[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/06/15/art.meek.042810.jpg caption ="Rep. Kendrick Meek is dismissing a new television ad put out by his Florida Democratic Senate primary challenger as a 'political stunt'."]
Washington (CNN) - It's an unusual campaign tactic: a Florida Democrat running for the Senate is running a television ad against his opponent that will likely never be seen by voters in Florida.
The opponent's campaign dismisses it as nothing more than a political stunt.
The new TV ad was released Thursday by real estate investor Jeff Greene, locked in an increasingly bitter Democratic primary with Rep. Kendrick Meek.
Greene's spot will only run in the Washington area. It mentions the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct of the U.S. House – the panel that investigates lawmaker ethical or legal lapses.
Greene's campaign wants the committee to investigate Meek for what it calls the "on-going corruption scandal" involving the congressman.
The so-called "scandal" involves Meek's past dealings with Dennis Stackhouse, a real estate developer currently accused of fraud in a project previously proposed for a Miami neighborhood.
The Miami Herald has reported that Meek sought federal funds to help the planned project, in 2004 successfully obtaining a $72,750 federal earmark and in April 2006 requesting another $4 million in federal funds that ultimately was not approved.
The paper also reported other findings: that Stackhouse paid Meek's mother, former Rep. Carrie Meek, $90,000 in consulting fees and provided her a Cadillac Escalade. And, most recently, the Herald reported that police records show that a top Meek staffer received $13,000 from Stackhouse to help buy a house.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/06/10/art.greene.scdp.jpg caption ="Democratic Party officials in South Carolina voted Thursday to uphold the result of their controversial Senate primary."]
Columbia, South Carolina (CNN) - Democratic Party officials in South Carolina voted Thursday to uphold the result of their controversial Senate primary even though the winner was Alvin Greene, an unemployed political novice who stands almost no chance of defeating Republican Sen. Jim DeMint in November.
Meeting in Columbia, members of the state Democratic Party executive committee voted by a 38-7 margin to reject a protest from former state lawmaker Vic Rawl, the establishment-backed candidate who unexpectedly lost last Tuesday's primary to Greene.
"They did the right thing," Greene said in a brief phone interview. "I am the best candidate for the United States Senate in the state of South Carolina."
Greene did not attend Thursday's hearing, despite entreaties from state party chairwoman Carol Fowler. Last week, Fowler publicly called on Greene to step aside after media reports brought a felony obscenity charge to light. Greene at the time told CNN he would not heed the request.
In arguments Thursday, Rawl's team called the election results suspicious and asked for a new primary vote, citing irregular voting patterns and potentially faulty voting machines.
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/06/17/art.hayward.061710.jpg caption ="Lawmakers accused BP chief Tony Hayward of not cooperating with an investigation into the Gulf of Mexico oil spill."]
New York (CNNMoney.com) - Lawmakers ripped into BP chief Tony Hayward on Thursday, accusing him of being ill-prepared for congressional testimony and not cooperating with an investigation into the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
In Hayward's first congressional appearance since the April 20 disaster, lawmakers wanted to know if BP had cut corners in an effort to save money in the run up to the explosion.
Questions during the 7-1/2 hour hearing, which included two recesses, focused on the well's design and the measures taken while BP was attempting to seal it before it exploded.
"Did BP make a fundamental misjudgment" in using one long piece of well casing instead of many shorter pieces, as other oil companies said they would have done, asked Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif.
"I wasn't involved in that decision," replied Hayward, saying that the single piece was better for the well's long-term stability.
Waxman produced transcripts from BP's engineers saying that the single casing was "unlikely to be successful." Waxman said BP went ahead with it anyway to save $7 to $10 million.
Hayward said he was "not prepared to draw conclusions about this accident until the investigation is complete."
"This is an investigation," said Waxman. "Are you cooperating with other investigations? Because they're going to have a hard time reaching a conclusion if you stonewall them, which it appears you are doing today."
TOPICS: Obama speech, Obama personal characteristics
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/06/17/art.obama.ovaloffice.jpg caption ="The first poll conducted after the president's Tuesday night prime-time address indicates the number of Americans who currently think Obama is a strong and decisive leader has dropped."]
Washington (CNN) - Is the Gulf of Mexico oil spill Barack Obama's Katrina?
The first poll conducted after the president's Tuesday night prime-time address to the nation on the spill offers evidence that the public's view of Obama's leadership is following the same pattern that George W. Bush experienced after Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast in 2005.
In the wake of Katrina, the number of Americans who thought Bush was a strong and decisive leader dropped by more than 10 points. According to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Thursday, the number who currently think Obama is a strong and decisive leader has dropped by seven points, from 60 percent in January to 53 percent now.
The poll also indicates that fewer Americans think that Obama is tough enough to handle a crisis or that he can manage the government effectively. Fifty-three percent say the president is tough enough to handle a crisis, down 11 points from last year. And 49 percent say Obama can manage the government effectively, a drop of nine points from last year.
But on other dimensions, opinion of Obama holds up well - no change in the number who say he inspires confidence, that he is sincere, and that he cares about people.
Washington (CNN) - The Democratic National Committee announced details Thursday of a new addition to their get-out-the-vote efforts, which includes a website and a focus on recruiting new voters for the midterm election.
Democratic leaders vowed to spend $50 million, which they describe as an unprecedented sum, for their "Vote 2010" efforts, which include the unveiling of a new "Raise Your Vote" campaign.
Party officials say the new campaign is specifically geared toward making voting registration and getting information about voting as easy as possible for people in any state across the country to access. DNC staffers say this is the first-ever comprehensive voting information and registration hub ever housed at the party headquarters.
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