Pearce: Senator Elizabeth Dole has released a new ad responding to Hagan's outrage at her recent ad targeting Hagan for attending a fundraiser at the home of, and taking money from, Godless Americans PAC founder, Woody Kaplan.
Pearce's New Initiative: Listen First Project
Friday, October 31, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Election 2008: 5 Days to the Finish Line
Pearce: The Dole Force has landed in North Carolina. I'll be on the campaign trail in Raleigh from now until the big day. It's so great to be back in the Tarheel State! Now let's re-elect Senator Elizabeth Dole!!Presidential Race:
Time: Why hasn’t Obama run away with this? Because the country remains culturally divided. Because the more it looks like Democrats will score huge gains in Congress, the more worried “soft Republican” voters get. More...
CNN: Focusing on three states will provide a window through the November 4 election chaos. No other state provides as much excitement up and down the ballot as North Carolina. More...
The Fix: On our latest Fix electoral map, we have Obama at 349 electoral votes -- his highest total since we began picking the playing field earlier this fall -- while McCain stands at 189 electoral votes... North Carolina, which we are giving to McCain, could go for Obama. More...
Dome: The 2008 election in North Carolina can be summed up as an analogy with 1932, 1976 and 1992. More...
NYT: North Carolina's straight ticket flawed. More...
WP: Obama accepting untraceable donations. More...
RCP: No toss-up map has Obama with 375 electoral votes to McCain's 163.
NC Senate Race:
Duke Chronicle: When Sen. Elizabeth Dole was named Duke's "Leader of the Year" by The Chronicle in 1958, the honor left little doubt in many students' minds that the Woman's College Student Body President would go far after graduation. More...
FOXNews: North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole's campaign is refusing to take down an ad that accuses her Democratic rival, Kay Hagan, of accepting money from "godless Americans," after Hagan demanded that the Republican incumbent "cease and desist." The two campaigns are in a nasty dispute over the commercial, which began running statewide in North Carolina Tuesday. More...
Pearce: Senator Dole's new ad targeting Hagan for her involvement with the Godless Americans PAC has gained a great deal of national attention today. CNN, The Hill and Dome have interesting articles about the ad controversy.
Note: Both of Dole's new ads are posted below. The embedded videos do not appear in emails, so click "Pearce Godwin" to see them on the site.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Election 2008: Only 8 Days Away
Presidential Race:AP: Republican John McCain declared "I'm going to win it," dismissing polls showing him behind with little more than a week to go in the presidential race. A confident Democrat Barack Obama drew a jaw-dropping 100,000 people to a Denver rally and rolled out a new TV ad asserting his rival is "running out of time." More...
WSJ: John McCain proclaimed Sunday that his presidential campaign remained viable, while Barack Obama warned his supporters against overconfidence in the home stretch of the general election. More...
Cook: Since early September this race has shifted rather dramatically in Obama's favor. As long as the focus is almost exclusively on the economy, this race is almost unwinnable for McCain... At this stage, the most relevant question would seem to be: "How big will the train wreck be for the Republican Party up and down the ballot in November." More...
Rothenberg: While major media outlets are hesitant to pronounce the presidential race over for fear of being harassed by Republicans and conservatives, there isn’t much doubt at this late date that it is over. Democratic Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) will be elected president in less than two weeks. More...
Sabado: The fundamentals of this election year could not be more Democratic. You've got a terrible economy, a deeply unpopular president and an unpopular war. You put those elements together and it's going to produce a Democratic victory. ... The only question is, what size? More...
Washington Post: There are no "Obama 2008" buttons, banners or T-shirts visible here at U.N. headquarters, but it might be difficult to find a sliver of territory in the United States more enthusiastic over the prospect of the Illinois senator winning the White House. More...
Pearce: Joe Biden was angered by hard hitting questions during an interview with a local Florida station on Saturday. The Obama Camp is now punishing the station.
CNN: Sarah Palin warned that putting Obama in the White House along with Democrats running both chambers of Congress will turn the country into a nanny state. More...
Dome: Some talking points about North Carolina for political talking heads.
Dome: The case for Obama winning in North Carolina.
Dome: Local political experts disagree as to which presidential candidate will take North Carolina. See the opinions and analysis of Wrenn, Davis, Pearce & Kromm.
RCP: Obama already has 306 electoral votes to McCain's 157. 75 remain toss-ups.
Senate Race:
Washington Times: Sen. Elizabeth Dole is currently in the fight of her career to keep her U.S. Senate seat in North Carolina. A number of factors have made the seat, formerly held by Sen. Jesse Helms, harder to hold onto during this election cycle. More...
The Fix: Boy is this race between Sen. Elizabeth Dole and state Sen. Kay Hagan (D) tough to call! This could well be the closest contest (in terms of raw vote) on the Senate docket this cycle. More...
WRAL: Dole remains passionate about public service. More...
Canadian Star: They're just a couple of old codgers sitting on their rocking chairs in front of a North Carolina country store, but they could be on the vanguard of a radical change in the way American politics is conducted over the next two years. More...
CNN: Sens. Mitch McConnell and Elizabeth Dole are two top Republicans lawmakers who find themselves fighting to hold on to their Senate seats. They're also two reasons why Democrats are talking 60 -- the number of seats needed to secure filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. More...
CNN: GOP argument is don't give President Obama a blank check... Dole has become perhaps the most vulnerable of the red state Senate Republicans in what might be the clearest sign of the GOP's woes this election season. More...
San Fran Chronicle: The shock in Senate races isn't that Democrats are winning the Republican West, but that they're on the verge of taking seats in the South, the GOP's stronghold since the Reagan presidency. More...
Winston-Salem Journal: Dole said in an interview that she hopes some Obama voters will split their tickets and vote for her -- as clear an indication as any that times have changed since the Helms era. If Obama wins North Carolina or comes close, Dole will be counting on ticket-splitters. More...
Other:
**Note**
I've added several live feeds from major news outlets to my blog. Look along the left side of the page for the latest headlines from Drudge, Fox, CNN, Politico, Under the Dome, Roll Call, The Hill, Washington Post and more. Don't have time to check all these sites? Get the quick rundown at www.pearcegodwin.com.
Also, vote in my election polls. McCain is currently leading Obama 16-15, and Dole is leading Hagan 20-8.
Friday, October 24, 2008
A Special Report from NC & Dole's New Ad
Pearce: In a special report for PG, Brittany Matheson, a Duke student from North Carolina, gives her first-hand perspective of the Senate race. Here's what she has to say from the middle of the campaign battlefield..."A few months ago, only a small number of people were even aware that a Senate race was taking place in North Carolina. Now it is a topic of great debate and discussion. From personal appearances in local parades and her son’s talks on Duke’s campus to the countless bumper stickers and t-shirts that seem to be sprouting up everywhere, Kay Hagan has made her name and face known to the voters of North Carolina. Around the early voting locations, I see an average of two Hagan signs for every one of Dole’s. On campus, I have yet to see an Elizabeth Dole shirt, but Kay Hagan shirts, bumper stickers, and buttons are sported by campaigners and students.
With the current economic situation, the general mindset seems to be centered on the need for change. People outside of polling places are urging voters to cast an entirely Democratic ballot, preying off the general discontent. The “fix-all solution” that many are advocating, they believe, starts with a change in our nation’s leadership.
Another issue in this election is the fact out-of-state students at Duke have switched their voter registration to North Carolina due to its surprising potential to be a swing state in the Presidential Election. With a limited knowledge of NC politics, or what Senator Dole has accomplished in office, these voters may tend towards the Democratic challenger simply for the sake of change. Senator Dole has also been hurt by a huge number of negative television ads focusing on her supposed ineffectiveness in the Senate. Finally, from my perspective, Kay Hagan has been more visible and willing to interact with the people, while Senator Dole has spent more of her campaign time in invitation only, fundraising events.
With time before Election Day running short, Senator Dole needs to change the tone of the race. With any luck, she can foster momentum that was not originally thought necessary but which is now crucial for her to win reelection."
Pearce: Senator Elizabeth Dole released another new ad today in which she speaks directly to her constituents about what she believes in. This is another positive ad meant to remind North Carolina voters who Elizabeth Dole really is, the "favorite daughter" they anxiously sent to the U.S. Senate in 2002. View the ad below.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Virginia Foxx (NC-5) fights for reelection
Pearce: Congresswoman Virginia Foxx from North Carolina's 5th district is facing a tough fight for reelection, due more to the R beside her name than the strength of her opponent. Dr. Foxx is facing Roy Carter, an unknown highschool football coach with no experience in elected office. However, in an election cycle in which "change" has become the golden rule, the Congresswoman is being tested. Virginia Foxx should be able to withstand the anti-Republican sentiment by reminding voters of her Appalachian conservative values and record of using her feisty personality and impressive work ethic to make things happen for them in the U.S. Congress. Voters should also know that she has recently received the "Tax Fighter Award" from the National Tax Limitation Committee which said “Congresswoman Foxx’s votes on tax and spending issues earned her an ‘A’ grade and the Tax Fighter Award." "Congresswoman Foxx has been a major asset to taxpayers across America. She has the courage to challenge the orthodoxy of Washington spending and earmarks.” This is certainly the kind of voice most citizens of the 5th distict want in Congress. I therefore expect that, after taking a good look at Dr. Foxx's four year record in the House, voters will send her back for a third term.Presidential Race:
Pearce: Bucking the trend of most other national polls, the new AP poll shows a White House race that is dead even.
FT: Mr. Obama has the strongest sustained lead any candidate has enjoyed for 12 years and is also bolstered by leads in many of the individual battleground states, such as Pennsylvania, that outperform his position in the national surveys. More...
Election 2008: 13 Days Away
Presidential Race:Cook: Maybe some cataclysmic event occurs in the next two weeks that changes the trajectory of this election, but to override these factors, it would have to be very, very big. More analysis...
Rove: In the campaign's final two weeks, voters will take a last serious look at both presidential candidates. The outcome of the race isn't cast in stone yet. If Mr. McCain succeeds, he will have engineered the most impressive and improbable political comeback since Harry Truman in 1948. But having to reach back more than a half-century for inspiration is not the place campaign managers want to be now. More...
Buchanan: This center-right country is about to vastly strengthen a liberal Congress whose approval rating is 10 percent and implant in Washington a regime further to the left than any in U.S. history. Headed for the White House is the most left-wing member of the Senate, according to the National Journal. To the vice president's mansion is headed Joe Biden, third-most liberal as ranked by the National Journal, ahead of No. 4, Vermont Socialist Bernie Sanders. More...
New York Post: Joe Biden warned that America's enemies would test Barack Obama with an international crisis within six months if he's elected president - a shocking comment John McCain eagerly pounced on yesterday to claim Obama isn't ready to be commander-in-chief. More...
Senate Race:
WSJ: Though we doubt most Americans realize it, this would be one of the most profound political and ideological shifts in U.S. history. Liberals would dominate the entire government in a way they haven't since 1965, or 1933. If the U.S. really is entering a period of unchecked left-wing ascendancy, Americans at least ought to understand what they will be getting. Americans voting for "change" should know they may get far more than they ever imagined. More...
RCP: As is the case in House races across the country, Republicans are watching their hopes of preventing a cascade of Senate seats tumbling toward Democrats collapse. Top 10 Races...
Pearce: The following are excerpts from a personal appeal going out to all of my facebook friends in the Tarheel state...
"I have had the distinct honor of working in her Senate office on Capitol Hill since July. I have seen first-hand her tireless work and great heart for North Carolina… Senator Dole has the passion and principles that North Carolina needs and deserves… For decades, Senator Dole has given her all for causes bigger than herself… She is the right person to represent North Carolina and lead our country out of this current economic crisis and onto our greatest days… I believe in Elizabeth Dole and hope the voters of North Carolina allow me the opportunity to serve with her for years to come." See my entire message...
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Dole releases new ads targeting Hagan
Pearce: Elizabeth Dole's campaign has released two new ads targeting her oponent Kay Hagan for refusing to take a position and dodging questions about the most important issues of our time. See the new ads below. Also, check out the video bar on the left side of the page for all the latest ads from Dole.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
The Latest on Election 2008 & Pearce's Predictions
NYT: Before this campaign season, Senator Elizabeth Dole was not considered a particularly vulnerable incumbent. As Washington royalty with a gold-plated résumé, she won the seat once held by Senator Jesse Helms by a nine-point margin in 2002. But on Tuesday, when Mrs. Dole appeared at a rally for Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, the Republican candidate for vice president, she was appealing for her political life. More...N&O: In an e-mail sent to Kay Hagan supporters this week from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the former advisor to President Clinton undermined the DSCC's ad campaign, which has tarred U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole as ineffective. "But making history means taking down powerful red-state incumbents like Mitch McConnell, Elizabeth Dole, and Roger Wicker," he writes. More...
Pearce: Pat McCrory picks up big endorsements from North Carolina's major newspapers: Charlotte, Asheville, Greensboro & Winston-Salem. He has also taken the lead from Beverly Perdue in the race for the North Carolina Governor's mansion.
Pearce: The final presidential debate is over, and, while much more entertaining than the previous two, it did not feature the kind of "game-changer" that McCain seems to be in desperate need of. The candidates are now hitting the trail hard in an attempt to drive home their messages and sway still-undecided voters in the closing days of this marathon campaign.
PREDICTIONS:
Pearce: With 18 days left before the November 4th election, I'm making my predictions on the three races that matter most to North Carolina. I believe Barack Obama will be our 44th President. Although national polls are tightening this week, enough states are solidly, likely or leaning Obama to give him the victory with 305 electoral votes (270 are needed to win). Only four states remain toss-ups at this point, one being North Carolina, and Obama leads in each of them. My prediction is that Barack will win three of these four states and the presidency with 349 electoral votes to McCain's 189. John McCain, Elizabeth Dole and Pat McCrory will win in North Carolina. The tide could certainly change dramatically in the next 18 days, but for McCain, it would require a very significant event... October surprise anyone?
Note: Feel free to comment on my posts by clicking "Post a Comment" below. Let's hear your predictions...
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Latest on NC Senate Race
ABC: Whether Democrats can reach the 60-vote threshold depends on the outcome of races like the one in North Carolina, where Republican Senator Elizabeth Dole is seeking a second term in a race that was never supposed to be close. More...CNN: Voters seem more interested in voting for change than for the more conservative candidate in the presidential and Senate races, and that has made Elizabeth Dole a seriously endangered incumbent. More...
RCP: Latest NC Senate polls
As for the presidential race...
AP: Barack Obama and John McCain will both pursue the image of a strong leader in troublesome economic times as they meet Wednesday night for their third and final presidential debate. More...
Poll: Dole cuts Hagan's lead from 9 to 2
Dome: The Senate race has tightened. According to a recent survey by Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, Democratic Senate candidate Kay Hagan had 46 percent, Republican Elizabeth Dole had 44 percent and Libertarian Christopher Cole had five percent. Five percent were undecided."The movement here is similar to that seen in the Presidential race. Hagan is holding steady with an 11 point lead among independents, but Dole has made some in roads with Democrats, who now report supporting Hagan by a 75-16 margin, down from 79-12 last week," pollster Tom Jensen writes. More...
Monday, October 13, 2008
Campaign 2008 Update
Cook: McCain needs something big to change the dynamics -- something bigger than a kick-ass ad, a strong debate performance, or a misstep by Obama. If voters stay focused on the economy, this contest could soon be out of McCain's reach. If their attention returns to national security in the next week or so, he could still come back. More...Rothenberg: Barack Obama is heading to victory in the 2008 presidential election, and John McCain must do something to change that trajectory to avoid a loss. And McCain’s chances of doing that are growing dimmer and dimmer. More... Also, Rothenberg's Battleground State Ratings
Politico: John McCain’s chief strategist Steve Schmidt said Monday that the campaign is “well within striking distance” of Barack Obama. More...
Washington Post: A detailed look inside the poll shows just how toxic the national political environment has become for Republicans. Just eight percent of the national sample believe the country is headed in the right direction while a stunning 90 percent believe it is off in the wrong direction. More...
Politico: The Republican National Committee, growing nervous over the prospect of Democrats’ winning a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, is considering tapping into a $5 million line of credit this week to aid an increasing number of vulnerable incumbents, top Republicans say. More...
NYT: The anxiety is more acute this year, because Senator Obama is the first African-American major-party presidential nominee. And even pollsters say they can’t be sure how accurately polls capture people’s feelings about race, or how forthcoming Americans are in talking about a black candidate. More...
Wall Street soars as government pledges bank aid
AP: Wall Street stormed back from last week's devastating losses Monday, sending the Dow Jones industrials soaring a nearly inconceivable 936 points after major governments' plans to support the global banking system reassured distraught investors. All the major indexes rose more than 11 percent. The market was likely to rebound after eight days of precipitous losses that took the Dow down nearly 2,400 points, but no one expected this kind of advance, which saw the Dow by far outstrip its previous record for a one-day point gain, 499.19, set during the waning days of the dot-com boom.
Dole dips into personal funds for campaign
AP: Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole says she is spending some of her own money on her first reelection bid, trying to offset millions of dollars in negative spending Democrats have used to make the race one of the closest in the country. "You get such a lot coming at you and spending a great deal of time raising money -- there just comes a point when you feel like you need to put some skin in the game," Dole said.
More... http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/1253148.html
McCain: I will whip his you-know-what
Pearce: McCain visited his Arlington, VA campaign headquarters Sunday and vowed to whip Obama's "you-know-what" in Wednesday night's final debate. After a steady slide in the polls following his large convention bounce in early September, all three major tracking polls will show McCain chipping away at Obama's lead when they are released on Monday. This is still Obama's race to lose, in large part due to the current economic environment, but McCain is not going down without a fight. In an election year that has been historic and unprecedented in many ways, no one should write McCain off yet. A shift in voters' focus or an "October surprise" could change everything. We may still be in for a very late night on November 4th.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
The Latest on Campaign 2008
Politico: Dem strategists see landslide
Three weeks of historic economic upheaval have done more than just tilt a handful of once reliably Republican states in Barack Obama’s direction. Democratic strategists are now optimistic that the ongoing crisis could lead to a landslide Obama victory.
Politico: Dems could hit 60 Senate seats
The possibility that Democrats will build a muscular, 60-seat Senate majority is looking increasing plausible, with new polls showing a powerful surge for the party’s candidates in Minnesota, Kentucky and other states.
Sen. John McCain's 2006 demand for regulatory action on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could have prevented current financial crisis.
Pearce: Senator Dole goes on the offensive with two new television ads
Dole Camp: Senator Elizabeth Dole’s campaign began airing two new television advertisements this morning across the state. The 30 and 60 second ads continue to set the record straight after Kay Hagan and her liberal friends ran almost seven million dollars worth of negative ads distorting the facts and falsely attacking Dole’s record.
See the ads below.
Weekly Extras
AP: For Bush, last 100 days to feature 'no letting up'President Bush is down to his final 100 days in office as of Sunday. Don't expect a quiet fade into the Texas night.
AP: Paulson: Protectionism Won't Solve Credit Crisis
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told international leaders on Sunday that isolationism and protectionism could worsen the spreading financial crisis.
The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States recorded its largest drop ever as consumer demand continued to wane and oil prices slid, a prominent industry analyst said on Sunday.
McCain in Trouble
Cook: Since early September this race has shifted rather dramatically in Obama's favor. As long as the focus is almost exclusively on the economy, this race is almost unwinnable for McCain. It would take a major external event, the proverbial October Surprise, to shift the spotlight to national security or some other subject that would allow McCain to highlight his strengths. At this stage, the most relevant question would seem to be: "How big will the train wreck be for the Republican Party up and down the ballot in November." Obama currently has a 260 to 163 Electoral vote edge, with 115 Electoral votes in the Toss Up column. 270 are needed to win.Sunday, October 5, 2008
One Month Till the Final Bell!
Politico: With 30 days until Nov. 4, Karl Rove projects that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) would get at least 273 electoral votes – three more than are needed to win – if the presidential election were held today.But Rove warns that this race is “susceptible to rapid changes,” so no definite prediction is possible.
The remarkable forecast from the architect of the last two nationwide political victories underscores the straits that have rapidly enveloped Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) as the banking and credit crisis spread.
More... http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14294.html
Weekly Extras
Election 2008:Cook: GOP's Senate Stock Falls
Pearce: Elizabeth Dole recently released a new ad going after Kay Hagan's record in the North Carolina legislature. See the ad below.
After a week of drama, Congress passes bailout package
Reuters: The U.S. government enacted a landmark $700 billion bank bailout on Friday, but investors questioned whether it could contain a panic that began on Wall Street and spread to become a global financial crisis.
The U.S. House of Representatives approved the rescue plan by a vote of 263-171 on Friday. That sent the measure to President George W. Bush, who quickly signed it into law, concluding two weeks of high-stakes haggling over the plan that had roiled and captivated global markets.
More... http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE49267J20081003?sp=true
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