News from the cheese state looks good today. Green was ordered in court to return his "illegal money" and now it appears that the State Elections Board may try to make him return 700,000 more. The polls look bad and I am not really confident he will win, but this news is very good. Anything that makes it harder for Green to win has gotta be good for Doyle.

Just one comment on the Florida governors race. You correctly mentioned that turnout in the Democratic primaries was very low. But I dont think that is representitive of what will be in November. First, most Florida democrats live in South Florida and it was absolutely pouring rain here the day of the primary. Traffic was miserable because of it. It was a real anomoly. Also, there were not many noticeable differences between the 2 democratic candidates- most democrats I spoke to didnt even care who won, but planned on voting for the nominee it November. I think Davis has a better shot than you give him credit for.

One note on the CA-Gov race.  The coalition of unions that I work for (Alliance for a Better California) is now back up on the air with two new ads.  These are by the same firm and feature many of the same teachers, nurses, cops and firefighters that were so effective last year against Arnold.  This is a serious ad buy and the reporter bloggers are all saying they will be effective.

Here are the YouTube versions of "In His Own Words" and "In the Eye".  Meanwhile, the field component is protesting at the Women's conference.

Democratic gubernatorial candidates Deval Patrick of Massachusetts and Bill Ritter of Colorado appear to be pulling away these days, with Patrick in particular potentially taking his race completely off of the table (a la Eliot Spitzer in New York).

I'd be delighted if Patrick's campaign managed that, but I'd also be surprised.  Granted, the last poll I saw had him way out ahead, but that was right after a very solid win in the primary.  I doubt very much that he'll keep that lead.

Failing a major blunder, I'm pretty sure he'll win -- his Repub opponent is running an uninspired campaign in a state that's pretty fed up with its current Repub Gov -- but I don't think it'll be a blowout.

One overlooked fact about winning the Governor's races is the potential for helping House, Senate and down-ballot races by not only demanding a fair election, but pledging to follow through on complaints.  With a Dem Governor to investigate election irregularities in OH and other states, perhaps there will be less incentive to engage in them.  Blackwell knew he had nothing to fear, both being Sec of State and having a GOP Governor.  This time around he has to know that there will be no one covering for him.  Even Schmidt's race could be investigated this time.  And with the Dems on the brink of taking Congress, GOP House candidates can't count on being in the majority when there is a question of who to seat in a contested election.  

Just a little side benefit, but a real one nonetheless.

The biggest hurdle Deval Patrick faces is the fact that his opponent is a self-funded multimillionaire. I know the netroots have many pressing races to fund, but I hope Deval Patrick will not be overlooked just because the poll numbers look good now.