Political roundup

1) VA-Sen: Senator George Felix "Macaca" Allen's poll ratings are going up as his campaign has muzzled him for the duration of the campaign cycle. As I said before, a wise move, if unfortunate for the Webb campaign.

2) CT-House 4th CD: Damn, I am impressed with this Green candidiate's ability to build coalitions (and future goodwill.) Richard Duffee, the Green Party candidate and potential spoiler in Democratic challenger Diane Farrell's race against Republican incumbent Chris Shays, decided to drop out of the tightly contested raced:

The race is a rematch of the 2004 contest, which Shays won with 52 percent of the vote to Farrell's 48 percent. Shays won by about 14,000 votes.

The Green Party believes it can deliver about 1,300 votes from the 4th District. Statewide, there are approximately 2,000 registered Green Party members and about 1,000 mostly unaffiliated voters who support Green Party candidates in elections.

Duffee and Farrell made the announcement Monday at a news conference in Norwalk.

Sieh said Farrell's campaign approached the Green Party about three weeks ago. Both sides have been negotiating since. On Saturday, 4th District Green Party members met with Farrell, held a convention and decided to notify the secretary of the state to black out Duffee's name on the Nov. 7 ballot. The deadline for such a request is Tuesday, Sieh said.

I wish Nader had considered this, almost 6 years ago when the race was so tight between George W. Bush and Al Gore.

Sieh called the alliance with the Democrats "an historical event" and said it will ultimately empower the Greens and improve voters' perceptions of the minor party.

"We are not spoilers. We want to let the press and the country know that we are modern 21st century politicians," he said. "We're way beyond egos. We're about issues and getting them done.

They know what their weak point is, and are according on message. Hurrah for someone with longterm vision! Plus, I do believe that it will ultimately help build their party to be seen as bridge-builders and pragmatic leaders who are willing to put aside egos for the greater good.