Friday Must-Reads: As the World Turns (Blue)

A slew of new polls are out today, and most should make the majority party happy. In New Mexico, only four years ago a swing state, a blue turn continues as Lt. Gov. Diane Denish leads Republican opponents in gubernatorial polling. Out in Hawai’i, two Democratic gubernatorial contenders, U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie and Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann, both lead Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona, though name recognition of all of them sounds fairly low. In Pennsylvania, former-Rep. Pat Toomey is now polling behind both Sen. Arlen Specter and Rep. Joe Sestak. Even the polling that is good for the GOP doesn’t end up sounding all the great, as internal polls released by Sen. Richard Burr (N.C.) sound a little… strained. And in Virginia, gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell’s early lead over Democrat Creigh Deeds has been slashed (though last week a Rasmussen poll put Deeds in the lead).In fact, polls for Democrats are so good that some people are even lying to say they voted for Obama. That doesn’t mean he’s not being careful; though he’s heavily recruiting his favored Senate candidates, he’s trying to downplay all those politics. He met yesterday with Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan—and she’s looking for an endorsement and cleared field before she runs—but he won’t commit yet.The plot has thickened on Sen. John Ensign’s affair drama, as questions have arisen as to why exactly he brought it up now—was he being blackmailed?—and why the salaries and job transfers of his mistress and her husband look unusual during the affair. His interns, smelling trouble, want out.