Campaign fireworks fly as polls put Senate in play
2006-11-01
Source: Los Angeles Times
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rss feedOn a day of heated coast-to-coast campaign confrontations, a flurry of surveys showed the battle for a Senate majority heading for a photo finish that could focus on Missouri.
Tuesday's rapid-fire developments included a sharp collision between familiar antagonists - the Bush White House and Sen. John F. Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat who lost the 2004 presidential election to Bush. And a new controversy erupted in one of the key, and nastiest, Senate campaigns - the reelection bid by Republican George Allen of Virginia.
Kerry and Republicans, led by Bush, exchanged fire long-distance over whether the senator disparaged American troops in Iraq during a Monday rally for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides at Pasadena City College.
After urging students to make the most of their educational opportunities, Kerry said, "If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."
Late Tuesday afternoon, Bush told a crowd in Georgia that Kerry's remarks were "insulting" and "shameful," and called on him to apologize to U.S. troops.
The furor over Kerry's remark and the new flap surrounding Allen reflected the intensity of a crucial midterm campaign in its final days. The series of new polls released in the last two days showed Democrats edging closer to the net gain of six seats they need for a Senate majority - even as national Republicans launched new campaign advertisements in states where they believe they are gaining ground.
The polling gave Democratic challengers the lead over GOP senators in five states. The race in Missouri between Republican Sen. Jim Talent and Democrat Claire McCaskill - potentially the race that decides who controls the Senate - was dead even.
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