With the mid-term elections less than a month away, I figured now would be an excellent time to give an update as to where I see things going on November 7th. Lets start with:

Lamont vs. Lieberman
It’s the fights of the two L’s (not that kind of “L”!). Lately, Lieberman has been sticking to his guns, and trying to defend his support for the war. He’s unwavering in his support for the war in purpose, but points out that he’s been opposed to Bush’s handling of it. I think it’s something to say that he is consistent in his views. At least he’s not playing down his support of it since he lost the primary.

What he’s not being consistent in is his continued support of the Democratic party. Before the primary, his party-related message was how good of a Democrat he is. After losing the primary, he’s been telling people how good of a Democrat he’s not. That is, how well he’s worked to cross party lines and get things done. It’s a interesting strategy, since he needs that Independent and Republican support to ensure he wins.

In the latest Quinnipiac poll, Lieberman leads over Lamont by 10 points, so at the moment, he’s in a comfortable position. However, who knows what could happen between now and election day, especially after the Foley scandal. Yes, Lieberman is a Democrat, but to some voters, if you’re perceived as supporting Republican policies or defending Republican scandals, you’re as good as a Republican. Lieberman is close to Bush, and remains as such, so it could hurt him. Lieberman has said some things to infuriate Democrats, especially those who’s traditionally supported him. However, those things were before this poll, and I’ve just shown how well that’s worked.

While Lieberman has lost some ground (49-39 compared to August’s 53-41), Lamont hasn’t gained much. I still think Lamont is focusing too much on how different to Lieberman he is, and on the Iraq war issue. Lamont has all this money, he should be using it to better explain his position on some of the other major issues. One of his other big issues is healthcare, yet he isn’t doing much to talk about it. Lamont has some real work to do before November, or Joe Lieberman will win. There are 7 percent undecided, but unless the Foley thing hurts Lieberman, or unless Lieberman screws up, that’s not going to help Lamont, even if he were to get all of those undecided voters.

I’m still rather undecided. A month ago, I might have been leaning more toward Lieberman, but now I’m stuck just about right in the middle. Some of the things I’ve learned about Lieberman have made me uneasy, but I’m trying to look past the war issue and see what else he’s about as well.

Rell vs. DeStefano
What can I say here? I think this race is already decided. Despite the justice department turmoil and a couple small scandals, Rell still enjoys pretty popular bi-partisan support. According to the poll, she’s leading 63-30, a shocking amount, which tell a lot about what is going to happen. I haven’t seen much from DeStefano since the primary, which doesn’t bode well for him. DeStefano beats Rell 53-42 among Democratic voters, but I’m guessing most of the people who are part of the lead would never vote for Rell, just on principle.

I’m pretty pro-Rell right now. Despite the couple small scandals in her administration (the justice department one she had no control over, but handled well all the same), I like the efforts she has made at trying to clean house. Yea, there are some questions lingering, even in my mind, over how much she might have known about Rowland’s activities, but unless we get some concrete proof she was involved, I’m willing to look past it. She was a supporter of the civil unions legislation, which I think was a good thing for her to support, given that she seems pretty religious, as far as I can tell. Even though I do support gay marriage, I feel we have to take baby steps on this issue. There are some who want all or nothing, but if we go that attitude, it’ll never happen. We’re a blue state, we’ll get there.

Simmons vs. Courtney
Another pretty close race. However, I think that unless Simmons commits some kind of major screwup, he may win. Will “Foleygate” affect him? I don’t know, but I’m better to guess it won’t. I will have to keep a closer eye on this race for my next update. I just don’t have much to say about it right now.

and, because I’d be voting here if not for college:

Larson vs. Who (?)
I don’t even know who he’s running against off the top of my head. That says a lot, I think. Yea, Larson’s keeping it.

That’s it for now. I’ll keep an eye on Lamont vs. Lieberman, and Simmons vs. Courtney.