On July 5, Quinnipiac University Polls released a New Jersey poll for the presidential general election. It compares a 2-person race with Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton, and a 3-person race with Mike Bloomberg added. The 2-candidate matchup shows Giuliani 47% and Clinton 44%. But the 3-candidate race shows Giuliani and Clinton each at 36%, with Bloomberg at 18%. For more details on this poll, see here.
On July 2, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney was asked if he would agree to inclusive general election presidential debates, if he is the Republican nominee. The questioner, Larry Reinsch, prefaced the question by pointing out that there has never been a presidential election with more than 7 candidates who were theoretically able to be elected.
Romney responded to the question about whether he would agree to a general election debate that included all candidates who could theoretically win by saying, “Not necessarily. I’ll take a look at who the field is. Part of it is up to the broadcaster, as to who they want in. So, for instance, I’ve argued for a field that was a little narrower in one of the last debates, and they said, ‘No, no, we’re gonna bring everybody in’, a larger field, so as…the broadcaster has some say, I guess the Presidential Commission has some say…I’ll be deciding what I want to do later, but I’m not gonna make that call today.”
Reinsch then pointed out the virtues of letting the American voters hear about all the candidates who are running. Romney responded with a reference to the fact that at least one candidate for the Republican nomination, John Cox, has not been permitted into the Republican primary season debates so far, and said, “We have to draw the line somewhere, clearly if Mayor Bloomberg gets in, he’s an Independent Party candidate, he’s gonna have a place on that stage…but you can draw the line where you think you have a candidate that can be viable, that has a prospect of winning, so they took a good look at some numbers and polls that they have 1% of the population or something, because you’ve gotta draw the line somewhere, because there are probably hundreds of people running, so you gotta say who is viable. But I’ll make that determination down the road.”
Of course, Romney’s remark about hundreds of candidates shows he wasn’t listening when he had been told that there has never been a presidential election with more than 7 candidates who could theoretically won the election.
The Oregon legislature adjourned on June 29. On that day, it passed HB 2082, the Secretary of State’s bill to make it more difficult for initiatives to get on the ballot. It makes it illegal for paid circulators to work, until they have taken a class on the initiative process. It requires them to carry evidence that they have taken this class. They must carry with them credentials, which includes a photograph “showing the face, neck and shoulders”. Their petition sheets must be a different color than petition sheets circulated by unpaid volunteers. Those who pay circulators must make frequent and regular reports of pay records to the Secretary of State, and must keep such records for two years after the initiative is submitted. The bill is 38 pages long and has much more than just the points mentioned here.
On June 30, former Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney addressed 350 people at a Georgia NAACP fundraising dinner. According to the AP report, she delivered a fiery speech criticizing Democrats in Congress for failing to stop U.S. involvement in Iraq, ignoring the victims of Hurricane Katrina, and failing to impeach President Bush. McKinney specifically criticized Speaker Nancy Pelosi and members of the Congressional Black Caucus. McKinney is pondering whether or not to seek the Green Party presidential nomination in 2008.
Florida held three state legislative special elections on June 26.
In State Senate District 3, the results were: Republican 67.3%; Democratic 32.7%. The last time this seat had been up, in 2004, the results had been Republican 66.1%; Democratic 33.9%.
In House District 24, the only candidate in the special election was a Republican. By contrast, when this seat had last been up, in 2006, there had been a contest between the two major parties. In 2006 the results had been: Republican 56.3%; Democrat 43.7%.
In House District 43, the special election results were: Republican 58.8%; Democratic 38.4%; independent 2.8%. The last time this seat was up, in 2006, there had only been a Republican nominee.
