The Washington-based environmentally centric League of Conservation Voters on Tuesday morning has scheduled a conference call with reporters to announce a “six-figure” independent expenditure campaign against Republican U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon. Navin Nayak, the LCV’s senior vice president of campaigns, will tell reporters that McMahon is the newest member of the organization’s “Dirty Dozen” who “consistently vote against clean energy and conservation and are running in races in which LCV has a serious chance to affect the outcome,” according to the LCV’s website. Currently on the list is Mitt Romney and Sen. Josh Mandel of Ohio. “Since 1996, more than 60 percent of the Dirty Dozen have been defeated,” the webist says.
Archive for the ‘Election 2012’ Category
Murphy, McMahon continue sparring on Social Security, Medicare, as Sunday morning debate gets closer
MERIDEN – Sensing an opening in his political street fight with Republican Linda McMahon, U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy on Wednesday continued to punch away on earlier remarks she made to conservative Tea Party members on ending Social Security.
During a campaign stop at the Meriden Center, a Genesis HealthCare nursing home and short-term rehab center, Murphy told about 100 patients and staff members that he’ll help “fix” the programs over the long term without threatening benefits.
“You deserve to have a plan you can count on,” said Murphy, in a tough campaign with McMahon for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Joe Lieberman. Later, he told reporters that McMahon “doubled down” on the a recently found statement to Tea Party member favoring elimination of Social Security, despite attempts by her campaign staff to “walk her back” from them..
“She supports ending the program in 10 years if changes aren’t made,” Murphy said. “In a short amount of time, we’re trying to let people know what Linda McMahon’s true feelings are about Social Security. Linda McMahon consistently says that she will consider the privatization of Medicare and on more than one occasion has said that she would support sun setting Social Security.”
Corry Bliss, McMahon’s spokesman, said Wednesday that Murphy’s support of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act itself cut Medicare.
“Every time you think Congressman Murphy’s campaign can’t possibly be any more pathetic, he sinks to an even lower low,” Bliss said. “Simply put, Congressman Murphy is desperately trying to cover up his own disastrous record on entitlements, which includes gutting Medicare funding by $716 billion and calling for middle-class tax hikes to pay for Social Security shortfalls. There’s only one candidate in this race who has a record of cutting entitlements to seniors, and that’s Chris Murphy.”
Politifact.com, a service of the Tampa Bay Times, reports that charges from Rep. Paul Ryan and other Republicans on the effects of the $716 billion cut are “mostly false.”
Although the anticipated savings over 10 years under the ACA is $716 billion, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, they are targeted at hospitals and insurance companies, not patients and their families, Politifact.com reports.
Max Richtman, president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, was scheduled to appear with Murphy, but he failed to make the event and Murphy’s staff said it was due to a prior commitment. So U.S. Sen. Dick Blumenthal was a late fill-in, warning Courtney Young, administrator of the facility, other staffers and a most elderly group that “Social Security is under siege.” He asked them to vote for Murphy, who he said would be a good partner for him in the Senate.
Live presidential debate blog with Themis Klarides and William Tong
Live video from your iPhone using Ustream
Please join our two political experts, Democratic state Rep. William Tong and Republican state Rep. Themis Klarides, as they score the first presidential debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney Wednesday night. Jump in the fray with your own comments and observations about the debate, which starts at 9 p.m. and runs through 10:30 p.m.
Our live blog starts at 8:45 p.m.
Five debates that changed the course of presidential campaigns
There are memorable moments in presidential debates — and then there are important moments.
The memorable moments — Rick Perry’s “oops,” Lloyd Bentsen’s “you’re no Jack Kennedy,” Admiral Stockdale’s “who am I, what am I doing here” — are, well, memorable, but they often don’t determine the ultimate winner of the presidential race.
Then there are debates that prove to be pivot points in a presidential election campaign. Here are examples of five such encounters — four presidential debates and one vice-presidential event — that played a role in the ultimate result in November.
1. Ronald Reagan vs. Jimmy Carter, 1980
Three days before the Oct. 29 debate, a Gallup poll found Democratic incumbent Jimmy Carter ahead of Republican challenger Ronald Reagan, 47 percent to 39 percent. But Reagan’s masterful performance, and Carter’s off-night, dramatically changed the trajectory of the race. Two moments from the debate have become political lore: Reagan’s “there you go again” rejoinder and his “are you better off than you were four years ago” closing statement. About two-thirds of Americans thought Reagan won the debate and the final pre-election Gallup poll showed Reagan edging into the lead, 47 percent to 44 percent. The trend toward Reagan continued and he ended up besting Carter, 51 percent to 41 percent.
2. Jimmy Carter vs. Gerald Ford, 1976
Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter took a massive 62 percent to 29 percent Gallup Poll lead over incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford after the 1976 Democratic convention. But Ford continued to chip away at Carter’s advantage and had pulled into a statistical tie (trailing 47 to 45 percent) leading into the debate where Ford asserted — vigorously and repeatedly — that Poland and the rest of Eastern Europe were free of Soviet domination. Polish-American voters (and many others) begged to differ. Immediately, Carter regained a lead, 48 percent to 42 percent. He hung on to win, 50 percent to 48 percent.
3. John F. Kennedy vs. Richard Nixon, 1960
Vice President Richard Nixon clung to a narrow lead over Sen. John F. Kennedy into September 1960, and was up by 1 percentage point when he met his Democratic rival on Sept. 26 for the first televised presidential debate in history. While debate judges declared that Nixon had won two of the four debates, Kennedy had won one and the final encounter was a draw, the public was more impressed by Kennedy’s mastery of the new medium of television. The telegenic senator took a 4 percentage point lead out of the final debate and barely eked out a win on Election Day, 49.7 percent to 49.5 percent.
4. Bill Clinton vs. George H.W. Bush, 1992
Democratic challenger Bill Clinton opened up a 25 percentage point Gallup poll lead over incumbent Republican George Bush, 57 percent to 32 percent, following his highly successful Democratic National Convention in New York. But Bush’s persistent attacks on Clinton (“failed governor, small state”) helped him narrow the lead to 1 percentage point with just weeks remaining in the campaign. A town hall debate in Richmond, Va., where Bush famously looked at his watch as Clinton was answering a question, turned things around for the young Arkansas Democrat. Clinton’s lead grew from 41-40 percent to 43-36 percent in a week.
5. Dick Cheney vs. Joe Lieberman, 2000
Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush had traded leads in the 2000 presidential race for a month. Gore held his biggest lead of the year in a Gallup Poll, 50 percent to 41 percent, before the Oct. 5 vice presidential debate in Danville, Ky. Some voters worried that Bush had scant foreign policy experience, so the pressure was on his running mate, former Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, to reassure doubters. Cheney dominated Democrat Joe Lieberman at Centre College. Instant polls showed the public overwhelmingly believed that Cheney had won — 43 percent to 24 percent, according to an ABC News survey. The next Gallup presidential match-up showed Bush and Cheney back in the lead, 48 percent to 41 percent.
Ten most memorable moments from presidential debates
Most presidential debates are lost to history, inconsequential encounters in the wide sweep of presidential campaigns. But a few moments have been locked into our memories. Here are ten of the key most intriguing moments in the 52-year history of presidential debates:
1. Richard Nixon, sick and sweaty, looks bad even though he sounds good, 1960.
The debate that made televised debates famous. Radio listeners thought that Vice President Richard Nixon was the better debater. Television viewers — and there were many more of them — thought Sen. John F. Kennedy was the superior communicator. That’s because radio listeners could not see the Republican candidate, who was battling an illness and looked uncomfortable and occasionally shifty. Historians say the debate was a critical factor in Kennedy’s narrow victory.
2. Gerald Ford says Poland is free from Soviet domination, 1976.
The biggest gaffe of presidential debates came when Gerald Ford declared that Eastern Europe in general (and Poland specifically) was not dominated by the Soviet Union. Polish-Americans, and millions of other Americans from the so-called “captive nations” of Eastern Europe begged to differ.
3. Ronald Reagan asks if you’re better off now than you were four years ago, 1980
They’ve been asking this question ever since, but Ronald Reagan did it first and best. Since almost nobody thought the U.S. was better off economically than it was when Jimmy Carter became president in January 1977, the former California governor’s query resonated with dissatisfied Americans.
4. Reagan’s great comeback: “There you go again.”
Desperate to dent Reagan’s political armor, a flailing Carter tried to portray his conservative opponent as an extremist who would end Social Security and Medicare as we knew them and might just provoke a nuclear conflagration. Reagan disarmed the Democratic incumbent with another one of his signature one-liners.
5. Reagan’s quip defuses the age issue, 1984.
Reagan performed poorly in the first presidential debate of 1984 and polls showed Walter Mondale narrowing the Republican incumbent’s big lead. The Gipper stopped Mondale’s surge with a joke about age: “I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.” Mondale laughed but later told his wife Eleanor that the quip had sealed Reagan’s victory.
6. CNN’s Bernard Shaw ties Michael Dukakis in knots with a hypothetical question about the rape and murder of the candidate’s wife.
In a 1988 debate in Los Angeles, Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis answered a strange question about the possible rape and murder of his wife Kitty by repeating his opposition to the death penalty. His cool, analytical answer failed to connect with TV viewers.
7. George H.W. Bush is flummoxed in a town hall debate by a citizens’ question about people having trouble making ends meet, 1992.
A woman at the debate in Richmond asked the Republican incumbent how the nation’s economic troubles had affected him personally. Bush appeared stumped by the question and eventually talked about how the economy was improving.
8. Al Gore sighs, rolls his eyes
At a debate in Boston, Al Gore’s body language ended up more famous than his words. He sighed, he rolled his eyes, he even invaded George W. Bush’s space at one point. The immature behavior marred an otherwise strong debate performance.
| The Daily Show with Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Indecision 2000 – Sigh Language | ||||
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9. Al Gore’s mention of a “lock box” in 2000 was so widely parodied that he even made a joke of it himself in this Saturday Night Life spoof.
Al Gore assured voters that Social Security money wasn’t going to be spent for other purposes if he were elected president in 2000. So he invented the concept of a “lock box” to protect Social Security from rampaging lawmakers. After George W. Bush became president, Congress and the president once again raided Social Security to pay for tax cuts and government spending.
10. Technical difficulties mar 1976 presidential debate in Philadelphia.
About eight minutes before the end of the 1976 debate at the Walnut Street Theater, the audio feed from the bicentennial encounter in Philadelphia. Television anchors tried to fill the void — awkwardly.The candidates stopped eventually stopped talking and stood at their podiums — awkwardly.
Electoral College Update: Bad news for Romney on eve of debates
RICK DUNHAM'S ELECTORAL MAP -- October 1, 2012
Welcome to our weekly Electoral College update. Every Monday morning between now and Election Day, Nov. 6, we will analyze the latest poll results from the 12 most competitive states and let you know which ones are more Republican than the national average and which are more Democratic. We’ll also give you an update on any major shifts in the battleground states in the preceding week.
The big picture:
On the eve of the first presidential debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, polls show the Democratic incumbent leading in every battleground state. For the first time since we began our Electoral College Update, Obama has a clear lead in states (and the District of Columbia) with more than 270 electoral votes. He now stands at 271, one more than the magic number needed to claim victory.
There’s been a lot of kvetching among Republican loyalists over polling methodology. My thought: Rick’s Rule #1 of polling is that any individual poll can be wrong but they can’t all be wrong. Even Fox News’ polling shows Obama ahead.
The best way for Romney to redraw the map in a hurry is to perform well in the three upcoming debates. The national average over the past week stood at an Obama lead of 4.0 percentage points, almost unchanged from 3.9 a week ago and 3.1 a week two weeks ago.
Advantage: Obama.
Trend: None
The battlegrounds: Colorado
Lead: Obama +2.9
Compared to national average: Romney +1.1
Momentum over past week: Obama
Rick Dunham rating: Toss-up
Florida
Lead: Obama +3.2
Compared to national average: Romney +0.8
Momentum over past week: Obama
Rick Dunham rating: Toss-up
Iowa
Lead: Obama +3.7
Compared to national average: Romney +0.3
Momentum over past week: Obama
Rick Dunham rating: Lean Obama
Michigan
Lead: Obama +8.8
Compared to national average: Obama +4.8
Momentum over past week: Obama
Rick Dunham rating: Obama favored
Nevada
Lead: Obama +3.8
Compared to national average: Romney +0.2
Momentum over past week: Obama
Rick Dunham rating: Toss-up
New Hampshire
Lead: Obama +3.0
Compared to national average: Romney +1.0
Momentum over past week: Obama
Rick Dunham rating: Toss-up
New Mexico
Lead: Obama +10.0
Compared to national average: Obama +6.0
Momentum over past week: None
Rick Dunham rating: Obama favored
North Carolina
Lead: Obama +1.1
Compared to national average: Romney +2.9
Momentum over past week: Obama
Rick Dunham rating: Toss-up
Ohio
Lead: Obama +5.9
Compared to national average: Obama +1.9
Momentum over past week: Obama
Rick Dunham rating: Lean Obama
Pennsylvania
Lead: Obama +8.0
Compared to national average: Obama +4.0
Momentum over past week: None
Rick Dunham rating: Obama favored
Virginia
Lead: Obama +3.7
Compared to national average: Romney +0.3
Momentum over past week: Romney
Rick Dunham rating: Toss-up
Wisconsin
Lead: Obama +7.8
Compared to national average: Obama +3.8
Momentum over past week: Obama
Rick Dunham rating: Lean Obama
Spotlight state: Iowa
Numbers based on RealClearPolitics poll data compiled by Max Kranl of the Hearst Newspapers Washington bureau and analyzed by Rick Dunham. Our thanks to RealClearPolitics for the timelines.
Ten races where Mitt Romney could sink Republican candidates
Mitt Romney’s campaign woes have taken a toll on Republican candidates in Democratic-leaning or swing states.
Polls show that some Republicans who had been running ahead of Democratic opponents have now slipped into tight contests, while others who had been surging around Labor Day have now dropped behind.
The impact of Romney’s struggles is not as evident in heavily Republican states, where President Obama appears to have little or no coattails.
Here are ten elections where Obama’s strength — or Romney’s weakness — could sink Republican nominees:
Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown
The freshman Republican shocked the Democratic establishment by winning a 2010 special election for the Senate seat long held by Ted Kennedy, but now he’s suffering from anti-Romney backlash in Mitt’s home state. The GOP presidential candidate, a former Massachusetts governor, is trailing in Bay State polls by as many as 33 percentage points. Even though the state has a large bloc of independents — and Brown is one of the most independent Republicans in the Senate — a massive Obama blow-out could make a flawed Democratic nominee, Elizabeth Warren, a senator.
Connecticut Senate candidate Linda McMahon
Just when Republican Senate candidate Linda McMahon was surging, Mitt Romney’s “47 percent” controversy came along. The former wrestling CEO, who has run a disciplined and well-organized campaign, saw a short-lived lead over Democrat Chris Murphy turn into a small but significant deficit over the past three weeks. McMahon still has a chance if her attacks on Murphy’s attendance record and personal finances become significant issues in the eyes of the voters. But a double-digit win by Obama could doom her best efforts.
Rhode Island House challenger Brendan Doherty
Freshman Democrat David Cicilline is in trouble not because of anything he’s done in Washington, but because of the mess he left behind in Providence. Cicilline, the city’s former mayor, said two years ago that he was leaving the city in excellent condition. The current mayor, Democrat Angel Taveras, has described Providence’s finances as a ‘‘Category 5 hurricane.” His Republican opponent, former Rhode Island State Police Chief Brendan Doherty, has remained competitive in a state with a three-to-one Democratic registration edge and an independent governor who is backing President Obama. Cicilline is trying to tie Doherty to the Romney-Ryan agenda, prompting Doherty to tell the Associated Press: ‘‘I am not a part of any radical position. I’m running as Brendan Doherty. I’m my own man.’’ Doherty could be the right candidate in the wrong year.
California Rep. Dan Lungren
Democrat Ami Bera, the former chief medical officer of Sacramento County and a medical professor at the University of California, Davis, ran a respectable race against veteran California conservative Dan Lungren two years ago but fell short amid the national GOP landslide. This year, the tide has turned and California Republicans are playing defense in a state where President Obama could win by 20 percentage points. Lungren and San Diego Republican congressman Brian Bilbray are the incumbents most likely to be swept away if Romney doesn’t close the gap.
Illinois Rep. Bob Dold
Illinois freshman Rep. Bob Dold holds the distinction of representing the most Democratic congressional district currently in Republican hands. Add to that the fact that Illinois is President Obama’s home state and he’s going to win biiiiiiiiiiig there. One Tea Party freshman from Illinois, Joe Walsh, is already toast. But Dold, one of the most independent of the GOP freshmen, has run a solid campaign and remains in a competitive contest with Democratic businessman Brad Schneider. Romney’s performance could well determine Dold’s future.
Washington state gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna
The state of Washington is the most Democratic in the nation when it comes to its governorship. No Republican has been elected governor here since 1980. At the outset of this year’s campaign, GOP Attorney General Rob McKenna has a good chance of making history. Recent polls show the race a dead heat and McKenna, a Texas native, leads among independents. But the Democratic tide could help former congressman Jay Inslee keep the Democratic streak alive.
Virginia Senate candidate George Allen
Until Romney’s September woes, the Virginia Senate race was the nation’s closest. But recent polls show Democrat Tim Kaine moving ahead of Republican George Allen in a battle of popular former governors. Kaine’s lead mirrors Obama’s — and there are not many Virginians who will split their tickets. If Romney rebounds — and it’s possible that he will — Allen will, too. If not, Kaine will keep this Senate seat in Democratic hands.
Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick
Democrats are working overtime to tie Republican congressman Mike Fitzpatrick to Romney. They are calling the incumbent “mini-Mitt” and “Mike FitzRomney” after he told a Tea Party group that Congress needs people who “sign the front of a paycheck, not the back of the paycheck.” An upset winner in 2010, the suburban Philadelphia Republican entered the current election year a clear favorite when the Democrat he ousted, Iraq War veteran Patrick Murphy, decided to run for Pennsylvania attorney general rather than seeking a rematch. But Obama swept Philadelphia’s suburbs in 2008 and is likely to win comfortably among Fitzpatrick’s Bucks County constituents. That gives hope to Democratic nominee Kathy Boockvar, who Fitzpatrick derisively dismisses as “a Pelosi protégé.”
New York House challenger Chris Collins
Democrat Kathy Hochul won a dramatic upset in a 2011 special election for a western New York House seat surrendered by Republican Chris Lee, whose shirtless photo made him one of the Empire State’s laughingstock lawmakers. (Think Anthony Weiner.) Republicans have a 40,000 voter edge in registration here, and GOP nominee Chris Collins, a former Erie County Executive, is well-known. Collins held a slight edge in August polling, but that was before Romney’s slump. With Obama favored to win New York by 20 percentage points or more, Collins could come up short.
Arizona Senate candidate Jeff Flake
The tough immigration enforcement law that won the state national admirers and detractors has had one unintended effect: It has strongly motivated Latinos and Democrats to come to the polls in 2012. The result is closer-than-anticipated races both for president and Senate in Arizona. While Romney seems likely to hang on, the prognosis is more iffy for Rep. Jeff Flake, the early favorite to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Jon Kyl. The beneficiary is Rich Carmona, President George W. Bush’s U.S. Surgeon General, who is the Democratic Senate nominee. Recent polling shows a close race. If Romney avoids further setbacks, Flake should be able to hold on. If the bottom falls out on the GOP presidential candidate, however, Carmona could be one of the surprise winners on Nov. 6.
Ten races where Barack Obama could sink Democratic incumbents
There’s been a lot of media attention lately focused on Republican candidates who are distancing themselves from struggling presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
But Mitt Romney’s not the only presidential candidate who made turn out to be toxic for some of his own party’s candidates. Barack Obama’s lack of popularity in Republican-leaning states is endangering some Democratic incumbents who are trying to survive the anti-Obama tide in their states.
Here are ten Democratic incumbents who could lose their jobs because of Obama:
1. Montana Sen. Jon Tester
Jon Tester narrowly unseated Republican Sen. Conrad Burns six years ago in the national backlash against George W. Bush. But Bush is not on the ballot now. And President Obama remains unpopular in Montana. Tester is running as an independent-minded incumbent, but Republican Denny Rehberg is doing his best to make Obama an anchor that will sink the freshman Democrat.
2. Utah Rep. Jim Matheson
If there is one state where a pro-Romney wave could unseat a Democratic incumbent, it’s in heavily Mormon Utah. Romney could win three-fourths of the vote, and a Romney romp could cost the state’s lone Democratic congressman, Jim Matheson, his seat. His opponent, Tea Party favorite Mia Love, is mayor of Saratoga Springs, the first black female mayor in Utah history. If she beats Matheson, she would become the first black Republican woman to serve in Congress and the first African American Mormon lawmaker.
3. North Carolina Rep. Larry Kissell
Rep. Larry Kissell survived the Republican onslaught of 2010 only to see North Carolina’s Republican legislature make his district far more challenging for the Democrat. The GOP took African-American neighborhoods in Charlotte out of the former social studies teacher’s district and added heavily Republican suburban and rural areas. Kissell is stressing his independence (and his vote against President Obama’s health-care reform law) in a district that cast 63 percent of its votes for George W. Bush and 57 percent for John McCain in the past two presidential elections. Romney could carry the district by 15 percentage points in 2012, and that likely would spell doom for Kissell.
4. Georgia Rep. John Barrow
Republicans are confident that Barack Obama will sink four-term Democrat John Barrow, the last remaining white Democrat in the Deep South. After all, the Georgia legislature added significant numbers of rural white voters (a.k.a., Republicans) to a district anchored by the African-American neighborhoods of Savannah and Augusta. Republican nominee Lee Anderson is so confident of winning that he’s refusing to debate Barrow — even though he engaged in 17 candidate forums in the Republican primary and runoff campaigns. Anti-Obama fervor will bring conservatives out to vote in the district — but African-American turnout is likely to be high, as well.
5. Pennsylvania Rep. Mark Critz
Mark Critz skipped the Democratic convention in 2012. That tells you a lot about his view of whether Barack Obama is an asset or a liability in his southwestern Pennsylvania district. Critz narrowly won a 2010 special election to replace the late Jack Murtha and defeated fellow Democratic incumbent Jason Altmire in a bruising 2012 primary in an oddly shaped district concocted by the Republican-dominated Pennsylvania legislature. The new 12th District, which wraps around Pittsburgh, favored John McCain in 2008 by 54 percent to 45 percent. Republicans are confident that their candidate, Keith Rothfus, will get a big boost from anti-Obama sentiment out here in deer hunter territory.
6. Kentucky Rep. Ben Chandler
The rematch in Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District between Democratic incumbent Ben Chandler and Republican challenger Andy Barr could end up as close as their 2010 nail-biter. Democrats say 2012 is not 2010 — and say the incumbent has a double-digit lead in their polls. But Obama’s political machine is weak in Kentucky, and Chandler is bracing for presidential fallout.
7. West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin
In West Virginia’s 2012 Democratic presidential primary, a convicted felon serving time in a Texas prison received more than 40 percent of the vote against President Obama. In the Democratic primary. Deep distaste for Obama in Appalachia gives any West Virginia Democrat reason to fret in November. Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin is favored over Republican rival Bill Maloney, who hosted Texas Gov. Rick Perry at a summertime campaign stop. But Democrats aren’t taking anything for granted in a state where Romney is likely to win by more than 20 percentage points.
8. West Virginia Rep. Nick Rahall
The Mountaineer State’s only surviving Democratic House member also isn’t taking anything for granted. A Democratic poll showed veteran incumbent Nick Rahall with a massive lead over Republican Jack Snuffer. But Republicans are hoping that Romney’s coattails will be long — at least in West Virginia.
9. Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown
Ohio’s Senate race seems inextricably tied to the presidential contest. Both President Obama and Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown have opened up statistically significant leads. But Republicans note that even with Romney’s current woes, Josh Mandel is still running within 8 percentage points of the Democratic incumbent. If Romney can turn things around — and if anti-Obama Republicans flood to the polls — Brown could face a close call.
10. Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill
Claire McCaskill’s Republican opponent, Todd Akin, has become the butt of jokes and national ridicule for a string of sexist comments. But he’s still within striking distance of freshman Democrat Claire McCaskill. Mitt Romney is likely to win comfortably in the Show Me State. In a state that elected a dead man to the Senate in 2000, anything is possible.
