Will Tea Party candidates cost GOP control of Senate?: Join the Live Chat
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The primary season is careening to a close, complete with alleged death threats, angry voters and overheated political ads. Tonight we’ll bring you live coverage of the final major primary races unfolding today in seven states and the District of Columbia.
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Evening Buzz: Will Tea Party candidates cost GOP control of Senate?
Cate Vojdik
AC360° Writer
The primary season is careening to a close, complete with alleged death threats, angry voters and overheated political ads. Tonight we’ll bring you live coverage of the final major primary races unfolding today in seven states and the District of Columbia.
In two key Republican Senate races - Delaware and New Hampshire - Tea Party candidates are facing off against mainstream GOP candidates. The insurgents are aiming to drive the Republican party to the right. But if they succeed in knocking off their moderate opponents, Republican leaders fear the price will be crucial losses in November. Will Republicans’ hopes for regaining control of Congress be thwarted?
John King will be at the Magic Wall tonight, bringing us the latest results as they come in, and the best political team on television will be with us throughout the night with rolling analysis. What will today’s wins and losses mean for the midterm elections, now just seven weeks away?
We’ll also have details of the long-awaited release of Sarah Shourd, one of three American hikers who have been held in Iran for 14 months. The 32-year-old woman was reunited with her mother today in Oman, after someone posted the $500,000 bail Iranian officials had demanded. Shourd’s family says they didn’t post the bail. So where did the money come from? Nic Robertson will have the latest from Oman.
There are also new developments in the investigation of the deadly natural gas explosion in California. The utility at the center of the disaster – Pacific Gas and Electric – says it is doing everything possible to help those affected by the tragedy. But many say it’s simply not true. We’ll have all the details.
See you at 10 p.m. eastern.
Challenges by Tea Party favorites highlight primary voting
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CNN Wire Staff
(CNN) - Tea Party favorites faced off against mainstream Republican candidates in two key races Tuesday, the final day of major primary balloting before the November congressional elections.
Other races taking place in seven states and the District of Columbia included embattled veteran Rep. Charles Rangel's attempt to overcome ethics allegations and win his Democratic primary in New York, and D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty's bid to hold off a major primary challenger.
In the highest-profile races, the results will provide further evidence of whether the Tea Party movement can continue to knock off moderate GOP contenders. The victors will run in November against Democrats considered vulnerable due to high unemployment and a general anti-incumbent mood across America.
In Delaware, nine-term Republican Rep. Mike Castle is in a tight contest with political commentator and Tea Party favorite Christine O'Donnell in the GOP U.S. Senate primary.
Released American hiker arrives in Oman
CNN Wire Staff
Tehran, Iran (CNN) - A jubilant American Sarah Shourd reunited with her mother in Muscat, Oman, on Tuesday after Iranian authorities released her from a Tehran prison where she had been held for 14 months.
Shourd arrived in Oman - where her bail was posted - on a 2.5-hour, chartered flight from Tehran. Her bail was posted by Omani sources, a senior Obama administration official said.
"I've been waiting for this moment for a really long time, and I'm extremely grateful to be standing here," she told reporters upon her arrival at the airport. "I want to begin by giving my deepest thanks to the sultan of Oman, Sultan Qaboos."
Shourd thanked Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Ali Khamanei, Iran's supreme leader, and "everyone who has been a part of making this moment happen for me and for my family."
Beat 360° 9/14/10
Ready for today's Beat 360°? Everyday we post a picture you provide the caption and our staff will join in too. Tune in tonight at 10pm to see if you are our favorite! Here is the 'Beat 360°' pic:
Vice President Joe Biden enters a voting booth at Tatnall School to vote in Delaware's primary election, in Greenville, Delaware, September 14, 2010. (Photo credit: David Lienemann/Official White House Photo)
Have fun with it. We're looking forward to your captions! Make sure to include your name, city, state (or country) so we can post your comment.
Update: Beat 360° Winners:
Staff
Steve Brusk
"If I vote for myself, can I go back to the Senate??"
Viewer
Doug Moore, Rockford, Ill.
"I think I just found John Boehner's secret tanning booth."
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Rangel faces five primary opponents amid ethics scandal
Mary Snow
CNN
New York (CNN) - He's served in Congress for almost 40 years, but Tuesday's primary in New York will be unlike any other for Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel.
The 80-year-old Rangel is fighting five challengers and an ethics trial in the House later this month on 13 alleged violations.
In years past, his re-election has been a slam dunk. While he is expected to win again, Rangel's taking nothing for granted.
Delaware not the only Tea Party vs. GOP battle Tuesday
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/POLITICS/09/14/new.hampshire.senate.primary/story.judd.gregg.file.gi.jpg caption="Seven GOP candidates are vying to succeed retiring Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire." width=300 height=169]
Paul Steinhauser
CNN Deputy Political Director
(CNN) - It may not be grabbing the national spotlight like the Republican Senate primary in Delaware, but the GOP Senate primary in New Hampshire shares a similar storyline: A hard-charging conservative candidate threatening to upset the candidate favored by establishment Republicans.
Kelly Ayotte, the state's former attorney general, stepped down to run for the Senate nomination after being encouraged to run for the open seat by national Republicans. For months, polls suggested that Ayotte was the frontrunner in the seven-candidate contest, which also includes businessmen Bill Binnie and Jim Bender. But recent surveys in the Granite State indicate that Ovide Lamontagne, a Manchester attorney and the 1996 Republican nominee for governor, has narrowed the gap with Ayotte.
Local Tea Party groups, the conservative New Hampshire Union Leader newspaper and influential conservative Sen. Jim DeMint have all backed Lamontagne. The Union Leader, the state's largest paper, has also been critical of Ayotte.
But the biggest difference with the Delaware race is that Sarah Palin is endorsing the more conservative Christine O'Donnell there. In New Hampshire, the former Alaska governor is backing Ayotte.
Letters to the President: #603 'Divide and conquer'
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Tom Foreman | BIO
AC360° Correspondent
Reporter's Note: Republicans are seeing a little dissent in their ranks, which as I mention in my daily letter could be a ray of hope for the president’s party.
Dear Mr. President,
As you may have noticed, I rarely address the same topic two days in a row. Which is odd, because I had a marvelous dinner of leftover meatloaf, peas, and pasta before I started writing this, and I would be thrilled to have it each evening for the rest of the week. (Btw, do you ever get leftovers? Seems like it’s one of the great pleasures of American life, and yet I can’t imagine you roaming down to the White House kitchen saying, “Where’s the rest of that lo mein?”)
That said I am turning to yesterday’s topic again, because there has been a development which caught my eye and demands immediate attention. So it turns out that just as House Minority Leader John Boehner whipped his signal flags indicating he might be willing to support your plans for the future of the Bush tax cuts, members of his own party started sprinting away from him; declaring that they will certainly not join in any such attempt at bipartisanship, especially not with the big November vote looming.
Related: GOP colleagues seek distance from Boehner on tax issue
Now, I know I wrote yesterday about the wisdom of being magnanimous with enemies whenever they are even slightly less…uh, enemy-like. But today I must add a corollary: When your enemies show a split in the ranks, especially this kind, drive a wedge into it as hard and fast as you can.
I’m talking pure strategy here. I’d say the same to a Republican president. Like a good quarterback, when you see that gap opening up in the defense you need to act quickly to take advantage of it. Let’s look at the advantages of rapidly embracing and encouraging Boehner’s support.
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Democrats up ante against Boehner
Mark Preston
CNN Senior Political Editor
Washington (CNN) – National Democrats are sharpening their criticism of House Minority Leader John Boehner, airing a second national commercial charging that the Ohio Republican is too close to powerful interest groups in the nation's capital.
The Democratic National Committee is already airing a TV ad that accuses Boehner of helping big business at the expense of working Americans. The new commercial, which will air on MSNBC through the end of the week, is largely based on a recent story in The New York Times that highlights his ties to lobbyists.
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