In the polls

It looks like John Kerry didn't even need his running mate to get a bounce in Florida. Rasmussen Reports just released a poll conducted in the Sunshine State before Kerry's veep announcement that shows Kerry beating Bush in the horserace 48 to 43 percent. The last Rasmussen poll showed the two candidates tied. Two new polls out of Alaska, where Democratic challenger Tony Knowles is battling Republican incumbent Lisa Murkowski, also bring good news to Democrats hopeful of retaking the Senate. The first, conducted for the Murkowski campaign, shows the race statistically tied with the Republican leading 44.3 to 41.6 percent. But an independent Ivan Moore Research poll gives Knowles the slight lead, 46.3 to 43.7 percent. Other Democratic Senate candidates are also faring well. Illinois candidate Barack Obama, for example, raised $4 million this spring. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee also claims that Edwards in the veep slot will help North Carolina Senate hopeful Erksine Bowles and South Carolina Senate candidate Inez Tenenbaum win in those traditionally Red states.