Morning Campaign Roundup

Want the latest sign of Senate GOP recruiting woes? The current Republican frontrunner to challenge Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), state senator Joe Pennacchio, wrote a controversial booklet in 1991 calling for a “Nationalist Agenda” that includes a proposal to round up the homeless and house them in military barracks.

His primary opponent, libertarian Murray Sabrin, called the document a “fascist manifesto.”

Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.) sent out a fundraising letter claiming that the “Republican party is just too tapped out to spend money on the ‘smaller races’ like ours.” Musgrave won re-election in 2006 with only just 46 percent of the vote and faces another competitive re-election campaign this year.

The hotly-contested Democratic primary for retiring Rep. Tom Davis’ (R-Va.) seat has already turned negative. EMILY’s List recently sent out a mailer on behalf of former Rep. Leslie Byrne (D), accusing Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerry Connolly of “bullying, over-the-top tactics” and for helping his campaign contributors receive “lucrative contracts.”

EMILY’s List also endorsed Democratic state senator Kay Hagan, who is running in the Democratic primary for the right to run against Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.).