Afternoon Fix: Perry campaign chartered plane used in drug-smuggling ring

Perry has more plane problems, Herman Cain has a new Iowa director, Maryland has a new map and Fox News has two more debates.

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WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED:

* A plane chartered by Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s presidential campaign was used in a major cocaine-smuggling ring, the Wall Street Journal reports. The campaign is already spending tens of thousands of dollars to reimburse donor for use of their private jets.

* Despite his rising poll numbers, former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain has yet to build much infrastructure in Iowa. That might change now that he’s hired veteran operative Steve Grubbs to run his in-state campaign. Grubbs was once the Iowa GOP chairman who worked for businessman Steve Forbes’ 2000 campaign.

* A warning sign for Pete Hoekstra? At the 10th Congressional District Republicans’ Ronald Reagan Dinner, a straw poll has the former House member neck-and-neck with charter school founder Clark Durant in the Michigan Senate primary. Of course, straw polls are mostly meaningless, but it seems not everyone is on the Hoekstra train yet.

* Former Montgomery County Council member Duchy Trachtenberg will run in Maryland’s new 6th congressional district seat, setting up a competitive Democratic primary to take on Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R). Bartlett is running again despite his new district’s Democratic tilt, very low fundraising ($1,000 last quarter) and his advanced age (85). State Senate Majority Leader Robert Garagiola (D-Montgomery) said last week that “there is a very very strong likelihood” he would enter the race.

* Connecticut state Senator Andrew Roraback (R) has joined the race for the 5th district held by Rep. Chris Murphy (D), who is running for Senate. Four Republicans and four Democrats are already gunning for the open House seat, but Roraback is the only Republican in the race with legislative experience and might be the party’s best hope. The 5th has been trending solidly Democratic in recent years.

WHAT YOU SHOULDN’T MISS:

* Steve Forbes is back, hinting at a Perry endorsement. The businessman, two-time presidential candidate and magazine publisher says Perry “is going to win” and that the candidate’s upcoming proposal is “the most exciting tax plan since Reagan’s.”

* Maryland’s redistricting map has been signed into law by Gov. Martin O’Malley (D), who called it “fair” but acknowledged that the plan was somewhat controversial. Some African-American lawmakers argued that the new lines diluted minority voting power.

* New Democratic polling from Project New West finds Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock (D) at 42 percent and the likely Republican gubernatorial nominee, Rep. Rick Hill, at 38 percent, with Bullock’s enjoying better favorability ratings. Gov. Brian Schweitzer , very popular for a Democratic incumbent in the West, is term-limited.

* Sarah Palin promised she wouldn’t leave politics, and she hasn’t — the former Alaska governor is the keynote speaker for Republican Party of Florida’s 2011 Victory Dinner, on November 3rd.

* Fox News is hosting two more upcoming debates, just in case we didn’t have enough debates going on. One is in Iowa on December 15. The other is on January 16th in South Carolina. That means five more debates before the Iowa caucuses.

THE FIX MIX:

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With Rachel Weiner and Aaron Blake