“Chuck DeVore” on The Daily Caller

Katie Couric once described bloggers as journalists who gnaw at new information “like piranhas in a pool.” But increasingly, many bloggers are also secretly feeding on cash from political campaigns, in a form of partisan payola that erases the line between journalism and paid endorsement. (more)

Republican Sen. Jim DeMint’s political action committee is often described as a kingmaker of conservative candidates, spending roughly $2.6 million so far this cycle on a handful of Tea Party-types endorsed by the South Carolina senator. (more)

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin could thrive in the top spot at the RNC, but it would be at the expense of her political soul. (more)

“A party divided” is the Democrats’ attack line, as they have argued for months that the Tea Party is provoking a civil war within the Republican Party. But on Tuesday in Arkansas, most of the political discord was within their own ranks. (more)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California Republicans took an historic step Tuesday by nominating two wealthy businesswomen to challenge Democratic icons for governor and U.S. Senate, setting in motion an election season of big-money campaigns and high-stakes in the nation’s most populous state. (more)

California’s GOP primary polls are moving back and forth so dramatically some observers might have whiplash.  Any conventional wisdom about how the U.S. Senate and governor’s races will shape up should be tossed out the window until the real tally on June 8.  Consider this: two weeks ago former Congressman Tom Campbell held a 11 percentage point lead over Carly Fiorina in the GOP governor’s primary. That lead has now incredibly evaporated into a 23 point deficit if SurveyUSA’s new poll results are accurate. (more)

Sarah Palin waded into the California Senate race on Thursday, endorsing former Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Carly Fiorina, a Republican, over another candidate who has curried favor with conservative grassroots activists. (more)

There’s a great profile of Kentuckian Rand Paul, son of Ron, up at Reason. W. James Antle, III of the American Spectator encapsulates what many Paul watchers have already known about his shortcomings with establishment Republicans (Rand’s opposition to the Iraq War, his belief that government should stay out of not just peoples’ wallets and bedrooms, but also their medicine cabinets), while also crafting a rather astonishing picture of the loose coalition of opinions leaders behind Paul: (more)

Apparently not everyone in the Golden State is gung-ho about getting high. None of the candidates for governor supports the ballot measure aimed at legalizing weed for recreational purposes and most denied ever having toked up. From the Mercury News:  (more)

Republican Senate candidate Tom Campbell hit back Monday at primary opponent Carly Fiorina for saying that he does not support Israel, calling her accusations “desperate” and “bizarre.” (more)

On paper, it’s not just the Republican campaign fundraising arms that have money problems. Several of their Senate candidates do as well. (more)

Just like that, the Republican Senate primary in California has a new front-runner, and another traditionally Democratic seat is in play.

Tom Campbell, the 57-year-old former congressman who had been running for governor, ejected less than two weeks ago out of that high-spending contest and parachuted into the Senate race, which already had two serious Republican candidates, in Carly Fiorina and Chuck Devore. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina has lent $2.5 million of her own money to her campaign for the U.S. Senate, indication she’s willing to invest significant personal resources into the effort to unseat Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer. (more)