I think there are some very dumb Democratic Senators. Both Torricelli and Harkin were going toward relatively easy re-elections until ethic or their lack of got in the way.

I am disgusted by Torricelli and if it turns out Harkin knew about and planned this taping I;m sure my opinion of him will drop to. This whole thing is so totally stupid and I can't believe how anyone can get so caught up in the political game that they lose their better judgment.

Ask Nixon . . .

There is also a potential scandal brewing in the campaign of Rod Blagojevich in Illinois.

I've been thinking maybe I should just tune out until election day. The latest STUPID MISTAKES by Democratic candidates is really irking me. Why in the world would Harkin, Blagojevich, or any other DEM even risk scandal when they are so close to victory. It is beyond me. Some Democratic candidates are starting to remimd me of AL Gore in 2000. They make stupid mistakes and beat themselves.

Pierre, SD

I think Blagojevich would win although may be not by 20%. However, Harkin may be another matter.

The so-called Illinois scandal won't have legs -- Blagojevich failed or forgot to report moving some campaign funds to a supporter's downstate bank? Big whoop. If anything, it might help him downstate as it shows he is willing to "spread the wealth".

I know this supposed scandal is a bit more complicated, but not in a way that paints Blagojevich as corrupt or hits voters in the pocketbook. This'll blow over, especially when the intra-GOP battle in the state is far more entertaining.

Where is the Blagojevich news reported?

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-gov27.html

After seeing the details, it doesn't look like there's enough there to make this into a big issue. But I really wish candidates would learn not to stonewall on these things.

Sabato is crazy. A new poll out today gives Harkin a 54-34 lead. The entire polling period covered days after this taping story came out. This one's over. Harkin will have the first easy re-elect of his career.

Is the poll with Harkin up 20 Democratic or independent (even if it's a Dem poll it means he's probably up at least 10)?

And earlier in the cycle, people were talking up Ganske as one of the GOP's best challengers and that he had a really good chance to win (and this was AFTER the Jeffords switch, which gave Harkin has top trump card, the chairmanship of the Agriculture Committee). Why hasn't he been the candidate everyone thought he would be?

It was a Des Moines Register poll. One caution: though it was taken over the course of the days the tape "scandal" percolated -- and showed no damage over those days -- it's possible, should a "Harkin did SOMETHING wrong" feeling take hold, this poll might have been too early to catch it. But probably not -- that's a big gap to bridge; Iowa is a (lately) Dem-leaning state, and a solid majority seems to have at least provisionally decided to keep Harkin.

At this point, it's hard to imagine any GOP-er's numbers going higher. They've already had their best boost (September 11th anniversary Bush suck-up; Iraq 24/7); from here on out it's going to be mostly the economy, stupid (whether the press emphasizes it or not). I expect many Republican candidates to hit a trough in October.

AVADem: Conventional wisdom held that Greg Ganske was one of the better GOP challengers because he is one of the more moderate Republicans. The thought was that was a perfect fit for Iowa, against the more liberal Harkin, who always seems to be in tough reelection fights. Often, that conventional wisdom holds true. But in this case, I don't think it was. I think Bill Salier, the more conservative candidate would have done better. Ganske does not generate much enthusiasm amongst his base (they consider him far too moderate), and is not a very good campaigner.

Too bad for Ganske there were no good cars made in 1974.