As McCain Falls, NH Senator Faces Trouble

Incumbent Sununu faces Shaheen in key test of Democratic wave

(NEWSER) - As Democrats look to pick up as many as 10 Senate seats in November, perhaps no race has so much riding the Democratic wave than New Hampshire, where Democrat Jeanne Shaheen again takes on John Sununu for a seat Republicans have held for 30 years. As the New York Times reports, anti-Republican fervor has helped former governor Shaheen build a double-digit lead. More»

Dems could pick up 8 seats; GOP could oust Landrieu in La.

(NEWSER) - With 35 Senate seats up for grabs Tuesday, Chris Cillizza, in the Washington Post, predicts Democrats will flip eight. Two more are close calls for the Dems, while the GOP has one hope for a pickup. Starting with the most likely:

1. Virginia is in the bag for Mark Warner; he might even get 60% of the vote.
2. New Mexico will fall easily to Tom Udall...
3. ...while his cousin, Mark Udall, has pulled away in Colorado.

Potential nominee: John McCain (yes, that John McCain)

(NEWSER) - Republicans, are you ready to repeat the McCain-Obama showdown? No? Well, the National Republican Senatorial Committee figured it ought to check, just to be sure. The NRSC, which you would think would be busy working on 2010 Senate campaigns, sent a questionnaire to its supporters asking which presidential candidate they’d prefer for 2012. More»

Tea Party hero lends support to former running mate

(NEWSER) - Sarah Palin spoke at a rally for John McCain today in Tucson, the first time the two have stumped together since the 2008 presidential campaign. McCain is in a tight primary fight with JD Hayworth, who is attempting to paint the senator as insufficiently conservative. Palin delivered some much-needed Tea Party cred: McCain, she said has been "leading the fight against reckless spending for decades." More»

Graham calls Arizona senator 'de facto leader of the Republican Party'

(NEWSER) - John McCain has made the transformation from possible Obama ally to a full-blooded Republican partisan, though insiders aren’t quite sure why. Some see his vocal opposition to the Obama administration’s policies as a concession to the realities of next year’s election, where he may face a challenge from the right. Friend Lindsey Graham paints McCain’s outrage as common sense. “What would have been a change was if he wasn’t pissed off,” he tells Politico . More»