Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* The racist and dishonest video Donald Trump unveiled last week is no longer just an online fixture: NBC aired it as a televised commercial during a football game last night.
* Each of the major pre-election generic-ballot polls offers good news for Democrats. NBC/WSJ shows Dems with a 7-point lead (50% to 43%); ABC/Post also shows Dems up by 7 (51% to 44%), and CNN puts the Democratic lead at 13 points (55% to 42%).
* In Missouri’s U.S. Senate race, the final NBC News/Marist poll found Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) up by three over Josh Hawley (R), 50% to 47%.
* In Florida’s gubernatorial race, NBC News/Marist found Andrew Gillum (D) with a small lead over Ron DeSantis (R), 50% to 46%. Quinnipiac, meanwhile, found the Tallahassee mayor with a larger lead, 51% to 44%.
* In related news, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue (R) campaigned for DeSantis over the weekend, and at a rally, the Trump cabinet official told supporters this election “is so cotton-pickin’ important to the state of Florida.”
* And speaking of the Sunshine State, in Florida’s U.S. Senate race, NBC News/Marist found Bill Nelson (D) leading Rick Scott (R), 50% to 46%, while Quinnipiac showed the incumbent Democratic senator with a slightly larger lead, 51% to 44%.
* Despite the palpable panic in Democratic circles about Sen. Bob Menendez’s (D) re-election bid in New Jersey, Quinnipiac’s new poll found him leading Republican Bob Hugin, 55% to 40%. * In Iowa, the final Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll found Fred Hubbell (D) with a very small lead over elevated Gov. Kim Reynolds (R), 46% to 44%. * Speaking of the Hawkeye State, Rep. Steve King (R) is finally running campaign ads again — he’s recycling a spot from four years ago — against a polling backdrop that suggests his re-election bid won’t be easy. * And speaking of vulnerable long-time incumbents, the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC with close ties to the House Republican leadership, is making 11th-hour investments in Alaska, where Rep. Don Young (R) is facing some headwinds.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past." Recommended
