Political Scene

HOUSE

2 ethics trials set for after elections

Ethics trials for two prominent House Democrats will be held after the November elections. The proceedings will determine whether Charles B. Rangel of New York and Maxine Waters of California violated standards of conduct.

House ethics committee Chairman Zoe Lofgren of California refused to go along with a Republican request to hold the proceedings before the elections. Pre-election trials would have generated headlines that Republicans could have used to attack Democrats.

The proceedings, officially called adjudicatory hearings, will begin Nov. 15 for Mr. Rangel and Nov. 29 for Mrs. Waters.

NEW YORK

Paladino uses TV to prod Cuomo

ALBANY | Republican Carl Paladino bought three minutes of time on Buffalo TV stations to say he is being mistreated by the media and that Democrat Andrew Cuomo is afraid to debate him in the New York governor’s race.

Mr. Paladino again said his recent confrontation with the New York Post was to protect his 10-year-old daughter from the tabloid’s photographers and reporters.

He said Thursday he was upset in his shouting match with New York Post’s state editor, Fred Dicker, because he still believes the newspaper scared his daughter in an attempt to get a story.

Mr. Paladino repeated his claim that Mr. Cuomo had affairs and also challenged Mr. Cuomo to debate during his taped address, minutes after Mr. Cuomo committed to an Oct. 18 debate on Long Island.

COLORADO

Ad targets wrong Salazar

GRAND JUNCTION | A political advertisement that takes aim at Colorado U.S. Rep. John Salazar is slightly off the mark: It names the wrong Salazar.

The radio ad mentions his younger brother, Ken Salazar, five times.

Ken Salazar is a former Colorado senator who is now the interior secretary. John Salazar represents the state’s 3rd Congressional District and is being challenged by Republican state lawmaker Scott Tipton.

The ad is paid for by Americans United for Life, a Washington-based group against abortion, which tells the Daily Sentinel that a corrected ad will be aired.

The group criticizes John Salazar for backing health care reform, which it says will undo a ban on taxpayer-funded abortions. President Obama signed an executive order to affirm the ban.

WEST VIRGINIA

GOP pulling ad with ’hicky’ actors

CHARLESTON | National Republicans are pulling a West Virginia Senate ad that portrays the state’s residents as hicks.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee dropped the ad from its YouTube channel Thursday after Democrats released a copy of a casting call that sought actors with a “hicky blue collar” look.

The ad, filmed in Philadelphia, shows men in flannel shirts and baseball caps worrying that Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin III will side with President Obama if elected to the Senate.

The GOP group blames the casting call on an outside producer. A party official familiar with the issue said Republicans also expect to pull the ad from TV stations, where it has been in heavy rotation for several days.

He requested anonymity because he was not directly involved in handling the ad.

WISCONSIN

Biden-raised cash used for TV ads

MADISON | Money raised by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. during a closed-door breakfast event Thursday in downtown Madison will be used to buy more time to air commercials in the final three weeks of the governor’s race, Democrat Tom Barrett said.

Mr. Barrett said between 200 and 300 people were expected at the fundraiser with the vice president. Ticket prices started at $250 each, so if 200 people attend and pay the minimum the event will raise $50,000.

Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle was among those attending the event.

Mr. Barrett, speaking at his campaign headquarters before the fundraiser, said he knows people are tiring of the relentless television ads in the race between him and Republican Scott Walker. But Mr. Barrett said that’s the most effective way to get the campaign’s message out statewide.

“It’s part of the democracy we have right now,” Mr. Barrett said.

A new study of campaign advertising released Thursday shows that Mr. Barrett has outspent Mr. Walker 2 to 1 since the Sept. 14 primary, but outside groups have helped level the playing field. All told, the Midwest Foundation for Media Research report found that Mr. Walker and Republican allies have spent $1.75 million, while Mr. Barrett and Democratic supporters have spent $2 million.

Spending on attack ads was six times greater than on other spots, the report found.

Polls have shown Mr. Walker, the Milwaukee County executive, leading Mr. Barrett, the Milwaukee mayor with just over three weeks to go before the Nov. 2 elections.

WHITE HOUSE

Forbes: First lady most powerful

Here’s another first for Michelle Obama: First among Forbes magazine’s 100 most powerful women in the world.

In the annual rankings released Wednesday, Forbes says Mrs. Obama has been a “true change-maker” since coming to the White House. The business publication cited her high approval ratings, her status as a role model and her campaign against childhood obesity.

Forbes said it decided to “look up and out into the broader culture” to compile the list of women from the arenas of politics, business, media and lifestyle.

Mrs. Obama displaced German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who had held the top spot for the past four years.

The first lady landed in 40th place on Forbes’ 2009 list.