All In All, I'd Rather Watch Baseball

NEW YORK (AllPolitics, Oct. 10) -- Many Americans passed on Wednesday night's tax policy seminar put on by Jack Kemp and Al Gore. Overnight TV ratings from 34 cities and about half the U.S. population showed an average network rating of 19.6. That's 40 percent lower than the 34.5 rating for the 1992 Gore/Quayle/Stockdale debate. Ratings were down about 20 percent for Sunday's presidential debate, compared to four years ago.

Barbour: Still A Lot Of Undecideds

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AllPolitics, Oct. 10) -- Republican National Committee Chairman Haley Barbour says there are still plenty of undecided voters and the race between Bob Dole and Bill Clinton is close. Four years ago, Barbour said, 44 percent of voters said they didn't make a final decision until the final three weeks before Election Day. If the election were today, he said, Dole would win 180 to 210 electoral votes, with 270 needed to capture the White House.

Women, Seniors Could Be Dems' Edge In Florida

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AllPolitics, Oct. 10) -- Florida is far from a Democratic state these days, but support from women and elderly voters could put the state and its 25 electoral votes in the Clinton/Gore column this year. The Republicans have captured nine of the past 11 presidential elections here, but some Democrats think that could change on Nov. 5. One key is picking up added support among elderly women concerned about the future of Medicare, and among younger women concerned about education, college loans and the environment.

Anti-Affirmative Action Measure Loses Some Support

SAN FRANCISCO (AllPolitics, Oct. 10) -- A controversial ballot measure that would repeal affirmative action efforts in state programs leads 47-32 percent, with 21 percent of voters still undecided. That's less support than the "California Civil Rights Initiative" had a year ago, when 58 percent of people surveyed said they would vote for it. The measure leads in every region of California except the San Francisco Bay Area.

Reno Reviewing Request For Probe

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, Oct. 10) -- Attorney General Janet Reno is reviewing Common Cause's request for an independent counsel to probe what the watchdog group says are massive soft money campaign finance violations by both the Republicans and Democrats this year. Common Cause charged on Wednesday that both parties have circumvented federal campaign laws, while the Clinton and Dole campaigns denied any wrongdoing.

Helms On The Hot Seat

RALEIGH, N.C. (AllPolitics, Oct. 10) -- U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) is filing amended financial disclosure reports, after revelations that he did not fully reveal all the rental property that he, his wife or the two own together. But Helms also faces some embarrassing questions about the rundown condition of some of the rentals. According to tax records, the rentals are in Raleigh's poorest neighborhoods and six have no heat. But a Helms spokesman said that tax information was out of date and all of the rental properties have heat. The rentals produce about $50,000 a year in income for Helms and his wife. Helms is being challenged this fall by Democrat Harvey Gantt, who said only that the incomplete disclosure was a matter for the Senate Ethics Committee.

Pulling A Dole

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AllPolitics, Oct. 10) -- Republican U.S. Senate candidate Al Salvi has pulled a Bob Dole, quitting the state legislature early to focus on winning next month. Salvi is battling Rep. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) for the seat held by retiring Sen. Paul Simon (D-Ill.)

Next Wednesday, Perhaps?

DALLAS (AllPolitics, Oct. 10) -- Ross Perot's campaign has fired off another letter to the Commission on Presidential Debates, asking he be included and Republican Bob Dole dropped from the second and final presidential debate next Wednesday. National coordinator Russ Verney told the commission Dole ought to be dropped because of low poll numbers. "Clearly, the American electorate -- the ultimate decision makers in this process -- have decided Bob Dole does not belong in your presidential debates, according to your own 'objective' criteria. Perot/Choate '96 therefore petitions you to exclude Bob Dole from further debates sponsored by the commission," Verney said in his letter.

New Numbers from Arizona, Tennessee

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, Oct. 10) -- Two new state polls have good news for President Bill Clinton. In Arizona, he leads Bob Dole 53-30 percent, with 7 percent for Ross Perot and 1 percent for Libertarian Harry Browne. Nine percent were undecided. In Tennessee, Clinton holds a 48-40 percent margin. Perot had 3 percent. The Arizona poll interviewed 546 voters and had a margin of sampling error of +/- 4 percentage points. The Tennessee poll has a margin of sampling error of +/- 3.5 percentage points, but the sample size was not disclosed.

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