Just three $20 chip-ins. Today. Will you be one? If you need motivation, consider that this is his primary opponent. Your support is greatly appreciated!
Iowa: Democratic former gubernatorial nominee Roxanne Conlin has said that she is "more likely than not" to challenge Republican Chuck Grassley for Senate in 2010. Conlin pointed to Grassley's right-wing dive against health care reform as motivation for her campaign. Though Grassley has about $4.4 million in his campaign account, Conlin could be a fundraising juggernaut as a former Association of Trial Lawyers of America, its first female head. (She was also one of the first female U.S. Attorneys in American history.) Further, Grassley is suffering from record-low poll numbers. If Conlin runs and wins the nomination, this could become a very competitive race. A Research 2000 poll from earlier this month shows Grassley leading Conlin by only 12 points to start, at 51-39.
Florida: Florida's only statewide Democratic official besides Senator Bill Nelson, state Chief Financial Officer and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink, is squarely behind the 2010 Senate campaign of Congressman Kendrick Meek with a formal endorsement.
New York: A decision from Republican former Gov. George Pataki about a 2010 Senate challenge to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is expected in the next few weeks, with friends of Pataki's reportedly saying "He's leaning toward 'No'."
Arkansas: Sources of WaPo's Chris Cillizza tell him that Democratic Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter is considering a primary challenge to Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-WalMart) in the 2010 Democratic Senate primary. Cillizza also reminds us that Halter regularly "considers" races only to back down. That said, if he did run, I would definitely support him over Lincoln, who has heretofore voted like a corporate automaton. Further, a Democratic primary challenger running to Lincoln's left could have some political oxygen to work with. You may recall the September poll from Research 2000 that showed Lincoln earning a favorable opinion from barely two-thirds of Democrats. The same poll showed 81% of Democrats in Arkansas supporting a public health care option. You might also recall that Arkansas' Democratic State Senate President, Bob Johnson, indicated back in August that he was considering a primary challenge (to Lincoln's right, as though there was room).
Louisiana: Hookerlover David Vitter refuses to condemn a Louisiana Justice of the Peace who won't issue marriage licenses to interracial couples. Perhaps Vitter looks down upon interracial marriages. I wonder how Vitter feels about interracial hooker-john relationships.
Kentucky: How worried about insurgent conservative Rand Paul is establishment-backed Trey Grayson in the 2010 Republican Senate primary? Extremely worried. Grayson has trotted out this weak attack:
He's an outsider, he's not a Kentuckian. You know I'm a 5th generation Kentuckian, educated here in the public schools, raising my family here.
Strange and desperate attacks are easily hit out of the park by Rand, quickly responding with what amounts to a walk off home run in one short sentence "I've been a Kentuckian longer than Grayson's been a Republican!"
For those who don't remember, Mr. Grayson was actively campaigning for Bill Clinton way back in the 90's when Trey was a Democrat.
We see movement conservative Marco Rubio preparing to take down the establishment-backed Charlie Crist in Florida. Could another movement conservative in Rand Paul take out another establishment-backed Republican in Trey Grayson? It's looking like an ever-stronger possibility.
Pennsylvania: I tend to be a very big fan of Howard Fineman; but, his analysis here is far more muddled than it needs to be when it comes to determining who holds the leverage in the Obama-Specter relationship:
Read one way, Specter has no choice but to support Obama down the line; read another, Specter has the power, should things get ugly, to snarl the president's legislative agenda.
Let me make this plain: President Obama holds all of the leverage. If Specter doesn't vote exactly how President Obama wants him to 100% of the time, the President's support won't be there for Snarlin' Arlen, and Specter will lose. If President Obama isn't as frequent a visitor to Pennsylvania as Specter would like, and Specter decides to politically retaliate by voting against an initiative important to President Obama, Congressman Joe Sestak will take Specter down as a result. Either way, Specter loses - and Specter knows this - and Specter will do anything to avoid losing, including switching Parties and playing dirty. As such, Specter will vote exactly how President Obama wants, if only in an attempt to stave off Congressman Sestak's surging primary challenge as best he can; and, all the while, Specter will just hope that President Obama will keep the support coming.
First, conservative Republican former state House Speaker Marco Rubio handed Charlie Crist embarrassment after embarrassment by obliterating Crist in numerous straw polls across Florida, confirming that Florida's conservative Republican base overwhelmingly prefers Rubio to Crist as their nominee, no matter what the DC GOP establishment and NRSC might try to dictate to Florida Republicans.
Second, Rubio shattered expectations by raising about a million dollars in the third fundraising quarter of 2009, demonstrating his campaign's viability.
In just two months, according to Rasmussen, Rubio cut Crist's lead by about one-third and pulled Crist under 50%. But maybe that's not enough data points for you.
In his 45 years as a Republican, Arlen Specter cast thousands of votes for his party and against Democratic principles. In the last eight years, he voted more than 2,000 times with the Bush Republicans. So when he claimed at Netroots Nation, "I'll stand behind my votes one by one," it makes one wonder, "Really, Arlen?"
It's hard to imagine any Democrat would stand behind voting for Bush's tax cuts for the richest of the rich or for Sarah Palin to be Vice-President of the United States, but the Real Arlen Specter is proud of his Republican credentials. ...
From the War in Iraq to the economic policies that created this savage recession, many of our current problems can be ascribed to one man: George W. Bush, who Specter voted for in 2000. Given the chance to correct that vote and help put John Kerry in the White House, what did the Real Arlen Specter do? Co-Chair Bush-Cheney '04 in Pennsylvania and vote for him a second time.
Now you can chose which one of these actions by the long-time Republican Senator is most egregious. Vote in our poll on this page and check back to see which vote was the worst of the worst. We will call on Arlen to stand behind the winner.
Most Democratic Senate incumbents and candidates have taken to the Tubes to keep supporters - both locally and nationally - interested, informed and involved about their campaigns. Here a handy chart to help you get wired into the online communities for your favorite 2010 Senate candidates. If there are candidates for whom I'm missing any of the below links, let me know in the comments.
The man who beat non-Democrat Joe Lieberman in the 2006 Democratic Senate primary in Connecticut urges you to stand with the man who will beat non-Democrat Arlen Specter in the 2010 Democratic Senate primary in Pennsylvania.
Who will stand up for the rights of these poor companies?
Check out the thirty brave Republican Senators who spoke out in support of the patriotic companies that work hard everyday to defend freedom and liberty. With three out of four Senate Republicans voting in favor of rape, we can be sure that rape is a Republican value. A big thank you to these Senators for protecting liberty, and freedom (including the freedom of companies to cover up rape!).
Who is Republican Richard Burr? Let these vignettes inform you.
1) Richard Burr Voted Against Giving Rape Victims Their Day in Court
Senator Al Franken of Minnesota proposed an amendment to the 2010 Defense Appropriations bill that would withhold defense contracts from firms that prevent their employees from taking cases of sexual assault to court, instead forcing them into arbitration. The amendment passed 68-30. All 30 opponents of the amendment were Republican men. Among them was Richard Burr, voting against giving rape victims their day in court.
2) Richard Burr Lied About Supporting Additional Funding for the Successful "Cash for Clunkers" Program
U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., said he would back additional funding for the [Cash for Clunkers] program as well, though he originally opposed the "Cash for Clunkers" bill. He said he would favor the additional funding as long as it doesn't increase the budget deficit.
The proposed $2 billion would come from money already appropriated in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and will not further the national deficit.
While that statement alone is gasp-worthy, the story gets even more appalling: this issue had a chance to be ended - once and for all - in the Senate HELP Committee in 2006. At that time, an amendment was introduced to the Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act of 2006 that would have forced insurance companies to stop ignoring state laws that provided protection for victims of domestic violence, specifically when it came to denying them insurance coverage.
Ten Republican Senators voted against it, including Senators Alexander, Burr, Ensign, Enzi, Frist, Gregg, Hatch, Isakson, Roberts and Sessions.
How utterly devoid of compassion must one be to allow insurance companies to deny coverage to people specifically because they are victims of domestic violence?
4) Richard Burr Makes No Secret of the Fact that He Doesn't Even Like Representing North Carolina in the U.S. Senate
Burr said life in Washington isn't easy right now. "When people ask me if I enjoy what I'm doing, now is the time that I try not to answer the question," he said.
If Richard Burr doesn't enjoy representing North Carolina in the U.S. Senate, I encourage him to consider another line of work and let someone who wants to advocate for North Carolina's families get in there.
5) Richard Burr Sides with Big Insurance over North Carolina's Families
Why is Senator Burr taking the side of the insurance companies in the health care debate? Maybe he's too comfortable. Members of Congress get good affordable health insurance. Better than most middle class families, who pay more for their health insurance and get less. Or because he's taken 2.1 million dollars from the health care industry. Is that why he's opposed to reforms that would lower costs for families and businesses and end insurance company abuses? Tell Senator Burr - side with us, not insurance company lobbyists.
Richard Burr gets millions of dollars in campaign contributions from corporate lobbyists, so why would he bother listening to inconsequential jerks like, um, North Carolina's families who would benefit greatly (both in better health and in money saved) from the increased competition that a public health insurance option would bring?
6) Richard Burr Is a Shameless Hypocrite When It Comes to President Obama's Economic Stimulus Bill
The legislation currently being debated in Congress would spend almost a trillion dollars of borrowed money on projects and programs that are unlikely to produce any real broad-based stimulus or create jobs that will still be here two years from now.
Burr, of course, went on to vote against the stimulus bill since he thought it wouldn't create jobs or benefit the economy or North Carolina's communities.
Burr was on hand on Friday to present the Bethlehem, N.C., fire department with a grant for $2 million to build a new fire station. Burr called the grant a "great thing" for the area.
"We're not accustomed to federal dollars in that magnitude finding their way to North Carolina," Burr said, according to a local newspaper.
The grant, according to the local fire chief, came through the Department of Homeland Security by way of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. That money was allocated through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the $787 billion stimulus measure passed with just three Republican votes in the Senate in February.
Burr was not one of those three votes. In a statement on Burr's Senate website, published before the vote, Burr criticized the bill for spending "almost a trillion dollars of borrowed money on projects and programs that are unlikely to produce any real broad-based stimulus or create jobs that will still be here two years from now."
When it's time to vote for important legislation to stimulate our economy and benefit our communities, Richard Burr dishonestly grandstands about "wasteful" spending. When it's time to take the credit for the many positive impacts of that "wasteful" spending, hypocrite Richard Burr is right there with a giant novelty check in hand and a big smile on his face, ready for the photo op.
7) Richard Burr's Campaign Was Caught Trying to Sneak Out of Paying for Its Early Polling
Paul Shumaker, the lead consultant for Sen. Richard Burr's (R-N.C.) re-election campaign, has agreed to pay $1,250 out of his own pocket to cover the cost of a recent survey conducted by his private polling firm because of concerns about how the Federal Election Commission might view the Burr campaign's use of the survey data.
Shumaker said he would be submitting the expense to the Burr campaign to be listed as an in-kind contribution on the Senator's upcoming FEC report.
The controversial survey was conducted on June 15 and 16 and commissioned by Carolina Strategy Group, a private Republican automated polling firm and marketing company that Shumaker runs with two business associates. ...
"If the evidence was a high-level person paid by a campaign went out and did a poll and had other people pay for the poll, I think that would raise questions about whether it is an in-kind contribution to the campaign," said Larry Noble, a former general counsel for the FEC who now works as at the law firm Skadden, Arps. "If they gave the information to the campaign prior to releasing it, it would definitely increase the likelihood that it would be considered an in-kind contribution."
Meredith McGehee, policy director for the Campaign Legal Center said: "It does raise the question of an in-kind contribution in that outside agents seem to be underwriting a service which will benefit a candidate that the campaign manager is working for. Obviously the devil is in the details on this [but] ... you would think the FEC would want to take a close look."
Why buy the cow when you get the milk for free? Because federal election law requires it, that's why.
8) Richard Burr Ordered His Wife to Make Some Notorious Trips to the ATM
Richard Burr describes his earliest reaction to the impending economic crisis last year and "Bank Run" Burr is born:
"On Friday night, I called my wife and I said, `Brooke, I am not coming home this weekend. I will call you on Monday. Tonight, I want you to go to the ATM machine, and I want you to draw out everything it will let you take," Burr said, according to the Hendersonville Times-News. "And I want you to tomorrow, and I want you to go Sunday.' I was convinced on Friday night that if you put a plastic card in an ATM machine the last thing you were going to get was cash."
Richard Burr had insider information about the impending economic crisis. Did he warn his constituents, the families of North Carolina that Burr claims to care about? Nope. He ordered his wife to make a run on the banks, to cash out all the money she could so that the Burrs would be fine and other North Carolina families would be left high and dry.
Even after ten years representing North Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives and almost five years representing North Carolina in the U.S. Senate, about one-third of North Carolinians still have no opinion of Richard "Bank Run" Burr. These instances of "Bank Run" Burr displaying poor judgment, a lack of integrity, and utter contempt for others will hopefully be Burr's introduction to that one-third of the electorate.
Republican anti-Semitism: In attempting to praise wingnut Jim DeMint's parsimony, two Republican County Committee Chairmen in South Carolina let loose with an anti-Semitic stereotype:
There is a saying that the Jews who are wealthy got that way not by watching dollars, but instead by taking care of the pennies and the dollars taking care of themselves. By not using earmarks to fund projects for South Carolina and instead using actual bills, DeMint is watching our nation's pennies and trying to preserve our country's wealth and our economy's viability to give all an opportunity to succeed.
Fresh from the Tea Party... nope, no prejudice or hatred or divisiveness there. Anyone read about Jim DeMint repudiating these two Republican leaders yet? Me neither.
Illinois: A new Rasmussen Reports poll shows a dead heat between faux-moderate Republican Mark Kirk and Democratic state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias 41-41. The poll also shows Kirk leading two other Dems: against Chicago Urban League President Cheryle Jackson, Kirk leads 43-39; and, against Chicago Inspecter General David Hoffman, Kirk leads 43-33.
Florida: As conservative Republican former state House Speaker Marco Rubio's campaign continues to gain steam against 2010 Senate GOP primary challenger Charlie Crist, he should earn even more wingnut cred with the endorsement of Wingnut-in-Chief Jim "In Denial" Inhofe.
Connecticut: How desperate has Republican Rob Simmons' pandering become? Earlier, he had informed us that he attaches tea bags to his copy of the Constitution. Now, he's flip-flopping on the Employee Free Choice Act and cap-and-trade. To justify the flip-flops, Simmons is actually pleading incompetence, saying that he didn't understand what the bills would do when he originally supported them. His actual pitch to conservative Republican voters is that he didn't understand the bills he supported in Congress. He's trying to earn votes through feigned stupidity. On the Rob Simmons scoreboard, it's Pandering 2, Integrity 0.
Nevada: Republican philandering hypocrite John Ensign's parents (the source of John's alleged hush money for his mistress' family) have contributed to the re-election campaign of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Given that the legality of the Ensigns' "gifts" to the family of Ensign's mistress is still in question, Senator Reid would be wise to return the contributions from the Ensign family.
"Bill White's fundraising diligence is exceeded only by his negligence to his current position," said Brian Walsh, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. "Instead of spending his time worrying about a job promotion, Bill White ought to focus on the job he was elected to do."
So the NRSC declares that candidates for Senate who currently hold other elective offices must be showing "negligence to [their] current position" in order to campaign for Senate, huh? Someone ought to tell Republican Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, currently neglecting his Congressional constituents. Someone also ought to tell Republican Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida, currently neglecting Florida's fiscal crisis to campaign and fundraise for Senate. Someone should probably also tell negligent Republican Rep. Mark Kirk of Illinois, who's leaving his Congressional constituents out to dry while campaigning for Senate. At least Kelly Ayotte had the decency to pull a Sarah Palin and quit her job. I wonder when the NRSC press release will come out calling for the resignations of Blunt, Crist, and Kirk, since they are, by the NRSC's standard, neglecting their constituents. (Do these NRSC spokesdopes ever think things through before opening their yappers and dispensing this verbal diarrhea?)
Pennsylvania: Uh oh! The latest Rasmussen Reports poll on the 2010 Democratic Senate primary shows, what?, a statistical dead heat between recent Republican Arlen Specter and Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak! Specter only leads Congressman Sestak by a 46-42 margin. This is down from a double-digit deficit in Rasmussen polling over the summer. Rasmussen's latest general election polling also shows great news for Congressman Sestak as Republican Pat Toomey leads recent Republican Specter 45-40, while Democratic Congressman Sestak narrowly leads Republican Toomey 38-37. Further, Susquehanna Polling and Research put Specter's re-elect number at a horrible 31%, with 59% believing that "it's time to give someone else a chance." On top of that, a new GrassrootsPA/Dane & Associates poll shows Congressman Sestak matching up better against Toomey than Specter does, with Sestak-Toomey at 43-38 (+5) and Specter-Toomey at 46-43 (+3).
Poignantly encapsulating Congressman Sestak's momentum is the endorsement he is about to receive from netroots rock star and 2006 Democratic Senate nominee from Connecticut Ned Lamont. And brilliantly illustrating recent Republican Specter's desperation is his new rhetoric calling the Republican Party (the Party of which he was a member for decades until earlier this year) "a Party of obstructionism." Hilarious. Help Congressman Sestak keep this great momentum going with a contribution to his campaign via the Expand the Map! ActBlue page.
Florida: As almost everyone expected, Congresswoman Corrine Brown will run for re-election rather than join Congressman Kendrick Meek and others in the 2010 Democratic Senate primary. Meanwhile, a new InsiderAdvantage poll puts Charlie Crist's approve-disapprove at a relatively very low 48-41. This is the first time I've seen his approval under 50%. Time will tell if it's an outlier or a signal of things to come. What's not an outlier is conservative Republican former state House Speaker Marco Rubio crushing Crist in yet another straw poll; this time it's a 90-17 result among the Palm Beach County GOP to go with the onslaught of Rubio victories over Crist in several other Republican committee straw polls across Florida.
Delaware: A new Research 2000 poll shows a statistical dead heat in a hypothetical match-up between Republican Rep. Mike Castle and Democratic state Attorney General Beau Biden, with Castle narrowly leading Biden 46-45. We also see nearly identical favorable-unfavorables for the two men, with Castle at 64-30 (+34) and Attorney General Biden at 65-29 (+36). If the new baseline is a dead heat, and Castle continues to fundraise lazily, Attorney General Biden's entry could mean his victory. And Attorney General Biden is now publicly considering it.
Iowa: Though most of the speculation about the mystery Democrat who will take on Republican Chuck Grassley has centered on former gubernatorial nominee Roxanne Conlin, former Iowa First Lady Christie Vilsack got some notice with her comment that she's qualified to run and serve (an indication of interest perhaps?). At any rate, new Research 2000 polling shows that either Vilsack or Conlin could make a race out of it:
Grassley v. Dems Grassley v. Vilsack 51-40 (-11)
Grassley v. Conlin 51-39 (-12)
Grassley v. Fiegen 54-31 (-23)
Grassley v. Krause 52-35 (-17)
Both Vilsack and Conlin have comparable net favorabilities to Grassley (with more undecided room to grow their numbers), and would start off just a hair over 10 points behind Grassley, with Grassley at just a hair over the 50% mark. With adequate funding, either Vilsack or Conlin could make a real race out of IA-Sen as Grassley's approval numbers among Iowans hit record lows.
Illinois: Faux-moderate Republican Mark Kirk says that he supports Don't Ask Don't Tell, arguing that "I think it's worked out well... Keeping that all out of the workplace makes common sense." Keeping it out of the "workplace"?! Mark, the "workplace" isn't a set of cubicles here - it's an army barracks, it's a foxhole. Mark Kirk again displays impressive idiocy.
Louisiana: Focusing on Hookerlover David Vitter's vote to make it harder for rape victims to seek their day in court, Democratic Congressman Charlie Melancon is leading the way on a House version of the measure Senator Al Franken championed through the U.S. Senate that would bar the federal government from contracting with firms that require employees to handle sexual assault claims through arbitration rather than through the court system.
Utah: Republican incumbent Robert Bennett can't even squeeze an endorsement out of the Chairman of the Republican National Committee in his bid for re-election (albeit in a strongly contested primary).
Colorado: The Republican Senate candidate in Colorado about whom I was most concerned, Aurora City Councilman Ryan Frazier, has bailed on the 2010 GOP Senate primary in favor of a Congressional run.
Connecticut: Republican Rob Simmons has gone teabagger. Smacks of desperate pandering.
Texas: Eventual resignee Kay Bailey Hutchison says that she doesn't "intend" to stick around through the Spring of 2010 (rather than quit before the end of 2009, as is the expectation), but that her remaining in the U.S. Senate into 2010 is not impossible.
Scandal: Being a possibly-criminal liar takes its toll on fundraising as Republican philanderer John Ensign raises less than $33,000 for Q3, a paltry sum down from over $300,000 in Q2 as few want to associate with the politically toxic hypocrite. (By the way, I loved Crisitunity's "potent/flaccid" framing on this topic.) Oh, and the Department of Justice will decide "within weeks" whether or not to start up a criminal investigation into Ensign.
Here are the Q3 fundraising numbers and cash-on-hand totals at the end of September 2009 for the 2010 Senate candidates. As always, compiling courtesy of National Journal's The Hotline. Note that those in the "Candidate" column include incumbents, announced candidates, expected candidates, and those from whom we still await a final decision.
But first, here's the numbers from the Party's Senate Committees for Q3:
Committee
September Take
Q3 Take
CoH
Debt
CoH Minus Debt
DSCC
5.9 million
10.2 million
10.3 million
2.5 million
7.8 million
NRSC
3.2 million
9 million
5.2 million
0
5.2 million
At the end of 2008, the DSCC had nearly $11 million in debt compared to the NRSC's less than $5 million in debt. The NRSC had a cash-on-hand-minus-debt advantage over the DSCC of about $6.5 million. The DSCC has now eliminated that advantage for the NRSC, taking a cash-on-hand-minus-debt lead of more than $2.5 million over the NRSC. Game on.
*Number as of end of Q2. **According to media reports.
Observations:
1) With such relative fundraising parity among Connecticut Republicans, the primary should get fairly bloody. Good news for Senator Dodd.
2) For the entire three months of Q3, Republican Mike Castle only raised $57,593, $55,250 of which came from PACs. In other words, over the three months from July to September, Republican Mike Castle only raised $2,343 from actual people. That's only $781 per month from actual human beings. And you're telling me his heart is in a Senate race? I think there's one obvious explanation: the NRSC knows that there is no other Republican in Delaware who could put up a fight, but Castle really wanted to retire; so, Castle agreed to be the candidate if, and only if, he didn't have to lift a finger fundraising. If he can be handed the seat, he'll take it; but, he won't hustle for it. In other words, if Democratic state Attorney General Beau Biden does run, he'll win the seat by default.
3) It looks like conservative Republican former state House Speaker Marco Rubio is gathering the resources necessary to take on Charlie Crist. Big time ditto for Rand Paul against Trey Grayson.
4) Senate Majority Leader Reid is going to need every last penny of that $8.7 million.
5) Senator Gillibrand is up over $4 million on hand. Does anyone really think Rudy Giuliani or George Pataki wants to get in against that?
6) Democratic Ohio Secretary of State Brunner isn't doing herself any favors by delaying release of her fundraising numbers. With rumors circulating that her campaign is out of money, and with reports that she has fired her campaign fundraising team, just tear off the band-aid.
7) Congressman Sestak now has well over half of recent Republican Specter's cash-on-hand. In my estimation, that's all he needs to win the primary. As long as he can keep that pace, I really like his chances.
What do all these numbers tell you? What stands out?
California: A new Field poll shows Senator Barbara Boxer in very solid shape for re-election with strong double-digit leads against potential Republican opponents. Senator Boxer tops failed businesswoman and golden parachute recipient Carly Fiorina 49-35 and wingnut Chuck DeVore 50-33. The poll also puts Senator Boxer's favorable-unfavorable ratings at 48-39. Though a March Field poll showed Fiorina leading DeVore in the 2010 Republican Senate primary by 12 points, her lead is down to a statistically insignificant 1 point, 21-20. Good news for Senator Boxer, and bad news for Carlyfornia.
North Carolina: A new Public Policy Polling poll puts vulnerable freshman Republican backbencher Richard "Bank Run" Burr's approve-disapprove at a mediocre 36-35. Independent voters give Burr a net negative 36-39 approve-disapprove. Burr's saving grace is that he currently holds a low double digit lead against top potential Democratic challengers. Burr leads Congressman Bob Etheridge 44-33, Secretary of State Elaine Marshall 44-32, former Lieutenant Governor Dennis Wicker 44-30, attorney Kenneth Lewis 44-30, Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy 45-29, and former State Senator Cal Cunningham 46-27. Meanwhile, word is that former State Senator Cunningham is about to officially enter the 2010 Senate race.
Nevada: A new Mason-Dixon poll shows Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid still lagging against lesser-known Republican challengers. Senator Reid trails former NV-GOP Chair Sue Lowden 39-49 and two-time political loser Danny Tarkanian 43-48. In the 2010 GOP Senate primary, 23% of respondents favored Lowden, 21% favored Tarkanian, 9% favored wingnut former state assemblywoman Sharron Angle, and several other Republicans got 1% or less. In other news (that is sure to hurt her standing among Nevadans), Sue Lowden is being pegged as a supporter of the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump. That's like going to Wisconsin and saying you hate Vince Lombardi.
New York: A Queens columnist reminds New Yorkers that Republican former Gov. and possible 2010 Senate candidate George Pataki was a horrible fiscal manager:
Our state became number two nationally among the states, with each resident responsible for $3,515 of the $50 billion dollar total debt. Under "TaxPaki," state debt grew from $27 billion dollars in 1995 to $50 billion dollars in 2006. NYS public authorities debt grew to $72 billion dollars.
The columnist closes with the sentence: "No intelligent voter would elect him Senator." Yowzah. No doubt, this column will be a favorite forward for Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and her campaign.
Kentucky: Remember the embarrassment Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo faced when audio of him cursing out his boss, Gov. Steve Beshear, became public? Well, reportedly, there are more tapes, including audio of Mongiardo likening his relationship with Beshear to that of the husband of a "whore." Mongiardo's 2010 Democratic primary opponent, state Attorney General Jack Conway, should just stand back and let Mongiardo's self-flagellation continue unabated.
Utah: Joe the Plumber is getting involved in the 2010 Republican Senate primary, backing businesswoman Cherilyn Eager against incumbent Republican Robert Bennett and fellow Republican primary challenger state Attorney General Mark Shurtleff. Ron Paul disciple James Williams is also running in the crowded Republican primary.
Rankings: We have a three-fer for you. First, WaPo's Cillizza offers his latest Senate Line, on which Delaware shoots right to the top of the charts. Second, Rothenberg posts his latest Senate Ratings, on which he sees Delaware and Nevada becoming increasingly precarious holds for Democrats. Third, and finally, Politico posted what it sees as the most endangered seats in the 2010 Senate landscape.
Soulless GOP: The following sentence is not an exaggeration: Tuesday afternoon of this week, thirty Republicans voted in favor of rape, including North Carolina's Richard Burr, South Carolina's Jim DeMint, Nevada's John Ensign, Georgia's Johnny Isakson, Arizona's John McCain, and Louisiana's David Vitter. The backstory: in 2005, a woman working for a Halliburton subsidiary in Iraq was gang-raped by co-workers. The victim of this horrendous act had no recourse in U.S. courts as her contract stipulated that such an incident could only be heard in private arbitration. In response, U.S. Senator Al Franken offered an amendment to the 2010 Defense Appropriations bill that would withhold defense contracts from companies if they restrict employees from being able to take such cases to court. Ten Republicans joined the Democrats in voting in favor of this ridiculously commonsense amendment. Thirty Republicans, however, voted in favor of rape. Disgusting.
Missouri: Democratic pollster Momentum Analysis released new numbers showing Democratic Secretary of State Robin Carnahan narrowly leading friend-of-all-corporate-lobbyists Roy Blunt by a 48-45 margin, a statistical dead heat. The poll put Secretary Carnahan's favorable-unfavorable at 51-28, compared with a weaker 44-33 for Blunt. You can help Robin Carnahan keep Roy Blunt from conniving his way into the title of U.S. Senator by making a contribution to Secretary Carnahan's 2010 Senate campaign via the Expand the Map! ActBlue page.
It's becoming clear that Roxanne Conlin will run against him, a possibility first reported here six weeks ago. She's smart, she's glib, she's rich, she's experienced. She has long bemoaned the fact that Iowa has never sent a woman to Washington - which will add zest to her quest. ...
If Conlin runs - she's said to be clearing the desks and the decks in her lucrative law practice for a late-October announcement - she'll get enormous support from outside the state. She was the first female president of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, she founded the Iowa Women's Political Caucus, and she has fought in the civil-rights trenches. She has given tons of money to other candidates - more than $200,000 to federal candidates in the last five election cycles, and that doesn't count giving from her husband, real-estate businessman James. She also did a stint as chair of the Democratic Party in Iowa, and in 2004 and 2008 she chaired the Iowa presidential campaign of fellow trial lawyer John Edwards. Trial lawyers, women, candidates in her debt all will rush to support her.
If Conlin does run, and if she does win the nomination (don't forget that two Democratic former state legislators - Tom Fiegen and Bob Krause - are still running), she will no doubt have the connections and finances to assemble a strongly competitive campaign. But, before we get too far ahead of ourselves, I look forward to hearing from her (again, if, in fact, she will be a candidate) what it is she is campaigning for, what her message will be. That said, if she can send Grassley packing, I'd welcome her to the race.
Nevada: Every once in a long while, CNN's resident curmudgeon Jack Cafferty achieves eloquence. Read his takedown of "arrogant elected scumbag" John Ensign. Las Vegas Sun scribe Jon Ralston adds his take, saying of Ensign's character and actions, "If it weren't true, it would be hard to believe anyone who isn't a villainous caricature in a novel could act this way."
Louisiana: Even the right-leaning Rasmussen Reports gives Hookerlover David Vitter only a ten-point lead over Democratic Congressman Charlie Melancon. Even worse for Vitter is that Democratic Congressman Melancon holds Vitter under 50%. Even worse still for Vitter is that Republican Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne outperforms Vitter against the Democrat, which could help fire up a new round of speculation as to whether Vitter will face a serious Republican primary challenge. Want to help Democratic Congressman Charlie Melancon bounce Hookerloving Hypocrite David Vitter from the U.S. Senate? Send his campaign a few bucks via the Expand the Map! ActBlue page.
Florida: Former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre is about to announce that he will join the 2010 Senate race, facing Congressman Kendrick Meek in the Democratic primary. The 74-year-old Ferre says that his campaign will "look to Florida's future." One Miami columnist calls the impending Ferre candidacy "driven by shameless vanity." I suppose we shall see.
Delaware: So Republican Mike Castle has announced that he will run for the remainder of now-Vice President Joe Biden's Senate term in 2010. I have to say, I'm truly shocked. I would have bet (and bet big) on a retirement announcement. If Democratic state Attorney General Beau Biden does enter the race, it will be easy to present the theme of Delware's past versus Delaware's future. Last week's poll from the right-leaning Rasmussen Reports found the two men's favorable-unfavorable ratings to be nearly identical (Biden 60-32, Castle 61-34), with the head-to-head match-up narrowly favoring the 70-year-old Castle by 5 points. With Castle's announcement, the ball is now in Biden's court to volley back - he will announce a decision in due time. For what it's worth, Castle's relatively meager $860,000 on hand as of the end of June is not at all intimidating. Public Policy Polling's Tom Jensen offers perhaps the best possible comparison for a Biden-Castle match-up:
Although it's not a perfect comparison, when Delaware voters had the choice between a popular old politician and a popular young politician in 2000 they chose Tom Carper over incumbent Bill Roth by a 56-44 margin in an election cycle that you would have to describe as pretty much a wash nationally.
I think that's right. A respected younger Democrat in blue Delaware will edge out the respected older Republican. It happened before, and it will happen again.
Nevada: CNN's Dana Bash caught up with Republican hypocrite and likely-lawbreaker John Ensign, who I'm sure was not eager to give any interviews. Ensign told Bash that he believes that he complied fully with ethical standards, and he gave a dodgy answer when asked if he plans to resign.
Oklahoma: Now that more incriminating news is breaking on the Ensign scandal, Republican Tom Coburn, who previously said that he would not discuss with anyone what John Ensign told him, seems very ready to talk. It's the CYA GOP.
Iowa: A mystery Democrat is slated to give increasingly unpopular Republican Chuck Grassley the "race of his life." So who is the mystery Democrat? Speculation is focused on former Iowa First Lady Christie Vilsack and former gubernatorial nominee Roxanne Conlin.
Florida: I'm saving the Q3 fundraising analysis for when all reports are in, but there was one report I thought was especially worth mentioning: conservative Republican former state House Speaker Marco Rubio raised about $1 million in Q3, giving his primary challenge to Gov. Charlie Crist the financial credibility to match its grassroots strength.
The Expand the Map! ActBlue page is at 394 contributors all-time. Can you help it get to an even 400 with a contribution today to a Democratic candidate for Senate?
Rankings: MSNBC's First Read takes a shot at ranking the top ten Senate seats most likely to switch sides. Their top three are all Democratic seats: Connecticut, Nevada, and Colorado. That's followed by three straight Republican-held seats in Missouri, New Hampshire, and Ohio.
Democratic state Attorney General Jack Conway is tied with Trey Grayson and up four points on Rand Paul. By comparison, Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo trails Grayson by seven points and trails Paul by five. These numbers make Attorney General Conway look like the far more electable Democrat. Remember, bad news comes in threes. First, Mongiardo dealt with the public airing of the recording of him cursing out Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear. And now we have these poll numbers. Perhaps we should expect Attorney General Conway to announce a significantly higher fundraising haul than Mongiardo in the upcoming third quarter reports to close out the bad news trifecta for Mongiardo.
Missouri: The moniker I frequently use for Republican Congresscritter Roy Blunt, "friend of all corporate lobbyists," is very well deserved:
Gregg L. Hartley, an aide to Blunt for 18 years and his chief of staff for much of that time, left Congress in 2003 and joined Cassidy & Associates, a prominent DC lobbying firm. The firm's website notes that Hartley, its vice chairman and chief operating officer, "is set apart by his ability to provide Cassidy & Associates' clients with a connection to the House Republican Leadership unsurpassed by any other group or individual in Washington."
Since 2004, Hartley has been a registered federal lobbyist for EaglePicher Technologies Inc., a Joplin, Missouri-based manufacturer of battery management systems for defense and other purposes. In that capacity, public disclosure records show, he lobbies on the company's behalf on the annual defense appropriations bill.
Blunt obtained an earmark for $3,920,000 in the 2008 bill for "Advanced Lithium-Carbon Monoflouride Combat Portable Batteries," according to Taxpayers for Common Sense. And from 2006 to present, Blunt has received $11,783 in campaign contributions from Hartley, according to data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics.
Blunt takes the old expression "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" to an ethically dubious extreme, adding dollar signs to it all the while.
Florida: In Florida's 2010 GOP Senate primary, Karl Rove is supporting conservative Republican former state House Speaker Marco Rubio over Gov. Charlie Crist, as evidenced by the $1,000 contribution Rove made to Rubio. This could actually carry sway Republican primary voters. In other news, former President Bill Clinton will headline fundraiser number four next week for 2010 Senate candidate and Democratic Congressman Kendrick Meek.
Louisiana: Hookerlover David Vitter may be the most investigated Republican of the 2010 cycle. First, the TSA looked into his temper tantrum and security alarm set-off in March. Then, last week, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint against Vitter with the Louisiana Bar for unprofessional conduct tied to Vitter's solicitation of prostitutes over a period of years. And, now, the Louisiana Democratic Party has filed a formal complaint with the FEC for what appears to be unethical contributions, as first reported by CQ Politics. Seriously, what so-called "conservative" can support this guy with a straight face and a clear conscience?
South Carolina: Republican Congressman Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan calls wingnut Jim DeMint a "nut" for being so ideologically rigid. I can't help but agree with my Republican friend from Michigan. Meanwhile, DeMint proves McCotter's point as he trots out the laughable "socialist agenda" absurdity again.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Monday harshly criticized Sue Lowden, a top GOP challenger to Reid in 2010, for continuing to support Ensign, who is alleged to have helped the husband of his former mistress line up a profitable lobbying job.
"The most disturbing aspect of Sue Lowden's reaffirmation of Ensign is that she did so fully aware of his potentially criminal conduct," DSCC Communications Director Eric Schultz said in an e-mail to supporters Monday. "Sue Lowden's support of John Ensign may have fundraising value to her, but it is a reflection of her own character and fitness for office. She has shown more fidelity to him, than he has shown to his own wife."
I hope this sharpness isn't reserved only for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's opposition, but will also be doled out against Hookerlover David Vitter and the other Republican incumbents and candidates.
Oklahoma: Speaking of John Ensign's ethical lapses and the ensuing investigation, for his role in the cover-up, Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn may be placed under investigation as well.
Pennsylvania: Want to know another reason why Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak should be the Democratic nominee for Senate over recent Republican Arlen Specter? Because long-time Republicans Specter and Pat Toomey have way too much in common:
Texas: With former state Comptroller John Sharp's campaign so far largely consisting of Sharp writing checks to his own campaign, the DSCC appears to be focusing more on the viability and strength of Houston Mayor Bill White's Senate campaign for when Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison resigns.
Illinois: Faux-moderate Republican Congresscritter Mark Kirk wouldn't say whether he supported his home state's bid to host the Olympics, ostensibly because he didn't want to perturb wingnuts who reflexively oppose anything President Obama supports. Mark Kirk is a spineless joke of a candidate.
Kansas: Retired journalist Charles Schollenberger exhibits further interest in a 2010 Senate bid under the Democratic banner as he sits down for this interview with the blog ForwardKansas.com:
Forward Kansas: Can I ask you what it means to be a Democrat?
Schollenberger: Being a Democrat, I think, means looking after the majority interest of the American people - the working man, the working woman, the person who isn't privileged by way of wealth or inheritance, looking after the common good of as many people as possible as opposed to the privileged few.
Schollenberger strikes me as a folksy, straight-shooting populist. He identifies himself as a "proud progressive" who supports the change agenda on which President Obama ran. It would be an immensely uphill bid (no Democrat has won a U.S. Senate seat in Kansas since the 1930's), but he could definitely enrich the conversation.
Scandal: Senate Ethics Chair Barbara Boxer confirms that the Ethics Committee has opened an investigation into Republican John Ensign's, um, ethically dubious activity. The Justice Department may also get in on the investigative fun. Usually, Senators try to keep a public distance from corporate lobbyists; but, now, the lobbyists are trying to keep Ensign at arm's length. Even Senate Republican "leader" Mitch McConnell passed on an opportunity to voice support for Ensign. Further, the Senate GOP's #2 man, Jon Kyl, followed suit. Sounds like the Senate Republican caucus is all-too-happy to leave Ensign under that bus.
Health care reform: Former Senate Republican leaders Bob Dole, Howard Baker, and Bill Frist all say they'd support President Obama's left-wing, radical, socialist, fascist, unconstitutional health care reform package.
For the third time in four months now, Grassley sets a new mark for his worst Survey USA numbers ever as he finally hits the 50% approval mark square on the nose (with his disapproval hitting 40% for the first time ever in Survey USA history). Grassley is also below 50% approval among independents (48%) and self-described moderates (47%). Things are officially interesting as added significance is now brought to the eventual announcement of this highly-touted mystery Democrat who will give Grassley the "race of his life."
Yikes. Downright harsh numbers for Senator Boxer. Tough personal numbers, though, haven't harmed her strong match-ups against potential Republican nominees. Even right-leaning Rasmussen sees Senator Boxer with a 10-point lead over failed businesswoman and golden parachute recipient Carly Fiorina and a 9-point lead over wingnut Chuck DeVore.
The good news: Senator Gillibrand's "Not Sure" number is at its lowest yet. The bad news: she still can't pull her approval out of the low-40's. The saving grace: with her approve-disapprove among Democratic-dominated New York City at 35-49, if she solidifies her standing among NYC Dems, her numbers will healthily catch up to expectations.
Yet there is still so much more to the John Ensign story, as the New York Times reported (emphasis added by me):
In the coming months, the senator arranged for Mr. Hampton to join a political consulting firm and lined up several donors as his lobbying clients, according to interviews, e-mail messages and other records. Mr. Ensign and his staff then repeatedly intervened on the companies' behalf with federal agencies, often after urging from Mr. Hampton.
While the affair made national news in June, the role that Mr. Ensign played in assisting Mr. Hampton and helping his clients has not been previously disclosed. Several experts say those activities may have violated an ethics law that bars senior aides from lobbying the Senate for a year after leaving their posts.
In acknowledging the affair, Mr. Ensign cast it as a personal transgression, not a professional one. But an examination of his conduct shows that in trying to clean up the mess from the illicit relationship and distance himself from the Hamptons, he entangled political supporters, staff members and Senate colleagues, some of whom say they now feel he betrayed them. ...
Mr. Hampton said he and Mr. Ensign were aware of the lobbying restriction but chose to ignore it. He recounted how the senator helped him find clients and ticked off several steps Mr. Ensign took to assist them with their agendas in Washington, activities confirmed by federal officials and executives with the businesses.
"The only way the clients could get what John was essentially promising them - which was access - was if I still had a way to work with his office," Mr. Hampton said. "And John knew that."
It goes on... and on and on and on. Mr. Hampton, the former Ensign senior staffer and the husband of Ensign's mistress, grew angry with Ensign because he felt Ensign wasn't doing enough to connect him with clients in exchange for having kept the whole situation under wraps (though Ensign did connect him with a couple of clients that apparently employed Hampton solely to take advantage of the access to Ensign - and Ensign did indeed do favors on these corporate clients' behalf). Hampton ultimately brought on a lawyer and sought a financial settlement from Ensign in the amount of $8.5 million. Did Ensign lawyer up for this negotiation? Nope. He had Republican Senator from Oklahoma Tom Coburn act as his go-between in this negotiation, that, depending on your perspective, could be seen as a settlement by both parties, an extortion by Hampton, or a cover-up by Ensign (which means that Coburn may also be guilty of wrongdoing, as well).
The details are damning, enlightening, salacious, and shocking, but not at all surprising given the mentality of these C Street Republicans who preach "family values" morality but fail to come close to living up to such rhetoric. Just ask David Vitter's close friend Wendy Cortez.
In light of these new revelations that Republican U.S. Senator John Ensign knowingly disregarded ethics standards in connecting his top aide with employment that would require this top aide lobbying him, I would imagine that a whole new round of ethics complaints will be filed. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has already blogged about the story, which means they're also likely parsing every angle for potential ethics violations by all parties involved who hold elective office.
There's a lot of information to unpack in this latest chapter of Republican hypocrite, philanderer, cover-up artist, and possible lawbreaker John Ensign's sordid tale. For the best unpacking, watch as MSNBC's Rachel Maddow runs through the key points and interviews The New York Times' Eric Lipton, one of the co-authors of this latest report.
The seesaw 2010 Senate race in Pennsylvania tips to Republican Pat Toomey, who has 43 percent to recently converted Democrat Sen. Arlen Specter's 42 percent, too close to call, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. This reverses a 45 - 44 percent tip to Sen. Specter July 22 and wipes out a 20-point Specter lead May 4, in the flush of Specter's switch from Republican to Democrat to escape a primary battle with Toomey.
Recent Republican Arlen Specter's name ID advantage built on decades as a Republican Senator from the Keystone State has been neutralized. But what of Specter's primary challenge from Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak?
The good news for Sen. Specter, who was first elected to the Senate as a Republican in 1980, is that he remains far ahead of his Democratic primary challenger, U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak from southeastern Pennsylvania, 44 - 25 percent.
Before any Specter acolytes start cheering, Specter's 19-point lead over Congressman Sestak in this Q-poll is down from a 32-point lead (55-23) in July's Q-poll. The gap continues to steady close. But that's not all. According to a Sestak campaign source, the poll also includes the following tidbit when one delves more deeply into the Q-poll crosstabs:
Among Pennsylvania Democrats who know both candidates, Sestak actually leads [Specter] 43%-39%.
This is not too dissimilar from the results of a June poll by another pollster that saw Sestak leading Specter 52-44 among voters who already knew both candidates. The higher Congressman Sestak raises his name ID, the weaker Specter will appear.
Democratic Congressman Sestak and Republican former Rep. Toomey are in a statistical dead heat when matched up, with Toomey at 38 and Congressman Sestak at 35.
In short, any electability argument Specter might have offered voters has been rendered impotent. The poll found Specter's approve-disapprove at a net negative 44-48, with only 37% feeling that Specter deserves re-election, against 52% who say he does not deserve re-election. As Quinnipiac points out, "these are his worst scores for both measures." Also, Specter's favorable-unfavorable is clocked at a similarly net negative 42-46.
By comparison, Toomey's fav-unfav is 34-12 and Congressman Sestak's is 21-8. More than half of voters still don't know Toomey, yet he edges Specter. More than two-thirds of voters still don't know Congressman Sestak, yet he's significantly closing the gap on Specter. As National Journal's Amy Walter points out:
Given the nature of the state and Republican Pat Toomey's low profile, one has to give the edge to either Specter or Rep. Joe Sestak (D) come November 2010. Still, Specter is probably the more vulnerable in November.
Democrats have the edge in Pennsylvania on recent Election Days - and recent Republican Specter is "probably the more vulnerable" one in November compared to Democratic Congressman Sestak. Sounds about right to me.
Sponsor: A new sponsor, Health Care for America NOW!, has taken up residence for a bit of time at Senate Guru via a new ad at the top of the right-hand column. I highly recommend clicking on the link and viewing the group's message - it's a powerful one.
Rankings: Nate the Great at 538 has posted his September '09 Senate Rankings. The good news: Connecticut continues to inch down the list, California drops several notches to 22, and Iowa continues to inch up the list. The frightening news: Nate errs and mistakenly labels vulnerable freshman Republican backbencher Richard "Bank Run" Burr a Democrat.
Rankings: National Journal's Amy Walter puts out her top ten list for the most vulnerable Senate seats. The list has five Democratic seats and five Republican-held seats. Her top two are Connecticut and Illinois. If I were a betting man, I'd wager that the blue team holds both seats.
Louisiana: Yesterday morning, I wrote about Hookerlover David Vitter's lousy week this week. Embarrassingly, I missed what may have been the biggest indignity for Vitter this week: Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal explicitly continues to refuse to endorse Vitter for re-election in 2010.
Massachusetts: Initial fundraising reports are in from the candidates in the special election in Massachusetts, with the race being less than a month old. For the Democrats, state Attorney General Martha Coakley raised over $2 million, Congressman Michael Capuano raised $300,000 since his announcement, businessman Stephen Pagliuca raised $200,000, and City Year founder Alan Khazei raised over $1 million. Republican state sen. Scott Brown raised $154,000. In other news, Republican former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan will not run in the special election.
Arkansas: New Rasmussen numbers for Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-WalMart) are downright ugly. Against little known Republicans Kim Hendren, Gilbert Baker, Curtis Coleman, and Tom Cox, Lincoln trails all of them by two- to eight-point margins and can't top 41% against any of them. While Rasmussen has appeared to have its thumb on the scales for Republicans this year, these numbers are more or less in line with the weak numbers Lincoln has faced over the last several months. Foolishly, these numbers will lead Lincoln to pull further to the right rather than to act like a Democrat.
Delaware: Speaking of Rasmussen polls, a new Rasmussen poll sees Republican Rep. Mike Castle only leading Democratic state Attorney General Beau Biden in a hypothetical match-up by 5 points, 47-42. When Rasmussen only shows Castle with a 5 point lead, it means that the 70-year-old Castle would have a heck of a slog against Biden. Yet another indication of a likely Castle retirement. By the way, the poll showed Biden and Castle with nearly identical favorable-unfavorable ratings, with Biden at 60-32 and Castle at 61-34.
Nevada: Republican Sue Lowden, who recently stepped down as chair of the NV-GOP, is officially joining the crowded 2010 GOP Senate primary, which currently also includes former state assemblywoman Sharron Angle, banker John Chachas, state sen. Mark Amodei, and two-time political loser Danny Tarkanian. The winner of the primary faces Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Lowden has said that she would "welcome involvement from Ensign," that is the politically toxic, philandering hypocrite John Ensign. Interestingly, Lowden, the former chair of the NV-GOP, is a former Reid contributor.
"He is a serial campaigner who prefers to run for office than sit in one." -- Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.) on Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R), his likely opponent in next year's Senate contest.
In other news, 74-year-old former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre plans on entering the 2010 Democratic Senate primary against the increasingly well-financed and grassroots-army-building Congressman Kendrick Meek. No word on why.
Wisconsin: Senator Russ Feingold's rich Republican challenger, Terrence Wall, is a tax dodger. Seems like Wall is doing everything he can to financially harm Wisconsin, not help it.
Illinois: Faux-moderate Republican Congresscritter Mark Kirk is screwed in the 2010 GOP Senate primary. Legendary former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka has endorsed Kirk's primary opponent, businessman Patrick Hughes.
By never referring to his criminal act of soliciting prostitutes (only vaguely calling it a "very serious sin") and by only facing pre-screened audiences who will never ask him tough questions, Hookerlover David Vitter was hoping that people would just forget about his little transgression over a number of years... and over a number of hookers. Well, this week has demonstrated that both Democrats and non-partisan ethics organizations will not let the voters forget about Vitter's law-breaking and dumbfounding hypocrisy.
First, Democratic strategist James Carville, the Ragin' Cajun, who is from Louisiana, sent a fundraising e-mail on behalf of Democratic Congressman Charlie Melancon, hitting Vitter on the issues and on his hypocrisy, but also dipping a toe in the water of alluding to Vitter's cheating on his wife with prostitutes by highlighting Congressman Melancon's stable, loving, hooker-free family life:
He [Vitter] ran for office as a squeaky-clean reformer, and then voted against ethics reform. He took hundreds of thousands of dollars from financial interests, and then voted for the kind of rampant deregulation that allowed huge Ponzi schemes to steal millions from Louisiana families. He rails against excessive spending, then crammed almost $250 million in pet projects into a recent spending bill. ...
He's [Melancon's] an honest man - which to me means you can figure out what he's going to do by listening to his words. He doesn't preach family values. He lives them in his more than 37-year marriage to his wife, Peachy.
Second, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a bar complaint against Hookerlover with the Louisiana Office of Disciplinary Counsel for professional misconduct:
In 2007, it was revealed that Sen. Vitter's telephone number was included in the so-called "D.C. Madam," Deborah Jeane Palfrey's, list of client telephone numbers. The senator confirmed he had sought Ms. Palfrey's services, saying in a statement, "this was a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible." ...
Under D.C. and Louisiana law, it is a crime to solicit for prostitution. ...
Louisiana Rule of Professional Conduct 8.4(b) provides it is professional misconduct for a lawyer to "commit a criminal act especially one that reflects adversely on the lawyer's honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in other respects." By repeatedly committing the crime of soliciting for prostitution, Sen. Vitter violated the rules of professional conduct for lawyers and should be investigated and disciplined for his misconduct.
The Senate Ethics Committee hasn't bothered to do anything because, during the time in question, Vitter was only in the Louisiana state Legislature and U.S. House - not in the U.S. Senate. However, as far as the rules for professional conduct before the Lousiana Bar are concerned, there appear to be no statutes of limitations. Unethical and illegal actions are perpetual compromises to one's "fitness as a lawyer."
What could this complaint result in? I would imagine that Vitter's disbarment would be a potentially discussed outcome. Not only would that serve as a constant reminder to voters that Vitter is a hypocritical, unethical, law-breaking liar, but it would also be the just course of action.
Third, following CREW's ethics complaint, Congressman Melancon took on Vitter's "very serious sin" head on in another e-mail to supporters:
This morning, I picked up The Advocate and read that a government watchdog group in Washington had filed a complaint against David Vitter for repeatedly breaking the law. I guess they're trying to have him disbarred.
That story got me thinking - what David Vitter confessed to wasn't just a "serious sin," it was likely a crime. And so far Vitter hasn't been charged with anything. He's still got his law license. He's still a U.S. Senator.
The way that Congressman Melancon frames the issue is right on. He is not criticizing Vitter's personal life - he is reminding us that Vitter committed crimes against the state and has yet to either face the music or even explicitly own up to it. Vitter is a hypocrite, a coward, and a liar.
Fourth, to cap off Hookerlover's latest lousy week, the resplendent-as-always Rachel Maddow tells The Tale of David Vitter and interviews CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan:
"The hypocrisy is astonishing and really can't be stomached," said Melanie Sloan. Word up, Ms. Sloan. Word up.
Something tells me that this won't be Vitter's last lousy week of the 2010 campaign cycle. If you want to make matters worse for David Vitter, the U.S. Senate's biggest coward, make a contribution to Hookerlover's Democratic opponent, Congressman Melancon, via the Expand the Map! ActBlue page.
UPDATE: This is circulating on the series of tubes:
(You guys are awesome! Your generosity astounds me!)
The last day of the third fundraising quarter of 2009 (whoa, time really flies!) is this Wednesday, September 30. Our Democratic candidates for Senate need to make as big a fundraising splash as possible in the third quarter to help refute the growing conventional wisdom among the traditional media pundits that 2010 could be a Republican year.
Please, please, please consider making a contribution today to our Democratic candidates for Senate via the Expand the Map! ActBlue page. I've set some lofty, pie-in-the-sky goals that, if we were able to meet them, I'd be wonderfully surprised and gratified and blown away by your generosity.
Democrat for U.S. Senate
Currently At
Goal for Wednesday night
Distance to Goal
Robin Carnahan
$681$762$912 $1,037
$1,000
$319$238$88 Goal met!
Paul Hodes
$780$921$1,021 $1,181
$1,000
$220$79 Goal met!
Joe Sestak
$758$869$1,004 $1,164
$1,000
$242$131 Goal met!
Charlie Melancon
$193$224 $289
$400
$207$176 $111
Please click on over to the Expand the Map! ActBlue page and make a contribution to help stop ongoing Republican obstructionism in the Senate. Every contribution makes a real impact whether it's $100 or $25 or $10 or, well, any amount. Want to rebel against multiples of five and contribute $63 or $39 or $27, knock yourself out!
Remember, the fundraising quarter ends this Wednesday, so please contribute today if you can. Thank you SO much!
I'll just let Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak lay it out for you:
In thirty-three weeks, the fifth most senior Republican Senator could become the Democratic nominee from Pennsylvania. But together we're going to change that. This election is not about the last thirty years. It's about the next thirty years. And it's also about something else: principle. I promise you to be the most honest, caring, committed, energetic, hard-working Senator that Pennsylvania's ever had. We can achieve this together.
Recent Republican Arlen Specter lacks principle. It is abundantly clear that he sees the 2010 election as being about him, not about the families of Pennsylvania. Specter's enormous sense of entitlement is matched only by Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak's enormous drive toward public service. Help Congressman Sestak bounce Specter from the Senate with a contribution today via the Expand the Map! ActBlue page. (Remember, the fundraising quarter ends tomorrow!)
Missouri: Friend-of-all-corporate-lobbyists Roy Blunt has "scheduled more [health care] industry-hosted fundraisers this year than any of his colleagues on the five House and Senate committees at the center of the health care reform debate." Roy Blunt is as bought-and-paid-for as a Republican Congresscritter comes. Want to combat Blunt's corporate gratuities? Contribute to Missouri's Democratic Secretary of State and 2010 Senate candidate Robin Carnahan via the Expand the Map! ActBlue page. Remember, the fundraising quarter ends tomorrow, so please chip in anything you can!
In other news, Republican Mark Kirk displays an impressive degree of stupidity as he attacks the U.S. Census Bureau for associating with - wait for it - one of Kirk's own campaign contributors!
Florida: A three-fer from Florida. First, Democratic Congressman Kendrick Meek doesn't mince words. He's straight up calling out Charlie Crist for wanting to use Florida's U.S. Senate seat for his own political ends rather than for the betterment of Floridians:
Governor Crist is using our Senate race to jumpstart his 2012 run. Florida needs someone to deliver stimulus money and jobs and to stop health insurance price gouging.
Radio host Jim Philips and I were talking this week about all the serious issues facing Florida - and how Gov. Charlie Crist seems to be MIA for many of them.
That's when Jim said our governor reminded him of Casper the Friendly Ghost.
And the more I thought about that, the more I think that works.
Just like Casper, Charlie is always smiling, always friendly - and yet never really completely there.
Finally, we see Crist dumping on the legacy of his predecessor, Jeb Bush, with a sharp response from Jeb Bush protege and conservative Republican former state House Speaker Marco Rubio:
In an effort to hide his own economic record, Charlie Crist even appears to have taken a page out of the Obama playbook by blaming a Bush for what he inherited. Charlie Crist needs to own up to the fact that he inherited a state with 3.3 percent unemployment that has now soared to 10.7 percent on his watch.
If Crist keeps poking at the Jeb beehive, the swarm might just help Rubio sting Crist. Crist ought tread lightly.
Kentucky: Remember how, in the 2010 Democratic Senate primary, Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo has the endorsement of his boss, Gov. Steve Beshear, while state Attorney General Jack Conway enjoys the support of just about every other prominent Democrat in Kentucky? Well, Mongiardo pulls a major political FUBAR as he is caught on tape cursing out and criticizing Beshear. Yikes. I don't see Beshear going out of his way to headline too many Mongiardo fundraisers anytime soon.
