle in Democratic presidential primary, to 1,385,000 -- less than half as many -- in the more lukewarm McCain-Huckabee competition on the GOP side. By itself, this might or might not be a harbinger of things to come in November. But Texas Democrats are working to take advantage of their record high turnout in the fall campaigns. They now have a huge list -- nearly 2.9 million -- of Democratic-leaning voters, along with their addresses, to use to boost turnout in the fall. Some one million Democrats showed up again for precinct caucuses that night, and in addition to their names and addresses, the party also has their telephone numbers and email addresses. Stay tuned. |
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