Wedesday Must-Reads: Tax Day

Tax Day has arrived (as have the ‘Tea Parties’)—which means it’s also the day quarterly FEC reports must be filed. Politico offers a preview of the ten fundraising stories to watch as we look ahead to 2010. Early reports suggest it’s been a good quarter for Dems.
The counting continues in NY-20 as Republicans challenge a large number of absentee ballots, including Sen. Gillibrand’s. PolitickerNY provides a great behind-the-scenes look at the challenge process, including the allegations that those rejections are occurring along ethnic lines. Over at FiveThirtyEight, though, a statistical breakdown suggests the election will ultimately go to Democrat Murphy.
In Pennsylvania, Sen. Specter has earned the backing of many prominent Republicans, which may help him keep his seat in next year’s primary. Nate Silver suggests that that reward—along with the real threat that, had he not come into the fold on EFCA, he would not have received party backing—could be a model for how Dems should deal with their own moderate legislators.
Gay marriage is set to remain a hot advocacy campaign in coming years, so writers are analyzing successful campaigns on both sides. To our own case study about California’s Prop 8, ad this analysis suggesting that conservative’s success shows they’re not so disadvantaged online. Meanwhile, the Post details the different kind of tactics that worked for gay-marriage activists in Iowa’s court battle.