Alaska Senate race could hinge on a legal wrangle

latimes.com: "The outcome of the U.S. Senate race in Alaska may well turn on a legal standard established by a state election so hotly contested it was eventually decided by a coin toss.
After a recount, two lawsuits and much hand-wringing, the 2006 balloting was still a tie. But despite the coin-flip ending, the case firmly established the state's approach in deciding disputed write-in ballots. 'We have consistently emphasized the importance of voter intent,' a court ruled.
In the current race between Republican Joe Miller and write-in candidate Lisa Murkowski, the Republican incumbent, legal experts say that Miller will probably have a hard time disputing write-in ballots just because of slight misspellings."

Related articles

• Fate of Alaska Race Hinges on Write-In Count (foxnews.com)
• Alaska Recount Process (moritzlaw.osu.edu)
• Miller files federal case over counting write-in ballots in Alaska (moritzlaw.osu.edu)
• Joe Miller: Alaska Election Officials Using 'Different Standard' for Lisa Murkowski (politicsdaily.com)
• Is Joe Miller Trying to Disenfranchise Alaskans? (cbsnews.com)
• Alaska Senate Race: Write-In Ballots Break Towards Murkowski (huffingtonpost.com)
• Spelling Errors in the Alaska Write-in Ballots (volokh.com)

New Whitman and Fiorina polls

Boxer 46% -- Fiorina 45%

Brown 48% -- Whitman 44%

REUTERS: Democratic candidates are clinging to narrow leads over their Republican rivals in two key California races with less than three weeks to go until November 2 elections, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found on Friday.

Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer's lead over Republican Carly Fiorina among likely voters in California is only one point, 46 percent to 45 percent, down from a four-point advantage early this month.

Friday's poll found Democrat Jerry Brown's lead over Republican Meg Whitman in the race to succeed Arnold Schwarzenegger as California governor is four points -- 48 percent to 44 percent among likely voters.

That's slightly narrower than the lead of 50 percent to 43 percent he held in a poll taken between October 2-4.

EDITORIAL: Carly Fiorina for U.S. Senate - The Fresno Bee Endorses Carly Fiorina

Image via Wikipediafresnobee.com: "We wish Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer would spend more time seeking bipartisan solutions to the nation's problems and be more open to political compromise.

The biggest problem in Washington, D.C., is strident partisanship, and an unwillingness to work with the opposing party to solve the problems facing the nation. Boxer has gone so far left that moderates can't see her in the distance. She seems to be caught up in Washington's gotcha politics, more interested in beating Republicans than focusing on what's best for California and the nation."

Related articles

• Calif. candidates flex political muscles (abclocal.go.com)
• Will Fiorina surge in California? (powerlineblog.com)

Reid, Angle Stay Tied In Nevada Senate Race Despite Barrage Of Attack Ads

Huffington Post: "A barrage of attack ads from both sides has done zilch to yield a front-runner in Nevada's heated Senate race, according to a new poll that shows voters remain evenly split between Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican challenger Sharron Angle."

Related articles

• Reid and Angle Tied in Nevada Senate Race (realclearpolitics.blogs.time.com)
• Reid/Angle Race Remains Tight (outsidethebeltway.com)
• Reid, Angle stay tied in race for US Senate (sfgate.com)
• Nevada Senate Race in Dead Heat (newsy.com)
• Still Dead Even in Nevada (politicalwire.com)

NRSC Spending $1.2M In WV - Hotline On Call

The NRSC is going up with an ad in West Virginia on Friday, a sure sign that Republicans believe their chances in the state are on the rise. The ad, which is backed by a $1.2M buy, hits on the campaign strategy businessman John Raese (R) has already been using: Tie Gov. Joe Manchin (D) to Pres. Obama.

via hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com

Related articles

• Gov Manchin (D CAND, WV-SEN) values real estate values over miners' lives. (redstate.com)
• In WV, Popular Governor Manchin Hindered by the D Next To His Name (blogs.abcnews.com)

Republicans Better at Social Media

HeadCount: According to a study, Republicans are much more adept at connecting to their base via social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

While Democratic U.S. Senate candidates have a little less than 300,000 followers on Facebook, their Republican counterparts have 1.43 million “fans.” On Twitter, 520,000 people follow Republican candidates for Senate, whereas only 90,000 follow Democratic candidates.

Related articles

• Republicans Dominate Democrats in Social Media (fastcompany.com)
• Study: Voters Expect Politicians to be Active on Social Networks...Are they Listening? (socialtimes.com)