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The corporate raider, played by Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney in 2012, is once again the Democrats favorite campaign villain.

This time, the partys broadcast ads feature at least nine Republican Senate candidates whom Democrats are trying to link to the shutdown of factories and loss of jobs overseas. When the candidate has no business record, the ads attack the billionaire Koch brothers, major Republican donors in this years elections.

The strategy harnesses a current of national anxiety over vanishing American middle-class jobs and displaced workers, and its focused on battleground states that include struggling manufacturing powerhouses like North Carolina and Michigan.

Outsourcing is second only to Medicare and Social Security as a Democratic ad theme, according to Senate Majority PAC, a group tied to the partys Senate leader, Harry Reid of Nevada.

Yet while Democratic strategists say its an effective fundraising tactic, it may be a harder sell to voters. Romney was depicted by Democrats as a job cutter based on his time at private equity firm Bain Capital. Many Republican candidates this year, including Joni Ernst in Iowa and Bill Cassidy in Louisiana, lack obvious ties to companies sending jobs offshore.

And while Charles and David Koch are among the biggest underwriters of Republican campaigns in this election through their network of political spending groups, polls show that many Americans dont even know them.

Its awfully difficult to explain who the Kochs are and what their relationship is to the Republican candidates, said Peter Fenn, a Democratic consultant who advised the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama and John Kerry.

The Kochs and the business record of their global array of petroleum, chemical, agriculture and mineral-services companies is a theme in Senate campaigns and three House races covering 10 states, according to Kantar Medias Campaign Media Analysis Group, which tracks political advertising.

Rob Tappan, a Koch Industries spokesman, said the ads are politically motivated attempts to mislead voters and smear the hard-working employees of Koch Industries. Koch has made tough but necessary decisions to close sites due to domestic and global market conditions, he said.

Sending jobs overseas is a Democratic theme in Colorado, where political ads say U.S. Representative Cory Gardner, a Republican challenging Democratic Senator Mark Udall, is being funded by the Kochs.

Continue reading here:
Kochs Tied to Job Losses by Democrats Reviving 2012 Ploy

Democrats are playing defense in deep-blue states like Hawaii, while Republicans are worried about holding on in strongholds like Georgia.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett is behind in the polls. (Tim Shaffer/Reuters)

Democrats are bullish about their opportunity to win the governor's mansion in Kansas. Republicans have sent staffers out to Hawaii for what they view as a promising opportunity to turn the state red.

Those statements may seem surprising given both states' political leaningsbut they're a testament to the fact that the 2014 gubernatorial map has shifted considerably in recent months, a new reality that may cause both parties to move resources to places they never expected at the beginning of the year.

Unlike the 2014 Senate map, which has remained relatively static over the course of the cycle, the gubernatorial map looks quite different than it did when the year began. Some races that were previously seen as competitive, like Ohio and Pennsylvania, are dropping off the map. Others that were low on the national radar, like Kansas, Hawaii and Connecticut, have turned into real races.

Of the initially competitive races that are falling off the map, two swing states with GOP governors running for a second termOhio and Pennsylvaniahave seen the starkest changes.

In Pennsylvania, unpopular GovernorTom Corbett is likely to become the first Keystone State governor ousted in the state's history, giving Democrats a near-automatic pickup. While Corbett was always expected to face an uphill battle to get reelected, no one thought he'd be more than 20 points down on Labor Day. AFranklin & Marshall pollreleased last week put Corbett at just 24 percenta full 25 points below Democratic challenger Tom Wolf.

Corbett is "a known entity: He was attorney general, he's been governor for three and a half years, he has established his public image and it's not a good one," said Chris Borick, who conducts Muhlenberg College's Pennsylvania polling. "For Corbett to, as an incumbent, change the race is going to be a challengeand up to this point it's seemed he is simply going to be unable to do that."

Following the release of the F&M poll, Corbett's campaign leaked a memo showing the incumbent down just 7 pointsfar closer than any public polling, but still a sign he's in deep trouble. The Republican Governors Association (RGA) has contributed millions to help Corbett flood the airwaves with ads this summer, but unless the race tightens the group could end up spending its money elsewhere.

On the other hand, Ohio GovernorJohn Kasich, originally expected to face strong opposition, will now coast to a second term in November: Democrat Ed FitzGerald, his opponent, has run one of the worst campaigns of the year, giving national Democrats little hope he can salvage the race.The Cook Political Reportearlier this weekmovedthe race to "Solid Republican."

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Governors' Races Are Turning the National Political Map Upside Down

Ted Cruz: Only the White House is talking about a government shutdown
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) spoke at the Americans for Prosperity #39;s Defending the American Dream summit Saturday afternoon. Afterwards, he took questions on Obamacare, immigration reform, constitution...

By: Washington Post

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Ted Cruz: Only the White House is talking about a government shutdown - Video

President Obama may not move on executive actions for immigration reform this summer, the White House concededon Tuesday.

"It's hard for me to at least at this point draw any clear conclusions about what the president's timing will be," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said. "There is the chance that it could be before the end of the summer. There is the chance that it could be after the summer."

During a Rose Garden address earlier this year, Obama told reporters he expected recommendations from top administration officials "before the end of summer" and planned to adopt them "without further delay."

But the president last week sidestepped questions on whether the timetable for executive actions could be pushed back.

Obama hinted that developing the administrations response to this summer's surge in migrant children crossing the border could affect progress on broader immigration reform efforts.

Some of these things do affect timelines and we're just going to be working through as systematically as possible in order to get this done, Obama said. But have no doubt: In the absence of congressional action, I'm going to do what I can to make sure the system works better.

Earnest on Tuesday said the president was "basing this decision much more" on the substantive issues at hand, and that the administration was not "focused" on the politics behind the issue.

He also argued that the eventual moves were much more important "than the timing."

"What the president is concerned about is doing the best that he can to address as many problems as he can," Earnest said.

But Earnest conceded there was "no doubt that the White House has demonstrated our desire" to help Democrats battling for their political lives.

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White House: Immigration action might not happen this summer

Sex and the First Amendment Jessica Mitford on How Society Deals with Sexual Matters 1991 clip1

By: FAS 02

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Sex and the First Amendment Jessica Mitford on How Society Deals with Sexual Matters 1991 clip1 - Video