Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Former President Barack Obama this week unveiled a new get-out-the-vote video, aimed specifically at young voters. For good or ill, the video is strictly non-partisan and makes no reference to specific candidates or parties.
* In the new Fox News poll, Democrats lead Republicans on the congressional generic ballot, 49% to 42%. The seven-point advantage is unchanged from a survey from the same pollster last month.
* In Tennessee, a new poll from Vanderbilt University found former Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) with the narrowest of leads over Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R) in the state’s U.S. Senate race, 44% to 43%.
* In New Jersey, where some recent polling pointed to trouble for incumbent Sen. Robert Menendez (D), two new surveys show him with relatively comfortable leads over his Republican challenger, Bob Hugin. Quinnipiac found the Democrat ahead, 51% to 44%, while Monmouth showed Menendez leading, 49% to 40%.
* After Sen. Heidi Heitkamp’s (D-N.D.) campaign accidentally revealed the names of sexual assault victims without their permission, the senator accepted the resignation of a staffer who took responsibility for the mistake. * Though most election watchers have come to see Rep. Rod Blum (R-Iowa) as a likely loser in the midterms, the Congressional Leadership Fund super PAC, closely aligned with the House Republican leadership, is making a last-ditch effort in the district, launching a new attack ad targeting Blum’s Democratic rival, Abby Finkenauer. * In Utah, Rep. Mia Love (R), facing a tough re-election fight, has asserted that the Federal Election Commission has cleared her of any wrongdoing after she raised money for a primary fight she knew she would not have. Love’s claims of exoneration, however, may not have been true. * And in New York, where Rep. Chris Collins (R) is running for re-election despite being under federal criminal indictment, the embattled Republican raised just under $33,000 in the last quarter, according to his campaign’s latest FEC filing. Making matters worse, the total fundraising since his August criminal indictment was $80.
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
