Thursday Senate Roundup

New Hampshire: John Sununu and Jeanne Shaheen both had successful second quarters fundraising; Sununu has a cash on hand advantage, but Shaheen has a big advantage in the polls. Sununu is also making a push to increase spending to minimize increased heating costs this coming winter in New Hampshire. A third party group is going to start advertising against Sununu for supporting conservative judges. Sununu talked up health insurance for small businesses, while Democrats criticized him for his vote on Medicare yesterday, which received extended discussion in New Hampshire as a result of Ted Kennedy’s last second appearance. Raffle watch: Jeanne Shaheen does what Barack Obama cannot.

Minnesota: Al Franken is proposing a permanent lobbying ban for members of Congressfrom ever becoming lobbyists. Coleman and Franken both had another successful month fundraising, raking in 2.26 million despite having serious problems with his campaign. The Minnesota race between Coleman and Franken is by far the most expensive Senate race this cycle. Franken and Coleman sparred over energy and the effectiveness of drilling for oil in the Outer Continental Shelf. The AP took a look at the liabilities of being an entertainer that Franken brings with him. They have some good insight, but I think the bigger problem for Franken has been the sloppiness in which he’s run his campaign. A veteran politician, or someone that was already vetted with a lower tough race would have been able to pivot more to his ideas instead of getting stuck in traction at a lot of petty type of scandals like workers comp or paying taxes or what not. Franken will complain when he loses that it was an unfair fight on trivial issues, but he’ll have no one to blame but himself. I’m remindedof armies i nthe Crusades; when they lost a battle, it was common to think that the other side had played devillish tricks or that your side was insufficiently faithful. Sometimes, though, it’s just poor tactics: like leading your entire army onto a hot dry plateau with no water nearby in the middle of summer.

Alaska: Reid Wilson of RCP takes a long look at the campaign, explaining why it will be so close of an election in almost every race. Ted Stevens is addressing a joint session of the Alaska legislature tomorrow. A primary opponent of probable Democratic nominee Mark Begich is planning a road show about alleged corruption involving real estate deals and Begich. If it gets any traction, it could eliminate the perceived corruption gap between Begich and Stevens, who has been fighting his own charges which included federal agents raiding his home at one point. Stevens staffed up with an Alaskan political veteran to lead his reelection campaign. Begich praised a plan by Republican Gov. and possible VP Sarah Palin to build a natural gas pipeline in Alaska. Is Begich getting too favorable of coverage? Did Ted Stevens go too far with his statements on race?

Colorado: Mark Udall is getting hit for making a political decision in intervening in Colorado Springs water dispute. Republican Bob Schaffer’s connections to Jack Abramoff (Schaffer took a Marianas Islands trip arranged by Abramoff) are once again mentioned. Moreover, an oil deal that Schaffer himself negotiated with the Kurds has been flagged as holding up national reconciliation in Iraq by the State Department. In positive news in Colorado, Udall is dramatically winning the facebook battle. Schaffer is committed to being on the vanguard of conservative principles. In a year like 2008, is that a curse or a blessing?

New Mexico: Republican Steve Pearce and Democrat Tom Udall voted on opposite sides of a House Bill that would have forced oil companies to drill on already allotted ocean land or lose drilling rights. Pearce proposed a bill to sell off some public land in New Mexico and eliminate a large part of wilderness protection; Pearce was chided for supporting the narrow interests of “extreme ranchers,” whoever that may be.

North Carolina: The Raleigh News and Observer finds Kay Hagan’s energy ad against Elizabeth Dole to be “a stretch.” Dole voted for the Medicare bill that passed the Senate yesterday, voting with most Democrats and against Republican NC Senator Richard Burr. Kay Hagan raised 1.6 million in the second quarter, a decent but unremarkable number given the dynamics of the race and that she is far behind in both name recognition and cash on hand, not to mention polling numbers. Dole and others scramble to find money to fix a bridge badly in need of repairs.

New Jersey: New numbers show Frank Lautenberg is pulling away from Dick Zimmer. He felt confident enough to take shots at Joe Lieberman for supporting McCain. The NY Post criticized Lautenberg for not supporting off shore drilling. Zimmer disclosed his mortgage and urged Lautenberg to do the same.

Kentucky: Mitch McConnell set a Kentucky fundraising record in the second quarter and has a massive cash on hand advantage over Bruce Lunsford. Lunsford plans to spend a day with the SEIU. Meanwhile, yet another Predator actor is making a run for office.

Oregon: Gordon Smith has good relations with Indian tribes in his state, as nine have endorsed him despite normally being Democratic. Jeff Merkeley is getting slammed for suggesting the Democratic Ads which include footage of him were not intended to support his candidacy. Steve Forrester wonders if Gordon Smith is losing his motivation and his edge recently, citing recent sloppy campaign work that could come back to haunt him.

Louisiana: John N. Kennedy must constantly answer why he is running as a Republican for Senate this cycle after running for the Senate as a Democrat four years ago. He criticized his own decision to endorse John Kerry in 2004, and said he would continue to take PAC money. Mary Landrieu raised 1.5 million in the second quarter, a Louisiana record.

Oklahoma: Andrew Rice continues his low-key campaign in Oklahoma, meeting people at every restaurant he can. That pales in comparison to the effectiveness of the sort of name recognition and cash advantage that James Inhofe will have. The Huffington Post tries to hit Inhofe and praise Rice on telecom immunity; Rice better hope the blurb is worth in fundraising what it will hurt him popularly; I’m willing to wager that Rice won’t exactly put that sort of endorsement on the front of his website.

Idaho: Kevin Richert, like me, wonders how Larry LaRocco can claim victory when a poll shows him 15 points behind. Richert digs deeper into the data and finds that economic issues will probably decide the election, not Iraq, terrorism, or immigration.

Texas: The Texas Medical Association praised Cornyn for changing positions and supporting the Medicare bill yesterday (after previously denouncing him); opponent Rick Noriega tried to hit him for flip-flopping on the issue. Also, the San Antonio Current takes a look at the uphill battle that Noriega has to climb to win in Texas. Speaking to 35 people at a time in a state as big as Texas strikes me as being an inefficient use of time.

Kansas: When you have good name recognition, big lead, and your opponent has spent years as a lobbyist in Washington away from your state, you can afford to go negative in advertising earlier than others would do so, like Pat Roberts just did to Jim Slattery.

Mississippi: Candidates Ronnie Musgrove and Roger Wicker used to be roommates, but now they’re sniping over Medicare. It is very rare for Senate elections to be this competitive in Mississippi.

Maine: An editorial predicts that Susan Collins will beat Tom Allen by 20 points. Some had predicted this race could have a Sheldon Whitehouse - Lincoln Chafee vibe, but that hasn’t materialized at all. Allen might be better off staying in the House.