Political Potpourri: News and notes from the campaign trail

So many political stories ... so little time to read them. This by-no-means-thorough digest reviews some of the stories that may have flown under the radar and includes a sample of polls as Nov. 2 draws closer.

Reid-Angle race devolves into accusations of helping child molesters

The increasingly rancorous U.S. Senate race in Nevada between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican opponent Sharron Angle turned even nastier when candidates started accusing each other of being soft on child molesters, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Angle released an ad accusing Reid of "voting to allow taxpayer dollars to pay for Viagra for convicted child molesters and sex offenders." Reid then ripped Angle for a vote she cast in 1999 as a member of the Nevada Assembly opposing background checks for people volunteering with youth and church groups.

"I would say that the ramping up of the rhetoric indicates that the internal polling of the candidates shows they have no clue who is winning this race," Eric Herzik, a political science professor at the University of Nevada-Reno, told the Times.

Contract government, but save the programs!

How involved the government is in the lives of everyday Joes is a red-meat issue in the 2010 midterm elections next month.

But -- how much is too much? There's the rub.

A recent study by The Washington Post, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard University indicates most Americans who say they want government out of their lives also say Social Security and Medicare are "very important." And they want the feds involved in schools ... and to help reduce poverty ... and regulating healthcare.

The study suggests come January, politicians of both political stripes must confront the challenge of reconciling reality and perception. Republicans and Democrats trying to demonize Washington also must contend with the fact that most major government programs are hugely popular.

Republican panel turfs ad agency for 'hicky' search

Democrat Joe Manchin, hoping to move from West Virginia's governor's office to the U.S. Senate, is trying to link his Republican opponent to a flap over a recent GOP ad that sought "hicky" actors.

National GOP strategists said no dice but then fired the ad agency responsible.

Manchin's ad, titled "Hicks," tries to link GOP businessman John Raese to the ad, even though it was created independently of Raese's campaign, The Washington Post said, and even of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

"John Raese thinks we're hicks," the Manchin ad begins, going into detail about the ad, which was run by the NRSC. "It's insulting, and he didn't even apologize."

Nothing indicates Raese had anything to do with the ad -- and the NRSC has taken strides to distance itself from the request for "hicky" actors -- who actually hailed from Pennsylvania -- and a wardrobe of flannel shirts and old John Deere baseball caps.

The NRSC says it wasn't responsible for the wording of the actor's call -- saying Jamestown Associates was responsible for the ad and Jamestown, in turn, hired an agency to look for talent. That's where the term "hicky" started, the Post said.

"The reality is that no one in the Republican Party, no one associated with the party and certainly no one associated with John Raese's campaign has ever used the language" Manchin's campaign cites, NRSC spokesman Brian Walsh said.

When the story about the derogatory term and the expected attire first broke, Jamestown said it had nothing to do with problematic language and blamed the talent agent.

That didn't fly with the agent, Kathy Wickline, who said in a statement she got the wording from the agency and she was the victim of cover-up.

"She cut and pasted the language (from Jamestown), and they've thrown her under the bus," Charles K. Graber, a lawyer who represents Wickline, told Politico in a telephone interview.

Walsh said the committee didn't know the truth, so "we have made incorrect statements over the last eight days, and we regret doing so."

The national committee also apologized to West Virginians "who may have been offended by this firm's actions."

In its statement, Jamestown said a private communication between the agency and Wickline "apparently used the term 'hicky' to describe the look for the actors needed for a television spot. ... We apologize for any embarrassment this may have caused to any of the parties and have resigned from the account."

No. 1 may not necessarily be No. 1 in North Carolina

Voters in North Carolina are catching the spirit of an unusual -- and inaugural -- election in which voters will get to register a first choice and a second and a third for the state's Court of Appeals.

It's also the first statewide general election in U.S. history to use a system known as instant-runoff voting, StateLine.com reported.

IRV, the moniker for instant-runoff voting, is just one of a plethora of alternatives to the standard American plurality voting system and based on the notion that asking voters only for their first choice is an imperfect way of determining the public will.

The IRV process continues -- and continues and possibly continues -- with second and third and perhaps even fourth and fifth picks being counted until someone breaks the 50 percent threshold and is declared the winner.

Instant runoff is catching on, officials said. Several U.S. cities use the method for local elections, as does the Australian House of Representatives. IRV also is used for selecting college football's Heisman trophy winner and -- as of last year, the Academy Award best picture winner.

Paladino doesn't hate gays -- just the idea of gay marriages

New York Republican gubernatorial nominee Carl Paladino, saying he's not homophobic, is blaming Democratic opponent Andrew Cuomo for keeping the story alive.

"You know, first (Cuomo) called me an anti-Semitic. Now he wants to call me a homophobic," Paladino said on ABC's "Good Morning America." "I'm not a homophobic. I have no reservations whatsoever about gays, except for marriage."

The Tea Party-backed GOP nominee added he wouldn't have any problem hiring gays and lesbians to work in his administration.

Paladino landed in hot water after a recent speech before a group of orthodox Jewish rabbis in which he discussed his stance against gay marriage and said he does not want children "to be brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid or successful option. It isn't," The Hill reported.

Paladino eventually apologized in a letter for his comments "that may have offended the gay and lesbian community or their family members. ... Any reference to branding an entire community based on a small representation of them is wrong."

In a damage-control move, Paladino then made the rounds on three broadcast network morning news shows.

The media didn't escape Paladino's criticism for the latest controversy, either.

"The press does not hold Cuomo to the same standards that they hold me," he said.

Paladino noted he supports "civil agreements" and that his opposition to gay marriage is shared by President Obama, a Democrat.

The head of a gay GOP group called Paladino's contrition an "encouraging sign," The Wall Street Journal said, but state Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs called it a "non-apology."

It's a matter of trust -- NOT

American voters are such a cynical bunch when it comes to politicians and the promises they make while campaigning.

A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey indicates 81 percent of likely voters say -- shock -- most politicians don't keep their campaign promises -- up 5 percentage points from November 2009. A dismal 7 percent of voters said they thought most politicians keep their promises, and 12 percent said they were unsure.

Rasmussen said 50 percent believe that when politicians break their campaign promises, it's because they made a false pledge to get elected. Thirty-nine percent said they thought unforeseen circumstances forced the promise to be broken.

The survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted Oct. 12-13. The margin of sampling error is 3 percentage points.

Senate elections -- not of, by the people?

It isn't on anybody's radar, but several Republicans this year have made repeal of the 17th Amendment, which was adopted in 1913 and calls for the direct election of U.S. senators, a part of their campaigns.

Alaska Republican U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miller recently joined the list of candidates saying he favored the amendment's repeal -- but later backed away from his statements, saying changing the Constitution wasn't a "practical solution" to solving Washington's ills, The Washington Post reported.

Other candidates who jumped on the anti-17th Amendment bandwagon include:

-- Republican Ken Buck, running in Colorado's U.S. Senate race, recently explained his previous statements of support for repealing the amendment were a "mistake."

-- Dentist Paul Gosar, who's running against Democratic incumbent Ann Kirkpatrick in Arizona's 1st Congressional District, said there were "unintended consequences" that took place when the 17th Amendment was created.

-- Republican Steve Stivers, in a tight race with incumbent Mary Jo Kilroy in Ohio's 15th Congressional District, has caught some criticism for saying he would support repealing the 17th Amendment. Stivers later told the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch he "answered that question wrong."

-- Colorado state Rep. Scott Tipton, also a Republican, running against incumbent Rep. John Salazar for the 3rd Congressional District also backpedaled after a Tea Party survey that the 17th Amendment was not a "good thing for America."

-- In Florida's 2nd Congressional District race, Rep. Allen Boyd, D-Fla., ran an ad against his Republican opponent, Steve Southerland, on the 17th Amendment. Southerland since has said he wouldn't repeal it.

Polls, polls and more polls

U.S. Senate:

-- A Monmouth University poll in Delaware indicates Democrat Chris Coons sports a 19 percentage point lead over Republican Christine O'Donnell, 57 percent to 38 percent.

-- A Rasmussen Report poll indicates Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his Republican challenger Sharron Angle were locked in a too-close-to-call contest.

-- Republican Rep. Mark Kirk and Democrat Alexi Giannoulias also are deadlocked in Illinois' race for the U.S. Senate, Rasmussen Reports indicated.

-- An Elway Poll indicated Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., leads GOP challenger Dino Rossi, 51 percent to 38 percent.

-- A WMUR-University of New Hampshire finds Republican Kelly Ayotte holds a 15 percentage point lead over Democrat Paul Hodes, 50 percent to 35 percent, with 12 percent undecided.

-- A Club for Growth poll in Alaska finds Republican Joe Miller ahead of Lisa Murkowski -- running as a write-in candidate after losing to Miller in the party primary -- 33 percent to 31 percent, with Democrat Scott McAdams third with 27 percent.

Governors races:

-- A recent Quest Research survey in Rhode Island finds Democrat Frank Caprio leading Independent Lincoln Chafee, 37 percent to 33 percent, with Republican John Robitaille trailing at 22 percent.

-- A Rasmussen Report survey indicates Republican John Kasich barely ahead of incumbent Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland in Ohio, 48 percent to 45 percent.

-- A Winthrop University poll in South Carolina indicated Republican Nikki Haley is ahead of Democrat Vincent Sheheen, 46 percent to 37 percent.

-- A Vermont Public Radio poll indicates a dead heat between Republican Brian Dubie and Democrat Peter Shumlin, with the Republican leading by just a single percentage point, 44 percent to 43 percent.

-- A SurveyUSA poll in Minnesota shows Democrat Mark Dayton ahead of Republican Tom Emmer by 5 percentage points, 42 percent to 37 percent, with Independence Party candidate Tom Horner at 14 percent.

-- A Mason-Dixon poll in Republican Nevada Brian Sandoval with a sizable lead over Democrat Rory Reid, 52 percent to 37 percent.