Election countdown: An extra hour to campaign

An extra hour on the clock this weekend means an extra hour of campaigning as both parties scramble in close races across the nation. Some of the pre-election weekend buzz:

Biden racks up frequent flier miles

Vice President Biden spent Saturday morning in San Diego, attending a rally for first-term Democratic Rep. Scott Peters, who is in a tight race against Republican Carl DeMaio. The race has turned into a tabloid headliner, with a former staffer making allegations of sexual misconduct against DeMaio.

He did another event in San Bernardino for Redlands, Calif., Mayor Pete Aguilar — who is running for the open seat being vacated by retiring GOP Rep. Gary Miller — before winging to Las Vegas for a Nevada Democratic Party event.

After that it was on to Florida, where Biden will be at a rally Sunday for Charlie Crist, the former Republican governor who is now running as a Democrat against incumbent Republican Gov. Rick Scott.

Good thing he was able to get an extra hour of sleep.

Palin still punching for Tea Party

Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin produced a new robocall for Louisiana Tea Party candidate Rob Maness in Louisiana's U.S. Senate race. Maness runs a distant third in the polls behind incumbent Sen Mary Landrieu, the Democrat, and GOP Rep. Bill Cassidy. But he appears to be winning enough support to deny either Cassidy or Landrieu the 50% of the vote needed to avoid a runoff.

Palin has been a consistent Maness booster. In the new call, Palin says Maness is "a conservative, a vet — he's one of us." She says Maness, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, is the "clearest contrast and the strongest candidate against Mary Landrieu." She also notes that Maness has promised to only serve two terms in the Senate.

But Palin is not the only Tea Party whisperer playing in this race. Dr. Ben Carson, another favorite of the movement, joined a "Northshore Tea Party Rally" for Cassidy Saturday.

Iowa down to the wire

The Des Moines Register issued a new Iowa Poll Saturday night showing Republican state Sen. Joni Ernst with a 7-point lead over Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley. Ernst's 51%-44% lead in the poll is the largest of any public poll this year, according to Real Clear Politics' poll tracking.

Braley brought in the heaviest of Democratic hitters — former president Bill Clinton — along with musician James Taylor to campaign on his behalfSaturday. Bloomberg News reported that Clinton urged people not to vote for Ernst because of their dissatisfaction with Obama. "You need to vote for progress, not protest," Clinton said.

Ernst is launching a 24-hour campaign blitz across the state Monday morning, which she is calling the "One More Thing" tour.

And in case Braley wasn't feeling enough pressure to retain the seat for Democrats, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said in a conference call Saturday that if the party loses Iowa, Mitch McConnell will be taking his job, according to Politico.

Indictment no downer for Grimm

Pugnacious Staten Island Republican Rep. Michael Grimm appears to be cruising to re-election despite a 20-count indictment on tax fraud charges.

A NY1 News/Capital New York/Siena College poll released late Friday showed Grimm leading Democrat Domenic Recchia 53% to 34%.

The New York Daily News has the story.

The April indictment against Grimm alleges that he hired undocumented immigrants at a restaurant he owns and hid more than $1 million in revenues from the IRS. Grimm, a former FBI agent, has also been under investigation for campaign finance issues.

Sunday is all about Tuesday

Make sure your clocks are right so you don't miss a minute of the Sunday morning talk shows, which will be all about the elections. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, widely considered a GOP presidential contender for 2016, will be on CBS, NBC and CNN, and 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney will be on Fox News Sunday. Democrats trot out Sen. Benjamin Cardin of Maryland, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida and former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell to offer the counterpoint.

Hanging chads

The Bushes and Carters are among the political dynasties on the ballot Tuesday.

In Kentucky's closely watched Senate race, Mitch McConnell and Alison Lundergan Grimes are making their closing arguments.

President Obama was in Michigan Saturday stumping for Gary Peters in the state's open Senate race and Mark Schauer, who's challenging GOP Gov. Rick Snyder.

If you haven't signed up for election night Yo! Senate alerts, what are you waiting on?Subscribe to YOGOP and YODEMS on the Yo! app: justyo.co/YOGOPand justyo.co/YODEMS.

Elsewhere on the trail

Rothenberg Political Report: Obama may set the record for worst midterm losses.

Also, Rothenberg says Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is going to win re-election.

Georgia Rep. John Barrow, the last white Democratic congressman from the Deep South, is in trouble again — as he has been in every race since his 2004 election

This story about kimchi and campaigns reminds us that Alaska is really just the nation's largest small town.

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