Just days after Bill Brady officially became the GOP nominee for Governor in Illinois (beating out Kirk Dillard by just over 190 votes), Rasmussen is out with a new poll showing the Republican challenger running ten points ahead of the Democratic incumbent, Pat Quinn:

Brady (R) 47
Quinn (D) 37
Other 6
Undecided 9

According to Rasmussen,only 43% of Illinois voters approve of the job Pat Quinn is doing as Governor, while 56% disapprove.

Anonymous Democratic sources in the House fire back at Massa via the Washington Post:

Former Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) has been under investigation for allegations that he groped multiple male staffers working in his office, according to three sources familiar with the probe.

The allegations surrounding the former lawmaker date back at least a year, and involve "a pattern of behavior and physical harassment," according to one source. The new claims of alleged groping contradict statements by Massa, who resigned his office on Monday after it became public that he was the subject of a House ethics committee investigation for possible harassment. [snip]

According to two sources familiar with the probe, Massa's former deputy chief of staff Ron Hikel provided the information about the staffers' allegations to the House ethics committee three weeks ago. Hikel had earlier sought advice from Majority Leader Steny Hoyer's office about brewing internal complaints, the sources said, and had been urged to report the allegations to the committee.

Hikel, reached at his home Tuesday, declined to comment on the ethics investigation.

Massa is scheduled to be on Glenn Beck's show shortly and on Larry King later tonight.

A new Marist poll shows that 68% of New York voters want embattled Governor Paterson to finish out his term. Twenty-eight percent think he should resign and 4 percent don't have an opinion. These numbers are essentially unchanged from Marist's survey one week ago, taken in the immediate wake of news that Paterson was directly involved in intervening in an alleged case of domestic abuse by one of his top aides.

With just 29% of likely Republican primary voters approving of his job performance, Gov. Charlie Crist's Senate campaign appears on the verge of defeat. A new Public Policy Polling survey finds Marco Rubio leading Crist in the primary by 32 points -- a stunning collapse of a candidate many assumed a year ago would be serving in the Senate in 2011.

Rubio's campaign is boosted significantly by his support among conservatives, who favor him by a 71%-17% margin. Crist wins among moderates, 49%-36%.

Rubio 60
Crist 28
Und 12

Rubio leads by 16.8 points in the RCP Average

The survey was conducted March 5-8 of 492 GOP LV with a MoE of +/- 4.4%.

Some notes on some of the interesting intra-party races coming in the months ahead.

*In Delaware, 2008 Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell (R) says she'll announce her candidacy tomorrow for the special election in November to complete Vice President Joe Biden's unexpired term. Rep. Mike Castle (R) is still a heavy favorite to win that nomination in September, but O'Donnell is hoping to tap into the national conservative momentum in that race. "Delaware now steps into the larger national drama unfolding between establishment Washington incumbents and their grassroots challengers as the Christine O'Donnell v. Mike Castle primary race is officially launched," her campaign says. Primary September 14

*When former Gov. Terry Branstad (R) entered the race for governor, it didn't scare the whole GOP field off. And now, perhaps Bob Vander Plaats (R) is showing he can give the four-term Iowa leader a race. The Des Moines Register reported yesterday that Vander Plaats beat Branstad in three country straw polls this weekend. “A lot people have already coronated Branstad, but it's a lot closer than that, especially among activists,” Story County GOP chair AJ Spiker told the paper. Mike Huckabee, winner of the 2008 caucuses, has made several stops in the Hawkeye State for Vander Plaats. Primary June 8

*On the Democratic side, Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-MI) looks like she'll again face a tough race for renomination. The Detroit Free Press reports that state Sen. Hansen Clarke announced his candidacy in the 13th District yesterday, saying the time "is ripe for a run for the seat because of public discontent with Congress." Kilpatrick narrowly won her primary in 2008 as her son, then-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, was in the midst of scandal. Primary August 3

So close to an important vote, President Obama might have been expected to be traveling Monday to the district of an undecided member of the House. Instead, Obama was outside Philadelphia, in a town shared by three Congressmen who voted for health care reform and show no signs of wavering.

"If you look at where we're going, it doesn't really have an impact on a particular member," White House deputy press secretary Bill Burton told reporters on Air Force One en route to the event. "I wouldn't say that this is about any specific targeting in that sense."

What the White House reportedly was hoping to do was create a sense of momentum behind his proposal, combining a supportive crowd with a particularly fiery speech from Obama.

"I ask you to help us get us over the finish line these next few weeks," Obama shouted at the end of the event, described by many to be reminiscent of the 2008 campaign. "The need is great. The opportunity is here. Let's seize reform. It's within our grasp."

In several interviews at the start of 2010, Obama said that if he were to point to one mistake in his first year, it would be that he and his administration were too focused on the inside game, making what were in some cases critical decisions, but overall failing to communicate with the public at large.

"What they've ended up seeing is this feeling of remoteness and detachment," Obama told George Stephanopoulos just after Scott Brown won the Massachusetts Senate race.

Events like Monday's, and another to come Wednesday in the St. Louis area, would seem to be part of the administration's answer. Sen. Arlen Specter (D), who joined Obama in his home state, said he was glad to see the passion from Obama, and that he wished he'd seen it sooner. (more...)

Republicans lead the governor's races in Colorado, Nebraska and Ohio, according to Rasmussen polls released in the last few days. These three races all fall under different circumstances: Colorado is an open race in which the incumbent Democrat is not running; Nebraska has a Republican incumbent; and Ohio has a Democratic incumbent.

Running in Colorado is Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper (D) and former Rep. Scott McInnis (R). Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland (D) is being challenged by former Rep. John Kasich (R). And Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman (R) holds a big lead in his re-election battle against businessman Mark Lakers (D).

COLORADO (March 4, 500 LV, MoE +/- 4.5%)
McInnis 48 (+3 vs. last poll, Feb. 4)
Hickenlooper 42 (-7)
Und 6

OHIO (March 4, 500 LV, MoE +/- 4.5%)
Kasich 49 (+2 vs. last poll, Feb. 6)
Stricland 38 (-3)
Und 7

NEBRASKA (March 4, 500 LV, MoE +/- 4.5%)
Heineman 61
Lakers 23
Und 14

From the Syracuse Post-Standard:

Central New York's three congressmen, who voted for health care reform in November, are now undecided as President Barack Obama tries to push his top legislative priority across the finish line.

As a result of their concerns about a final bill, Democratic Reps. Dan Maffei, Michael Arcuri and Bill Owens are emerging as a key block of swing votes that could make or break the historic legislation.

For the latest updates on the health care vote in the House, see Jay Cost's whip count.

New poll from GQR/Democracy Corps shows the following:

> President Obama's job rating stands at 49% approve, 46% disapprove. (Among likely voters Obama is upside down, with 47% approving and 48% disapproving.)

> Among likely voters, Republicans hold a 3-point edge over Democrats in the Generic Ballot Question, 47 to 44.

> Only 32% say the country is moving in the right direction, while 60% say we're on the wrong track.

> One in four (24%) voters believe the country is "much less safe" from "foreign threats and dangers" than we were two years ago. Fourteen percent say we are "much more safe" than we were two years ago.

> 19% say America is "much more respected" in the world today than we were two years ago. 26% say America is "much less respected" in the world over the same period.

> Among likely voters, 51% disapprove of the way Democrats in Congress are handling national security, 41% approve. For Republicans, 46% of likely voters disapprove, and 45% approve.

> 38% of likely voters say President Obama is doing "much" or "somewhat" better than George W. Bush at handling the issue of national security, while 33% say he is doing "much" or "somewhat" worse than Bush. On the question of "combating terrorism" and "handling terrorism suspects" 37% of likely voters say Obama is doing better than Bush while 33% say he's doing worse.

Dan Rather pulled a politically incorrect two-fer (to put it kindly) on the Chris Matthews show this past weekend, saying that despite being "articulate" President Obama, "couldn't sell watermelons if you gave him the state troopers to flag down the traffic." Watch the exchange here.

Lord knows if any Republican had uttered the same phrase they'd be excoriated for being a racist. Shouldn't Rather be held to the same standard?