NC-SEN

Fun With Numbers On TV: Burr's Latest Ad Attacks Marshall In NC-SEN (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | September 24, 2010, 9:02AM

Richard Burr campaign ad, "Future"

Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) is continuing his plan to seemingly repeat Sen. Kay Hagan's (D-NC) successful ad blitz that won her the 2008 election over Elizabeth Dole. Using the same two actors Hagan did in her old-men-rocking-on-a-porch spots, Burr is turning their elderly frustration against the Democratic nominee, Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, this year.

The new ad focuses on the standard GOP bogeymen of the cycle -- rising deficits, spending and cap-and-trade.

"Six!" one old man yells from his rocking chair.

"Nope, a little before five," the other deapans from his rocking chair.

The two then begin to banter about the "six trillion dollars in new government spending" the pair say Marshall wants to bring to Washington.

The TPM Poll Average shows Burr leading Marshall 53.3-35.4.

Read more »

Elaine Marshall

Elaine Marshall Supports Letting High-Income Tax Cuts Expire

Brian Beutler | September 22, 2010, 3:18PM

NC-SEN candidate Elaine Marshall (D)

While incumbent Democrats run scared from a fight over letting tax cuts for wealthy Americans expire, some Democratic hopefuls are running openly on President Obama's platform.

Take Elaine Marshall, running to unseat Sen. Richard Burr in red North Carolina.

"She thinks the rich can pay their fair share," her spokesman Sam Swartz told TPMDC.

Read more »

NC-SEN

SurveyUSA Poll: GOPer Burr Widens Lead In NC-SEN Race

Marc Kilstein | September 15, 2010, 12:58PM

Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) and Sen. candidate Elaine Marshall (D-NC)

A new SurveyUSA poll of the North Carolina Senate race finds incumbent Sen. Richard Burr (R) with a commanding lead over his Democratic opponent, Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, 58%-34%.

The survey's 24-point margin is the largest lead for the Republican in recent months' polling. Libertarian nominee Mike Beitler earned 6% of respondents' support in the latest survey. A July 25 SurveyUSA poll produced a much narrower margin in the contest, with Burr up on Marshall 42%-39%. A September 8 Rasmussen survey had the Republican nominee up 16-points, 54%-38%. Marshall's campaign insisted that Rasmussen survey was an "outlier poll". August and late-July polling of the contest never produced a double-digit margin between the two leading candidates.

The TPM Poll Average finds Burr with a 53.3%-35.4% advantage over Marshall.

For more on the race, check out TPMDC's full coverage here.

Read more »

2010 elections

TPM's Top 10 Senate Races To Watch

Brian Beutler | September 13, 2010, 8:35AM

Kentucky Senate candidates Jack Conway and Rand Paul talk with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

Campaign season doesn't really heat up until September ... which means now. That means all the scandals and ads and ups and downs you've heard and read about in the last several months were just stage-setters. Most voters really begin paying attention now.

It's looking like a tough year for Senate Democrats, almost of whom are polling below 50 percent. Several weeks ago, many Republicans -- including NRSC Chair John Cornyn -- thought Republicans wouldn't be able to retake the Senate. Today, it's a distinct possibility. There are a number of critical races, but you should really keep an eye on these 10.

Read more »

NC-SEN

Rasmussen Poll: Dem Marshall Trails By 16 In NC

Evan McMorris-Santoro | September 10, 2010, 9:16AM

NC-SEN candidate Elaine Marshall (D)

A new poll out this morning suggests a second female Democratic Senator is not in the cards for North Carolina. The Rasmussen survey of 500 likely voters shows incumbent Sen. Richard Burr (R) trouncing his Democratic opponent, Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, 54-38.

Past polling from the race has shown Burr ahead, but not by this much. Rasmussen's last poll, taken a month ago, showed Burr leading 49-40. A PPP (D) poll from July 31 showed Burr ahead by just 2 in a three-way race that included Libertarian nominee Mike Beitler. (It should be noted here that Democrats generally view Rasmussen as GOP-leaning, though the pollster insists it is non-partisan.)

Marshall handily won the Democratic nomination over the national Democratic party choice, Cal Cunningham, in the June 22 runoff. National party figures hinted they would stay out of the race if Cunningham wasn't the nominee, and so far that seems to be the case. Marshall -- a long-running figure in state politics -- has found herself out-gunned versus the first-term Burr in the early part of the general election fight. The Republican just went on the air with his first TV ad, a clever spot that literally steals the two actors Sen. Kay Hagan (D) used to upset Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R) in 2008.

Read more »

NC-SEN

GOPer Burr Brings Back Old Men From 2008 Dem Ad (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | September 9, 2010, 12:38PM

Ad from Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), "Front Porch"

Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) has an incredible new ad out -- rehiring the actors who appeared in a popular Democratic ad from 2008, with their characters talking about how they bungled it last time.

Back in 2008, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee ran ads featuring two down-home old men on a porch, talking about how ineffectual and pro-Bush Sen. Elizabeth Dole was. The ad picked up a lot of attention. When election day finally rolled around, Dole lost to Democrat Kay Hagan by a 53%-44% landslide, and Barack Obama carried the state against John McCain by a margin of less than one percent -- the first Dem to carry the state for president since Jimmy Carter in 1976.

Now Burr's campaign has headhunted those two old men actors, snatching them away from the Dems for the incumbent's new spot, clearly aimed at voters who might have buyer's remorse. "Boy we sure got it wrong last election," the first man says.

Read more »