Greg Giroux from Congressional Quarterly wrote up a great primary day primer on Political Wire. I’m running around like a mad-man today, so in the interest of time, I tip my hat to the good people over at Political Wire and encourage everyone to check out their great analysis. DoubleSpeak will have election night coverage later this evening and into tomorrow morning. Stay tuned.

Primary Preview

Most of the remaining November matchups for governor, senator and U.S. House will be set Tuesday, when nine states will hold primary elections: Arizona, Delaware, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.

The marquee matchup is the Republican Senate primary in Rhode Island, where Sen. Lincoln Chafee, who frequently bucks GOP leaders, faces a stiff challenge from Cranston mayor Steve Laffey, who is more conservative. The National Republican Senatorial Committee is backing Chafee on the grounds that he is the only Republican who could possibly prevail this year in Rhode Island, which usually votes Democratic. Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse, a former Rhode Island Attorney General, is expected to easily win his party’s primary.

The other major Senate primary Tuesday is in Maryland, where Democrats have a large field of candidates in the race to succeed retiring five-term Democrat Paul S. Sarbanes. Rep. Ben Cardin and former Rep. Kweisi Mfume are the best-known Democrats, while Republicans are behind Lt. Gov. Michael Steele. In the contest for governor, Republican incumbent Bob Ehrlich and Democrat Martin O’Malley, the mayor of Baltimore, are unopposed in the primaries. In Cardin’s Democratic-leaning 3rd District, the crowded Democratic field includes state Sen. Paula Hollinger, former Baltimore health commissioner Peter Beilenson and lawyer John Sarbanes, who is the retiring senator’s son. In the 4th District, which is anchored in inner suburbs of Washington, D.C., Democratic Rep. Albert Wynn faces a primary challenge from lawyer Donna Edwards.

Read the rest here…

Tom Suozzi, who is running against Eliot Spitzer for the Democratic nomination to be Governor of New York was interviewed by the good people over at Gawker. They took his interview and cut three hard-hitting TV commercials that could help cement victory over Spitzer in the September primary. Check them out- pretty funny stuff. (hey, why didn’t we think of that…)

Yes, Suozzi is running far behind Spitzer in the polls, but he’s a solid candidate and he has a bright future in New York State, and maybe even on the national stage as well.

A new ad from the Hillary Clinton campaign for U.S. Senate in New York. Certainly gripping at the end.

I believe most of this footage is taken directly from a 15 minute video that was produced for the New York State Democratic Convention a few months back.

Check it out:

Hillary is a threat. No matter what anyone says, she could win this nomination. Frank Luntz thinks so too.

Hil’s keys to the Oval Office:

For all those Republicans and a few Democrats who think Hillary Clinton can’t possibly be elected President, I have two words for you: Ronald Reagan.

I remember it well. He was too old. He was too conservative. He was too scary. And he was elected in two landslides. The exact same kinds of assumptions about electability 25 years ago are alive and well in 2006, and they are just as wrong for Hillary Clinton today as they were for Reagan in 1979.

She’s too divisive. Too calculating. Too marred by the Clinton years. Oh, - and she’s a woman.

Never mind the chatter. Hillary Clinton sits atop many polls for President with good reason and, if she plays her cards right, she could remain there right through November 2008.

Why? Because her intelligence, assertiveness, personality and celebrity are powerful strengths. I know this for a fact. My firm has conducted extensive focus-group research in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Now, for me to map out a road map to the White House for the most polarizing Democrat in America is like Jack Kevorkian hosting a reception for the AARP. But who am I to turn down a request to take part in a fascinating political exercise?

So, here goes. Here’s how Hillary can continue to lead the pack, and the four essential steps she needs to take to stay on top.

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The Hill: Clinton’s $22M war chest