Political Wire

A new Southern Media & Opinion Research poll in Louisiana shows Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) leading challenger John Kennedy (R), 46% to 41%, with 14% still undecided.

"Yeah, man, you're a senator."

-- Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) to Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) on the Senate floor, quoted by Politico. The exchange was followed by Byrd laughing hysterically.

A new Research 2000 poll found that if Connecticut voters could vote again in the 2006 U.S. Senate race they would have elected Ned Lamont (D) over Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I), 51% to 36%, with Alan Schlesinger (R) getting 7%.

Nathan Gonzales from the Rothenberg Political Report sends us this information observation:

"With all of the talk about John McCain unveiling his running mate immediately after the Democratic National Convention to alleviate Barack Obama's bounce, there could be a wrinkle in McCain's potential plans: his birthday."

"McCain turns 72 years old on August 29, the day after the Democrats' convention. So while the Arizona senator could swipe some media attention from Obama by announcing his vice presidential choice during the time between the conventions, the senator's birthday and age will be a prominent media story. And it will be contrasted even further with the age of his running mate."

Saying he's concerned Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) "may use personal smears" in their Senate campaign, challenger Bob Kelleher (R) "laid out his life's faults" yesterday, the Missoulian reports.

Kelleher noted that he dropped out of a monastery "because he couldn't handle the vow of chastity." He also noted he has since been married and divorced three times and has seven children "and regrets the impact his absence had on their lives."

Said Kelleher: "I wanted to have fun."

Not surprisingly, CQ rates the race Safe Democrat.

A new Time poll of Catholic voters that reveals that Sen. Barack Obama has pulled even with Sen. John McCain among that constituency -- Obama now polls 44% to McCain's 45%.

The poll "confirmed that a majority of Catholics (59%) can be broadly defined as pro-life (opposing abortion except to protect a woman's life or health or in cases of rape or incest). But these pro-life Catholics are actually split into two voting camps: conservative Catholics who consider abortion to be a determining factor, and Catholics who feel that social issues can be trumped in times of economic and national insecurity."

"As the Fourth of July approaches, six in 10 of those surveyed in a USA Today/Gallup Poll say sporting an American flag pin indicates that a person is patriotic, one of a half-dozen actions that most say reflect a love of country."

According to the Los Angeles Times, Sen. Barack Obama's campaign and the Democratic National Committee "are toying with a convention scheduling change that has been broached before in theory but never seriously considered: cutting the party's conclave in Denver short by one day to give Obama an extra day of post-nomination bounce in the crowded August calendar."

"Adding to the Democrats' calculation is the growing speculation that McCain will announce his running mate in the brief intermission between the two conventions -- a good way to seize the spotlight from the just-nominated Democrat."

The Wall Street Journal reports that allies of Sen. John McCain "have found new loopholes in the campaign-finance law he helped write -- and they're using them to reel in huge contributions to help him compete with Sen. Barack Obama."

The emergence of a "vigorous and well-funded" Democratic challenger in the VA-5 congressional race has prompted CQ Politics to change its rating on the race to reflect the possibility of a competitive contest this fall.

The rating, which was Safe Republican, is now Republican Favored. This means Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA) "still is considered likely to win re-election in the 5th, a sprawling area that stretches from just north of Charlottesville to the state's border with North Carolina. But it also means that the contest is at least mildly competitive at the moment."

"Steve Schmidt is taking over the day-to-day operation of John McCain's campaign," according to Jonathan Martin. At a staff meeting this morning, campaign manager Rick Davis made the announcement about Schmidt's new role.

However, "accounts diverge on the exact nature of the new chain of command. One top McCain source said that Schmidt 'assumed full operational control of the campaign today' and described Davis as 'a general manager.' But Charlie Black, another top adviser, said Davis was still in charge."

The Republican National Committee "has reserved advertising slots in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, large buys that could mark the first serious wave of televised attacks on Barack Obama," according to Ben Smith.

"Obama is on the air in 18 states, and has been using his financial advantage to tell his preferred version of his biography, one that roots him in Kansas values and centrist political issues."

"I have not. I have not. Actually, I have not."

-- Sen. John McCain, in an interview on ABC News, when asked why he "admitted that you're not exactly an expert when it comes to the economy."

However, NBC News compiles past McCain quotes in which he said "The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should" or "I'm going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated."

Hispanic voters may have preferred Sen. Hillary Clinton over Sen. Barack Obama in the Democratic primaries, but a new Gallup poll shows them lining up solidly behind Obama over Sen. John McCain in the general election, 59% to 29%.

Meanwhile, the New Mexico Independent reports that in New Mexico and other "battleground" states with large Hispanic populations -- Colorado, Nevada, Florida, and possibly Arizona -- pollsters found Obama leading McCain in those states 57% to 26%.

The New York Observer: "In the weeks since Mrs. Clinton officially suspended her candidacy, the Obama campaign has recruited the services of the Clinton campaign's director of national security, Lee Feinstein, as well as foreign-policy advisers Mara Rudman, the deputy national security advisor under Bill Clinton; Robert Einhorn, a former assistant secretary for nonproliferation at the State Department; and Stuart Eizenstat, an international-trade specialist who was policy director for Jimmy Carter's 1976 campaign. On the domestic side, Gene Sperling, who was the top economic adviser on the Clinton campaign, has begun consulting with the Obama policy team."

A new Quinnipiac poll in Connecticut finds Sen. Barack Obama leading Sen. John McCain by 21 points, 56% to 35%.

Democrats "now appear to hold a solid edge in the battle for the seat New York Republican Rep. Vito J. Fossella left open -- after the married father of three admitted in May that he has a daughter from an ongoing extramarital relationship," according to CQ Politics.

"The Republicans' lack of a consensus replacement candidate less than two weeks before the July 10 candidate filing deadline, with no top-tier prospects at hand for the party's Sept. 9 primary, has prompted CQ to change its rating on the race in NY-13 to Democrat Favored from No Clear Favorite."

The NY-13 House seat is New York City's only remaining Republican held seat.

For more, see CQ's Races to Watch.

Top Republican officials, "frustrated by what they view as inconsistent messaging, sluggish fundraising and an organization that is too slow to take shape, are growing increasingly uneasy about the direction of the McCain presidential campaign," according to Politico.

"While the practice of second-guessing presidential campaign decisions is a quadrennial routine, interviews with 16 Republican strategists and state party chairmen -- few of whom would agree to talk on the record -- reveal a striking level of discord and mounting criticism about the McCain operation."

A new AP/Yahoo News poll shows that Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain are about equally liked among Americans, but that Mrs. Obama is twice as disliked as Mrs. McCain.

A new AP/Yahoo News poll shows that Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain are about equally liked among Americans, but that Mrs. Obama is twice as disliked as Mrs. McCain.