the DSCC

St. Petersburg Times: Meek to launch first TV ad of general

St. Petersburg Times

While it does not mention U.S. Senate opponents Marco Rubio and Charlie Crist, the ad attempts to draw policy contrasts, some of which (pro-choice) are not as clear given Crist's propensity to shift. It will run in Tampa Bay, Orlando, Palm Beach, Broward-Miami, Jacksonville and Gainesville.

Washington Post: Republicans fear echoes of Alaska in Delaware primary

The Washington Post

Nearly two weeks removed from Murkowski's stunning defeat by little-known attorney Joe Miller in the Republican Senate primary in Alaska, establishment GOPers are nervous of a repeat in Delaware, where Castle faces 2008 Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell in the Sept. 14 primary.

Castle's resume in elected office in Delaware extends more than 40 years and includes an eight-year stint as governor. So, until recently, it was assumed that he would easily win the primary and the general election to replace appointed Sen. Ted Kaufman, a Democrat.

CNN TRENDING: Jindal won't endorse Vitter

CNN

The answer is no.

"Voters can make up their own minds," the Louisiana governor told local television station WDSU.

Jindal added he doesn't like to get involved in federal races, though the station reports he has backed federal-office seekers in the past.

Kansas City Star: Missourian embraces role of the insider

Kansas City Star

It took only a single term for Roy Blunt to become more than just a congressman from small-town Missouri.

Just that quickly, the former history teacher — born in Niangua, population 494 — was on his way to becoming the consummate Washington insider.

A decade later, he’s the Republican candidate for Missouri’s open U.S. Senate seat, running against Democrat Robin Carnahan. One recent poll gave Blunt an 11-point lead; another showed the race tied.

Indianapolis Star: Ellsworth: Coats is lying in TV ad

Indianapolis Star

The race for Indiana’s open U.S. Senate seat heated up this morning, with Democratic nominee Brad Ellsworth accusing Republican opponent Dan Coats of lying in a television ad.

In the ad, Coats cites votes by Ellsworth in Congress to close the detainment facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and move terrorists to the U.S.

In a news conference this morning, Ellsworth said that ad was “flat-outfalse.”

Huffington Post: Linda McMahon Says Entitlement Reform 'Not A Campaign Issue' While Attacking Opponent On Entitlement Reform

Huffington Post

There have been a host of Republican candidates for Senate -- chief among them Sharron Angle and Rand Paul -- who have taken heat this election cycle for ducking the press. Connecticut Senate aspirant Linda McMahon is not one of them. The former wrestling executive has not gone out of her way to avoid the media. She has, however, made some fairly interesting decisions about what press questions she will and won't answer.

In the past few weeks, McMahon has studiously refused to talk about what she would like to see done to both Social Security and Medicare. The Connecticut Republican has been upfront with her belief that the entitlement programs need reforming. She's argued that they are both going bankrupt and, in the process, bankrupting the country. But when pressed for specific remedies she's insisted that those two topics are not campaign issues.

Chicago Tribune: Senate poll: Giannoulias, Kirk neck and neck

Chicago Tribune

Democrat Alexi Giannoulias and Republican Mark Kirk are wounded rivals running neck and neck for the U.S. Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama, a new Tribune/WGN-TV poll shows.

After a bruising summer of controversies, both major party candidates have work to do to win key swing voters while at the same time exploiting their opponent's weak spots, the survey found. Energized by the political symbolism of capturing the president's former seat, national Republicans and Democrats are expected to pour millions of dollars into an advertising war during the two months before the Nov. 2 election.

Giannoulias, the first-term state treasurer, and Kirk, a five-term North Shore congressman, both had 34 percent in the statewide poll of 600 registered likely voters conducted Aug. 28 through Wednesday. Another 22 percent of voters were undecided.

Manchester Journal Inquirer: WWE talent deals have ‘death clauses’ releasing company from liability

Manchester Journal Inquirer

The father of a three-time champion wrestler for World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., the company owned and formerly headed by Republican U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon, said Thursday that he was flabbergasted to learn after his son’s suicide that his contract with WWE contained a so-called “death clause.”

“It was only after the death of my son that I actually saw his WWE contract,” Michael Benoit, a Canadian whose son, Chris Benoit, hung himself after killing his wife and son three years ago. “I was shocked that any corporation could knowingly put its workers at such risk and accept no responsibility.”

But McMahon’s campaign spokesman said that while such clauses — which ostensibly release WWE from liability in the event of a wrestler’s death in the ring or due to injuries sustained there, even if the company is negligent — are part of its talent contracts, WWE has “never exercised that option.”

The Times-Picayune: Landrieu blasts GOP Senate candidate in Nevada for Katrina remarks

The Times-Picayune

If you diss New Orleans or question the propriety of aid flowing to Louisiana in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill, expect a tongue lashing from Mayor Mitch Landrieu.

The most battered target to date had been Chris Myers, the Fox Sports commentator and former New Orleanian who sustained Landrieu's wrath -- and publicly apologized -- for lauding victims of recent flooding in Tennessee as "people (who) weren't standing on a rooftop trying to blame the government."

The mayor was at it again Wednesday, issuing a stinging retort to Sharron Angle, the Tea Party-backed Nevada Republican who hopes to unseat Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in November.

Bowling Green Daily News: Barren sheriff assails Paul on drug issue

Bowling Green Daily News

Barren County Sheriff Chris Eaton said U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul’s suggestion to stop the federal funding used to battle illicit drugs would be disastrous.

“It’d be total chaos. I think it’d give drug dealers a green light,” Eaton said.

Eaton, who was elected sheriff under the Democratic banner, made his statements Tuesday during a conference call arranged by Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jack Conway’s campaign. Eaton didn’t deny that he supports Conway, but said drugs are a problem that go beyond political parties.