NHInsider received the following email:

Thought you might enjoy this.

http://www.whatsbobupto.blogspot.com/

He's running for something, can you guess what it is from the website above?

This week in 'Press Releases' from candidates we learned that Gov. Huckabee (R-AR) and Gov Richardson (D-NM) will be getting interviewed at the FPU Marlin Fitzwater center.

Is FPU the new 'Go To' place for politicians?

Is it the new 'Go To' place for NH Politics?

Is there a void that needs filling as St. A's Institute for Politics undergoes major changes and cutbacks.?

Will they become as prominent as St. A's has been in the recent past?

Stay Tuned!

The following information was sent to nhinsider anonymously. We have not at this time verified the numbers or the polling source. We will continue to look for verification.

Insider Advantage released their latest statewide surveys in Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan, South Carolina and Florida tonight. The polls were fielded from October 2-3.

Iowa

The Iowa survey sampled 1,339 likely Republican caucus-goers and has a MoE of +/- 2.7%.

Gov. Romney leads with 24% while 16% support Giuliani. Thompson and Huckabee are in a dead heat with 13% each and 10% support McCain. 11% support another candidate while 13% are undecided.

*This is Insider Advantage’s first Iowa poll of the cycle so no trendline data is available.

New Hampshire

The New Hampshire survey sampled 1,082 likely Republican primary voters with a MoE of +/- 3%.

Gov. Romney leads with 28%, while Giuliani and McCain are statistically tied with 20% and 17% respectively. Thompson and Huckabee are in a dead heat with 8% each while 9% support another candidate and 10% are undecided.

*This is Insider Advantage’s first New Hampshire poll this cycle, so no trendline data is available.

Michigan

The Michigan poll sampled 1,190 likely Republican primary voters and has a MoE of +/- 2.9%.

The poll finds a statistical 4 way tie for the lead with Giuliani at 19%, Gov. Romney at 16%, McCain at 15% and Thompson at 14%. 15% support another candidate and 21% are undecided.

*This is Insider Advantage’s first Michigan poll of the cycle, so no trendline data is available.

South Carolina

The South Carolina survey sampled 1,281 likely Republican primary voters with a MoE of +/- 2.8%.

16% support Gov. Romney, which is an increase of 8 points from 8% in May.

Thompson leads with 21%, an increase of 8 points from 13% in May, while 16% support Giuliani, practically unchanged from 18% over the same time period. 16% support McCain, statistically unchanged from 17% in May, while 18% support another candidate and 13% are undecided.

Florida

The Florida survey sampled 725 likely Republican primary voters and has a MoE of +/- 3.7%.

16% support Gov. Romney, which is an increase of 4 points from 12% on September 17^th.

Giuliani continues to lead with 29%, which is an increase of 5 points from 24% on September 17^th. 19% support Thompson, a decrease of 4 points from September 17^th, while 10% support McCain, which is statistically unchanged from 11% over the same time period. 11% support another candidate and 15% are undecided.

We have heard that the rating for the recent NH GOP Debate was a 2.6 with as many as 3.1 million viewers!

The St. Anselm debate in June had a 1.3 rating.

Wonder what the rating for the Tonight show was? Could it be that the Thompson campaing made a major faux pas by skipping the debate. They presumed that the tonight show would have more viewers, but they may have miscalculated.

Rumors abound that Fred Thompson the TV actor will be running a commercial about his campaign for the GOP Nomination during the GOP debate that he isn't attending or participating in. He is going to be on Jay Leno immediately following the debate to officially kick off his campaign.

Much has been made of a growing rift within the NH Republican Party, but it appears despite whatever challenges the party faces it has made growth in attracting new supporters, donors and credibility. Even State Party critics such as Republican Representative Fran Wendelboe have applauded their efforts as of late, she wrote in todays Concord Monitor:

"The outstanding success of the New Hampshire Republican State Committee dinner last week demonstrated that the party is alive and well and united in the common cause to put the governance of New Hampshire back in the hand of Republicans in the 2008 election."

"Kudos to Chairman Fergus Cullen and his staff for an almost flawless event attended by over 600 Republicans- one of the largest in recent years."

According to the most recent Gallup poll both Congress and the President see low levels of public support:

According to the May 10-13, 2007, Gallup Poll, 29% of Americans approve and 64% disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job. Congressional approval is down 4 percentage points since last month, and is 3 points lower than the 32% average measured during the first five months of the year.

Interestingly:

Even though Democrats now control both houses of Congress, the poll shows that only 37% of Democrats approve of the job Congress is doing right now. These marks are, however, significantly better than those given to Congress by independents (24%) and Republicans (25%). Democrats have been more likely than Republicans to approve of Congress this year, whereas Republicans expressed a higher level of approval prior to the change of power experienced after the midterm congressional elections in November 2006.

 In regards to the President's job approval rating:

There has been little meaningful change in the public's rating of the president in quite some time. Thirty-three percent of Americans now approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president, while 62% disapprove. Bush's approval ratings have averaged 35% in 2007, and have fallen within a narrow range between 32% and 38%. Bush's ratings were slightly higher last year, averaging 38%.

With Congress at or below the average approval of the last Congress it should present an interesting scenario for New Hampshire's two newest federal officials.  

Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson posted this video response to filmmaker Michael Moore.

The Hotline is reporting that according to Democratic media buyers the campaign of Senator Barack Obama may be preparing a four state media buy in New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina and Nevada.

 According to Hotline, "Robert Gibbs, an Obama spokesman, said the inquiries were "routine" exercises and should not be interpreted as signaling that an actual buy is imminent. He said the media team asked about rates through the end of the year."

Read the entire story here.  

On February 21st Josh Kraushaar of the Politico reported that Freshman Representative Carol-Shea Porter had "declined to participate in the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's "Frontline" program, which helps vulnerable members raise money early and receive logistical support for their re-election bids."

 According to the Majority Accountability Project she said, "They did invite me, and I really appreciated that," Shea-Porter told the Concord Monitor. "But I wanted to do what I thought was best for New Hampshire politics." She told the paper she intended to “run another grassroots, low-budget campaign,” explaining to CQPolitics.com, “it’s really about building trust and relationships.”

But, according to the Majority Accountability Project a review of "Shea-Porter’s latest Federal Elections Commission (FEC) filings indicate their campaigns are not completely independent from the party leadership they publicly shunned, and that the contributions they’ve received mirror those of “Frontline” candidates."

According to her latest FEC report Shea-Porter took $5,000 from the leadership PAC of House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, $2,000 from House Education and Labor Chair George Miller, and $1,000 each from U.S. Reps. Diana Degette and Rush Holt.

Michael Brady of MAP writes, "The member’s contributing to Boyda and Shea-Porter have been giving generously to members included on the 29-member “Frontline” list, the very list on which the two freshmen declined to be publicly included."