I could write about a lot of stuff tonight.

For almost a decade I have been tracking Jack Abramoff and the Culture of Corruption and since I became uid 9214, I’ve written about that work here on Daily Kos. For years, I have been writing about the many ways that John McCain covered-up the Abramoff Scandal.

I could write about how the Obama campaign is taking that fight to Curveball John:

There is more to that story and more reasons why McCain should worry about Jack, but I doubt it would break through the waves of panic shaking the netroots.

Yikes! The polls have tightened. Well, what did you expect?

Take a deep breath. Get a backbone. FOCUS.

It’s time to call out the summer supporters and sunshine campaigners.

To the jump...

Yesterday I ranked Senate races per Rasmussen polls, based on the latest Louisiana Ras poll. Today, let me do a better version of that post, this time using the Pollster.com polling composites (a more accurate way to gauge the state of these races).

I've ranked them in order of likelihood of switching, including all races within 20 points:

So there are 14 Republican-held seats that are more endangered than Louisiana. New Jersey, always such a tease, is actually close than Louisiana, though Republicans seemed to have wised up to the Garden State's shenanigans. Too bad. The more money they sunk into NJ, the less money they'd have to try and hold those other 14. And there are signs that Oklahoma may be more competitive.

Bottom line? NM, VA, AK, and NH look like solid pickups. Colorado is shoring up, likely (D) in my book. I think we pull off Mississippi, which gets us to six.

If the elections were today, I think that's where things would settle. Can we get four more from that list in the next 2 1/2 months to get to a Lieberman-proof 60? I'm increasingly optimistic. It's not just the favorable political climate, but also this:

That's the Senate party committees cash on hand at the end of July. Democrats quite simply have the cash to create mass havoc behind enemy lines. Republicans barely have enough to keep the lights on at party HQ, much less actually play defense. While Republicans spent $2.8 million in July, Democrats have been barraging Republicans with over $8.5 million in ads and other spending.

The DSCC artillery assault has already begun, and Republicans have half the cash the Dems have to respond.

Stevens' gamble for an early trial suffered its first setback, when a judge refused a motion to move the trial to Alaska.

Sen. Ted Stevens cannot move his corruption trial from Washington to his home state of Alaska, a federal judge ruled Wednesday in a decision that could hamstring the powerful Republican's re-election bid [...]

Stevens, 84, had hoped to stand trial by day and campaign on nights and weekends. In a state where he is known as ''Uncle Ted,'' he could have faced a more sympathetic jury. Stevens was named the Alaskan of the Century in 2000, the Anchorage airport bears his name, and he has brought billions in federal aid to the frontier state.

Wednesday's ruling puts a damper on his campaign plans. Stevens asked for, and received, an unusually speedy trial that he hopes will clear his name before voters go to the polls. But with the trial in Washington, Democrats will have the state largely to themselves while Stevens is tethered to a defense table in the weeks leading up to the November election.

There's still about three weeks for Stevens to withdraw from the race. He'd have to do it after next Tuesday's primary, or one of his no-name primary challengers might end up being the nominee. But if he does it between next Wednesday and September 17-ish (give or take a day), state Republicans can replace him with however they want.

But the defense also rejected an offer by the judge to hold trial only four days a week so Stevens could spend more time in Alaska. The deal would've delayed the verdict, and the overriding Stevens bet seem to be that acquittal will boost his electoral prospects. So given that they've decided for early decision over more time at home, it suggests that Stevens intends to stick it out to the bitter end.

And if he's convicted? Who cares? It wouldn't be any worse than the big, double-digit deficit he currently faces against O2B Democrat Mark Begich.

On the web:

Mark Begich for Senate
Orange to Blue ActBlue Page

NC-Sen: Another day, another steaming stack of stupid emanating from the smiling empty seat that is the very senior Senator from the great state of North Carolina.

Which is to say, Elizabeth Hanford Dole.

Responding to criticism from her rather perceptive Democratic opponent, Kay Hagan, that Sen. Dole spends remarkably little time in the state she purports to represent, Liddy had this to offer.

After her speech, Dole said she’s spent lots of time in North Carolina lately.

"Lately", eh? Senator, it would have been nice if you'd paid a modicum of attention to the state at, you know, some point in the last 35 years, when not running for the Senate.

But one can't have everything, I suppose.

Dole said she also supports drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Reserve, where drilling would have a small footprint that wouldn’t harm much wildlife.

"Even the caribou like to snuggle up to the pipeline," she said.

Indeed. Every caribou I have interviewed in the past six months has expressed his support for banging a big fat honking pipeline through his home, so as to give him warmth and comfort as he sleeps.

Would there was oil in New York City, so that I, too, could snuggle up next to a pipeline as I lay me down to sleep. I think some pipeline would look great in my apartment. Really tie the room together, you know.

The overall goal must be to cut reliance on foreign oil imported from nations run by the likes of Hugo Chavez and Vladimir Putin, she said.

"A lot of that comes from people who don’t necessarily like us," Dole said.

Gee, it might help if our foreign policy had not been an outright fiasco of late, Liddy. And whose fault is that, anyway?

Amid Liddy's laments about gas price, by the way, she has given a boatload in tax breaks to Big Oil. Naturally, MoveOn is all over this:

AK-Sen: A hearing was held this morning in federal court in Washington, DC, to determine whether indicted Senator Ted Stevens would get to move his trial back to his home turf of Alaska.

Meanwhile, the Anchorage Daily News notes the role of new media in affecting public opinion on the Stevens scandal, to the point where new media are a screening point for potential jurors in the Stevens case:

Several joint questions seek to find out if potential jurors are political active or read about politics, especially the insider Capitol Hill publications. Do they listen to talk radio, read political blogs or go to Internet forums? The government, in particular, wants to know if they read the conservative Drudge Report or the liberal Huffington Post online.

Apparently, even Bush's Justice Department thinks reading Daily Kos is OK.

NH-Sen: Jeanne Shaheen is cooking with gas, as she seeks to unseat incumbent Republican John Sununu. Per Rasmussen:

Ras' 3-poll average puts the race at 51-41, while Pollster's average has it at Shaheen 52.6%, Sununu 42%.

Shaheen's double-digit lead has remained remarkably consistent this cycle, and she has proven to be a formidable candidate.

House Races

OH-15: Here's the first ad of this cycle from Democratic candidate Mary Jo Kilroy, as she seeks to take the open seat she nearly won in 2006 against incumbent Deborah Pryce.

MN-03: The Minnesota blogs have named this "Ashwin Madia Blog Day", in honor of a fine progressive candidate (and Netroots Nation attendee) in Minnesota's Third District.

If you'd like to learn more about Madia's candidacy on Madia Day, check out MN Blue or MN Publius.

WY-AL: As we noted last night, Wyoming's Republican State Treasurer Cynthia Lummis has won her primary in the state's at-large district.

The Hotline thought her primary opponent, Mark Gordon, was the more formidable of the two:

The party's been searching for a way to stem the growing Dem tide in the region, and a return to its libertarian roots may be the answer. In addition, his profile as a rancher seems to be a better match against '06 nominee Gary Trauner (D) than ex-Treas. Cynthia Lummis (R), with her years of gov't service, can provide.

The most recent Research 2000 poll for Daily Kos shows Trauner leading Lummis, 44% to 41%.

NH-01: Carol Shea-Porter is up on TV:

WI-08: Meanwhile, Republican John Gard is still feeding the debunked myth (perhaps we should just start calling it an outright lie) that China is drilling off the coast of Cuba).

NY-25, NY-26, NY-29: Today is the pre-primary filing deadline for New York House candidates. We have no more than three terrific New Yorkers on the Orange to Blue list, and here's a golden opportunity to help them finish the pre-primary period with a bang. They are Jon Powers in NY-26, Eric Massa in NY-29, and Dan Maffei in NY-25.

Please head to the Orange to Blue ActBlue Page and give them a little (or a lot!) of love, as they head towards election day.

On the web:
Orange to Blue ActBlue Page

I know I'm not a famous blogger here at Daily Kos and my comments tend to garner only a smattering of recommends.  This diary is probably going to come across as whiney and I know that many readers DO give money to progressive candidates so I am not intentionally criticizing those people nor do I mean to criticize those who don't have money to spare but who dedicate themselves to electing Democrats thru activism.

I have been reading and posting here since about 2005.  I am not a wealthy person & the past year has been difficult for me.  but when the Front pagers & other posters here at Kos put out a call for contributions to their candidates, I try to help out.  Sometimes the amounts are small, but I do what I can because we need more progressives in Congress.

Yesterday, I decided to put out my own request for contributions for a progressive US Senate candidate, Jeff Merkley (OR-Sen), in what is considered one of the top Senate races in the country.  I offered & am offering to match contributions totalling up to $1,000 to people who contribute thru my Actblue page:  http://www.actblue.com/... .  Guess how many people stepped up to the plate?

Dear Kossacks,

The politics season is truly upon us when we begin hearing that Republicans are push-polling.  Remember that push-polls are different that testing messages.  Message tests tend to be long polls, sometimes with nasty questions.  They are designed to judge your reactions.  Push polls are short and obviously far from factual.  They are intended to push people buttons on wedge issues or push vile rumors into circulation.

Tonight, we have the first evidence that the Norm Coleman campaign has started push polling ...

Are you interested in putting more *progressives* in the US Senate in the upcoming election?  Would you like to double your impact thru a matching contribution?  If so, read on!

For the past 12 years, Oregonians have been cursed with a do-nothing Republican Senator who currently polls at under 50% approval.  His name is Gordon Smith and his list of legislative accomplishments in the US Senate is as meager as his committment to George bush is great.

Following the Democratic landslide of '06, Smith furiously tried to create the appearance of distance between himself and the Bush administration without actually distancing himself in a meaningful way.  He's a pretend 'independent' Republican Senator who 'independently' votes with George Bush approx. 90% of the time.  He's sort of like a dumber, more inactive and almost-as-insulting-to-your-intelligence version of Norm Coleman.

Rasmussen. 8/14. Likely voters. MoE 4.5% (7/9 results)

Landrieu has been up on the air the last several weeks, pounding the crap out of Kennedy, and the results are pretty obvious. Remember, this is the GOP's only chance to pick up a Senate seat this year. And their one and only chance is currently a 16-point deficit. Yup, it's one of those years for those guys.

I mean, this is where this race ranks, per Rasmussen's latest polling:

Rasmussen hasn't polled the Idaho or Oklahoma Senate races, or we probably would've seen both those states tighter than Louisiana. But per Rasmussen polling alone, there are 13 Senate races tighter than the Louisiana one. (South Dakota, their other supposed target, puts Republicans at a 25-point disadvantage against Democratic incumbent Tim Johnson.)

NC-Sen: Kay Hagan is out with her second TV ad of the cycle:

Hagan is trying to close a relatively narrow gap between herself and incumbent Sen. Elizabeth Dole. Polling was tight prior to Dole's June ad blitz, and has seemed to trend slightly up for Hagan in recent weeks as she herself has hit the airwaves. Another positive bio ad such as this one should help the state Senator improve her statewide profile as the general election heats up.

CO-Sen: The DSCC can't get enough of "big oil" ads, it seems. Here's their latest, against Colorado Senate candidate Bob Schaffer:

Meanwhile, the infamous Freedom's Watch is taking to the airwaves themselves, attacking Schaffer's Democratic opponent, Rep. Mark Udall.

Freedom’s Watch, a conservative advocacy group, launched ads Tuesday in Colorado hitting the Democratic Senate nominee, Rep. Mark Udall, for missing a key vote last month on energy policy to attend a fundraiser back home.

The 30-second ad, with amusing graphics and whimsical music, shows gasoline prices rising as a narrator refers to the Congressman as "Skip Udall."

Tim Pearson, deputy communications director for Freedom’s Watch, said the ad buy was "substantial," though he declined to provide specifics. It is airing in the Denver, Colorado Springs and Grand Junction media markets.

The IE buys are only going to get bigger and more frequent over the next few months, on both sides.

AK-Sen: Guess what! Ted Stevens thinks he's above the law!

In this case, he's apparently above the laws he himself helped to pass:

In 1989, Congress amended the Ethics In Government Act of 1978 to require members of Congress to file financial disclosure reports including income and honoraria exceeding $200. The bill gave the Attorney General the authority to take action against anyone who falsifies the financial disclosure report. Stevens joined the rest of the Senate in a voice vote in favor of the legislation.

Either he's forgotten about this law he supported...or he just doesn't care, now that it's applied to him. As he is trying to get his case thrown out of court:

Last week, lawyers for Senator Ted Stevens filed several motions asserting that Senators are above the law and deserve special treatment. Specifically, the defense explained that since the Department of Justice is part of the executive branch, they cannot investigate Stevens or interview his staff since they are part of the legislative branch. Stevens’ attorneys went as far to say that only Congress can discipline a Senator who violates the law by lying on the financial disclosure forms. However, Stevens voted for the legislation which established the financial disclosure forms. In essence, Stevens’ defense is that legislation he supported is now unconstitutional, and therefore the case should be dismissed.

This is not altogether surprising really. If Stevens had any respect for the rule of law, he wouldn't be in this nasty situation to begin with.

ME-Sen: Down East has a new article on the state of the Maine Senate race. In general, it's a sober analysis of what looks to be a pretty tough, though viable, race for Democratic Rep. Tom Allen, who faces off against incumbent Sen. Susan Collins.

Allen starts at a disadvantage in name recognition, polling and money (though the DSCC has committed a great deal of money to this race, which should even the financial playing field somewhat). That said, Allen is quoted one major advantage: his ground game.

The grassroots is the only area where Allen has an undisputed edge in this race. The Democratic Party has 29 offices open across the state, with more opening every week, and has a dedicated and energized volunteer base, due in part to the excitement caused by Barack Obama's presidential campaign. The Republican Party has just four offices and many fewer volunteers.

The Democrats are working on registering thousands of new voters and making sure they get to the polls, an effort that could shift the political landscape in the Senate race. However, with less competitive races in Maine for president and for the other congressional seats, which democrats will likely win, Maine's ticket-splitting voters may choose to make Collins the one Republican they support. In the latest poll, 29% of Democratic voters abandoned Allen.

It's likely that there will be at least a decent number of ticket splitters this fall in Maine, but

House Races

FL-24: Republican Rep. Tom Feeney must be awfully nervous about his electoral prospects against former Democratic state Rep. Suzanne Kosmas.

Because Feeney has paid for robocalls across the district in support of Kosmas' primary opponent, fellow Democrat and 2006 loser Clint Curtis.

The third-term lawmaker from Oviedo -– who defeated Curtis in 2006 -– has paid for "tens of thousands" of robo-calls to Democratic voters on behalf of Curtis, who is running again for the House District 24 seat, this time as an underdog in the Democratic primary against former state lawmaker Suzanne Kosmas.

In calls to Central Florida residents, a volunteer for the Feeney campaign lauds Curtis and calls him the "only Democrat taking on Tom Feeney that has consistently opposed the war in Iraq." At the end of the call, the female volunteer said the calls were "paid for by Tom Feeney for Congress."

This isn't the first time that Feeney has tried to help a challenger. In a release sent a few weeks ago, Feeney touted independent candidate Gaurav Bhola as "the only candidate talking sense" at a candidate debate that Feeney never attended.

A clip of the robo call was provided by the Kosmas campaign. Paul Dunn, her campaign manager, called it one of Feeney’s "dirty tricks" and said it was proof that Feeney fears Kosmas, who has more money on hand than the incumbent.

Yes, I think it's safe to say that Feeney's running scared. Given that he's mucking about in Democratic primaries, you know.

Fortunately, given Curtis' bankroll of $7,000, it's highly unlikely Feeney will get his wish.

TX-07: Democrat Michael Skelly's newest ad:

OH-02: Daredevil Jean Schmidt's latest scandal: she and her sisters own a multi-million dollar property in Cincinnati, via their late father's real estate company, on which they pay all of $95 per year in property taxes.

For how come? Because they grow a few thousand dollars' worth of soybeans on the property. The property isn't primarily used as farmland...but naming it as such saves them a boatload, it seems:

The Schmidt campaign vehemently denies any wrongdoing (they do pretty much everything vehemently, in fact), and legally, they're almost certainly covered. Still, as the video notes, it sure doesn't look good.

NY-26: Finally, the first ad from Orange to Blue candidate Jon Powers:

On the web:
Orange to Blue ActBlue Page

Cross-posted from DMIBlog

Today the Drum Major Institute (DMI -- where I'm director of research) released its first annual Survey on the Middle Class and Public Policy.  The nationwide poll, conducted by Global Strategy Group, aimed to learn how those Americans who see themselves as middle class (the vast majority of us, it turns out) think about the direction of the country, public policy ideas that could improve the nation, and their relationship with their own elected representatives. What we found were middle-class households filled with "fearful families": Americans worried about the present, pessimistic about the future, but not nearly so divided on issues of public policy as the typical media reports of a country divided by red and blue might lead us to believe. In fact, there’s broad bipartisan support for a range of progressive policies.

In the really green part of Oregon, Gordon Smith has a long tradition of presenting himself as the moderate, anti-drilling, good guy. In fact, one of his infamous ads in which he tries to pretend he's been endorsed by Obama, trumpets

"Who says Gordon Smith helped lead the fight for better gas mileage and a cleaner environment? Barack Obama!"

Clean environment? Tell that to the Oregon Department of Environmental Equality, not to mention the folks in Weston, OR.

For the second time in about a year, wastewater from the frozen-foods plant owned and operated in Eastern Oregon by the family of U.S. Sen Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) overflowed into a nearby creek in violation of state environmental regulations....

Smith Frozen Foods has a long history of wastewater violations.... According to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, an employee of Smith Frozen Foods contacted the state agency on July 29 (while the plant was processing corn) to report an overflow from the company's wastewater lagoon that "resulted in a milky discharge to Pine Creek."

...[T]he incident is considered a serious "Class 1" violation, meaning it "can harm aquatic life, contaminate drinking waters, and impair recreational, commercial and agricultural uses of water."...

On July 30, 2007, at the height of last year's corn season, Smith Frozen Foods had a similar violation. That violation resulted in a $3,000 fine — a small sum compared with the $25,000 DEQ fine in 1992 for another infraction. Between those two events, Smith Frozen Foods has been cited or fined by the DEQ more than a handful times.

After one of those fines in the early 1990s, Smith received $766,000 in state and federal grants to bring his plant into compliance with environmental regs. And then he had the gall to run his first, losing campaign against Wyden on "the principles of less government and unfettered free enterprise."

The most recent spill (there have been six or seven in the past 15 years) is hardly the same scope as the massive fish kill of 2002 that Smith helped engineer with Dick Cheney and Karl Rove, an environmental and economic disaster that killed over 60,000 fish, including naturally raised Chinook and endangered Coho salmon.

But it does put the lie to Smith's claim that he's a friend to the environment. And it's one of the reasons Oregon's environmental and conservation communities are lining up behind Jeff Merkley.

Thanks to technology, we're making history, again, tonight here in Idaho.

Beginning at 9:30pm ET tonight, Independent Rex Rammell and I will be having the first debate of the general election campaign for U.S. Senate here in Idaho -- and for the first time in Idaho history, we'll be broadcasting the debate on the internet and taking questions live from folks like you watching it online, right here at DailyKos and across the internet.

Tonight's forum is a new kind of debate that uses the power of technology to put the debate in your hands. So please, join us below the fold to watch the debate and ask your questions in real-time starting at 9:30pm ET!

UPDATE (8:45pm MT): I've now updated the diary with a copy of the video from tonight's debate.  Thanks so much for everyone from DailyKos who tuned in and participated!

Last week, the DSCC released a poll showing Democratic Senate candidate Jim Martin, riding the wave of a convincing primary runoff victory, trailing Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss by only six points.

The smallest margin recorded in any poll, prior to the DSCC's stunner, had been the 11-point Chambliss lead which Rasmussen demonstrated in July.

Rasmussen's latest, however, confirms the DSCC poll, and suggests that Georgia's Senate race is highly competitive right now.

Rasmussen. 8/14. Likely voters. MoE 4.5% (7/17 results)

With leaners included, Chambliss leads 50% to 44%.

As this is independent confirmation of the DSCC's previous poll, it can probably be taken more or less at face value. It reflects a pretty healthy primary bump for Martin, one which may well fade a little as Chambliss uses his formidable war chest to go on the air.

But if Martin - the beneficiary of healthy name recognition from his 2006 bid for lieutenant governor - can stay relatively competitive financially, and avoid being drowned on the airwaves, he has an outside shot at winning this race. Martin's success will also depend in part on Democratic efforts to register hundreds of thousands of new voters in Georgia. The Obama campaign has made this a priority, and in a close race, it could prove to be a boon to Martin's candidacy.

We're quite fortunate to have a candidate like Jim Martin in the race. He's essentially turned a no-hope race into a serious challenge, and is a candidate progressives can be proud of. Georgia's Senate race was barely on the radar just a few months ago, but it has become one of the top sleeper races this cycle.

With this poll added to the pile, Pollster's average now indicates an eight-point race, with Chambliss averaging 50% to Martin's 42.3%

Georgia's Senate race can now be considered "Likely Republican". Chambliss has a big money advantage (though Martin's own fundraising has been fairly good in a fairly short time, and the DSCC has a good bit of money themselves). Given Chambliss' money, Georgia's red tilt, and Chambliss' lead, he has to be favored.

But Chambliss has a legitimately tough race on his hands, and that should warm the hearts of Democrats across the nation.

On the web:
Jim Martin for U.S. Senate

Ivan Moore for the Anchorage Press and KTUU. 8/9-12. Likely voters. MoE 4.4% for overall sample, ~6.2 for primary samples. (7/30-31 results)

Stevens is surging back! Kidding. Begich has locked in support, while Stevens rebounds slightly (or maybe it's just float in the MoE).

In the House:

The good news is that Berkowitz is competitive with Parnell, but the really good news we're all hoping for is a Young victory in the GOP primary next Tuesday. Luckily, with the fragmented multi-candidate field, Young doesn't have to reach 50 percent. But with the massive MoE for these primary sub-samples, the GOP House primary is scary tight.

But the overall picture looks fantastic for Alaska Democrats, and with scandal depressing GOP fundraising in the state, the future is only slated to get better.

On the web:
Orange to Blue ActBlue page
Mark Begich for Senate
Ethan Berkowitz for Congress

I made a video last weekend featuring some Nebraskan voices that I'd like to share with you now.

These are real Nebraskans expressing their support for Scott in their own words:

If you support the 50 State Strategy, I don't think I need to tell you that these Nebraskans are counting on you...

Up to this point, polling results on the Minnesota Senate race over the past several months had fallen into two categories:

1. Rasmussen polling, and

2. everybody else's polling.

Rasmussen has consistently been the most favorable to DFL and Orange to Blue candidate Al Franken, showing a consistent 2-3 point race with incumbent Republican Senator Norm Coleman. In several polls, Franken actually showed a small lead.

Other pollsters, however, such as SurveyUSA and Quinnipiac, had shown the race in something of a holding pattern, with Coleman enjoying a consistent double-digit lead.

SUSA's most recent poll, however, has broken the cycle.

SurveyUSA. 8/12-14. Likely voters. MoE 3.8% (7/11-13 results)

SurveyUSA has not seen Franken's own numbers change much since their February poll, when he drew 46% support. Other than that, he has fluctuated between 39% and 41% support, as he does now.

Coleman, on the other hand, has shown a significant drop for the first time in SUSA's polling.

The other most recent poll on this race comes from Rasmussen, and it is in line with the rest of their Minnesota polling. It shows the two candidates tied at 45%, with Coleman leading 49-46 with leaners included. Coleman is actually gaining in that poll; the numbers were reversed in July.

So does this SUSA poll - the first one to really break a trend - indicate a tightening race? It's possible. Over the last month, Franken has shaken up his campaign staff, released a few strong ads, and hopefully dealt with the "back taxes" flap once and for all. Meanwhile, Coleman himself has taken heat over a sweetheart deal he received on his DC apartment, a deal potentially in violation of Senate ethics rules.

This poll - and the seven-point gap it shows - is directly in line with Pollster's average, which also indicates a seven-point Coleman lead (50% to 43%, on average).

If that is accurate, and Coleman's edge is in high single digits, this is still a very competitive race. With Coleman and Franken both exceptional fundraisers, there is still a lot of money to be spent on this race and a lot of ads yet to be aired. It is also still unclear how dramatic an effect the presidential race will have downticket in Minnesota.

It's been a long time coming, but a pollster other than Rasmussen now gives Democrats reason for optimism in Minnesota.

On the web:
Al Franken for Senate
Orange to Blue ActBlue Page

The DSCC has released a new poll which shows Orange to Blue candidate Andrew Rice closing swiftly on incumbent Senator James Inhofe, in the wake of Rice's first statewide ad buys.

Since the DSCC's last poll two months ago, Rice has cut Inhofe's lead in half, and trails now by single digits, with Inhofe teetering on the magical 50% re-elect line. With June numbers in parentheses:

This is a partisan poll commissioned by the DSCC, but the June results from this same poll were almost directly in line with independent polling on the race conducted around the same time (in this case, Research 2000's poll commissioned by Daily Kos). So there's reason to believe that the pollster (Benenson) is accurate.

Andrew Rice has purchased his first statewide ads within the last month, so it stands to reason that his own numbers (and favorability) would have increased during this time (while Inhofe's numbers stayed more or less constant).

Rice's name ID is still only at 52%, while Inhofe's is near universal. In addition (and unsurprisingly), Oklahomans who do know Inhofe don't appear to especially care for him. As the Rice campaign noted in a Daily Kos post earlier in the day:

For the first time in the course of our race, Jim Inhofe’s job disapproval rating is lower than his approval (46% Approve; 47% Disapprove).  More and more Oklahomans are realizing that after 22 years in Washington, Jim Inhofe has lost his way.  He’s not putting Oklahomans first; he’s voting in line with his party and for the benefit of special interests that have filled his campaign war chest.

And we still have room to move.  In our last poll, Sen. Rice’s name ID was only 29%.  It’s now at 52%.  For those who know Sen. Rice enough to form an opinion of him, their opinion is 3:1 favorable over unfavorable.  Again, we’ve known it all along – when Oklahoma voters get to know Andrew Rice, they support him.

We went head-to-head with Sen. Inhofe on TV, and we more than halved his lead over Andrew Rice.

Andrew Rice is a special candidate, and he has a unique opportunity to take out a genuine troglodyte of a Senator. The apparent success of his statewide ad campaign has already demonstrated the profound effect that just a little bit of money can have on this race, and the potential that his candidacy has to bring us a progressive Senator from one of the nation's reddest states.

So go to the Orange to Blue ActBlue Page, and help Andrew Rice amass the resources he needs to stay in this fight, and win.

On the web:
Andrew Rice for U.S. Senate
Orange to Blue ActBlue Page

From Former Vice President Al Gore:

"Today, I announced my endorsement of Bob Tuke to be the next U.S. Senator from my home state of Tennessee. I have known Bob for a long time, and I am glad to call him a close friend ... "