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Monday, December 05, 2005

Weekly Open Thread: What Races Are You Interested In?

Posted by DavidNYC

I'm in the thick of final exams, so updates to the site might not be as plentiful as usual. On the other hand, there's no better way to procrastinate than by blogging, so maybe I'll churn out a storm.

Couple of resources you should check out if you haven't seen `em yet. First, this section of the DCCC's website lists all candidates who've filed to run for a House seat. The other is this page, compiled by staffers for Barry Welsh, a Democratic candidate running in IN-06. Welsh's site goes one step beyond the DCCC's and lists candidates who have not yet filed. You can also download it in Excel format to play around with it.

Anyhow, what's news in the races you're following?

Posted at 04:00 PM in Open Threads | Technorati

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Comments

Topinka's decision to run has me nervous about the Illinois Governor's race. Even if Blagojevich ends up victorious, it's likely to be a close race where the city of Chicago will single-handedly account for his margin. This is relevant because the Dems are trying to pick off one Republican-leaning suburban district and hang onto another. Blago is likely to get smashed in IL-06 and IL-08, and I fear that could have down-ticket consequences for Bean and Cegelis/Duckworth. With that in mind, it's vital that Blago runs a mistake-free campaign.

Posted by: Mark at December 3, 2005 11:48 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Hey fellow progressive bloggers the movement needs your help!

Did you know there is a Congressional Election this Tuesday!

The California's 48th District. The right wing wacko running against a solid progressive candidate is one of the founders of the "Minute Men Project." Yes that is right... the new racist armed organization setting up camp on America's Borders! Jim Gilchrist - Look at this guy: http://www.jimgilchrist.com/

And unfortunately this guy is picking up speed at the last minute.

The good news is there is a solid unity campaign to beat this right wing nut, and they are getting tons of additional last minute support from labor rank and file. Steve Young for Congress. This guy is the real deal and a true progressive!

http://www.steveyoungforcongress.com/

California Democratic Party Overwhelmingly Endorsed Steve Young for Congress from California’s 48th District

IRVINE, Ca. – On Wednesday, August 31, 2005, Region 18 of the California Democratic Party voted overwhelmingly to support Steve Young for Congress from the 48th District. The Party voted to enthusiastically endorse Young over a field of three other candidates, including John Graham, who had earned the endorsement in the previous two races for the 48th district Congressional seat.

I am flying out there to help mobilize nearly 300 rank and file labor brothers and sisters in the last few days of the GOTV effort. We need all hands on deck. This could be a huge win for a progressive Democrat!

Please forward this DU post to all you know. Go here to support this campaign: http://www.steveyoungforcongress.com/action.html

If you can take time to help make phone calls into this Congressional District, please join the Virtual Phone Bank. Your computer and a phone is all that you need. Just send an e-mail to our Orange County PDA coordinator, Dr. Bill at honeyman4@aol.com, and in the subject put “Virtual Phone Bank.” In the body of your message tell Dr. Bill how many blocks of calls you would like to make. One block represents 50 phone numbers. Doug will send you back a log-in and password for each block you request, as well as instruction for calling and downloading a phone script.

I will be leaving tomorrow to get out there. Our Director is already out there and PDA activists have and are continuing to work hard.

I have seen bloggers rise to the occasion before. We need your support now! Spread the word! we have only a few days!

The rise of Gilchrist is actually good news
since he will takes votes away from the almost crowned Republican John Campbell.

There are about 100,000 requested Democrats in the 48th District (of 400,000 total). Only 90,000 voted in the primary two months ago and turnout is expected to be even lower next week.

Thus, if only half the registered Democrats will go out and vote, Young will win.

And what a wonderful victory this will be - a Democrat from the heart of ultra conservative Orange County.

A good summary of Steve Young http://www.dailypilot.com/politics/story/31546p-46097c....

Another target of Young's campaign is the middle class, which he cautions is disappearing as America loses jobs with living wages. "We've lost 12 million manufacturing jobs in the last 10 years, and these are what I call family jobs -- jobs where a worker can have a spouse and have a car and have children," he said. What remain are jobs at Wal-Mart and Blockbuster Video, for example -- jobs Young calls anti-family because they don't offer workers enough pay or benefits to ever get ahead.

His answer is a five-point economic plan that includes creating a business-friendly environment, encouraging education and training for workers and cutting wasteful federal spending. To trim the federal budget, Young suggests rescinding the $260 billion transportation bill and putting the money instead into rebuilding infrastructure in areas at risk from natural disasters, such as levees in the Sacramento delta that could be damaged in an earthquake.

He'd also cut the billions fueling the Iraq war by bringing in the Arab League -- an organization that in 1989 helped end a lengthy civil war in Lebanon -- to negotiate a peace plan so the U.S. could withdraw its troops.

Finally, Young suggests money to shrink the deficit could come from a much-maligned but untapped source: immigrants. He proposes having people pay the U.S. government instead of smugglers to come across the border, so they could be registered and fingerprinted. Once here, immigrants would pay a fee every six months to renew their legal status. He projects the plan could raise $90 billion in six months. He'd also crack down on employers who hire illegal immigrants.

But in spite of his detailed plan, Young doesn't believe illegal immigration is the massive, immediate problem some politicians make it out to be. "They have been targeted as a boogeyman that is convenient and defenseless and has no way to fight back," he said.

"You get more people out to vote for anger and fear than for other issues, and I think that's what is happening here."

Posted by: kspidel at December 4, 2005 02:05 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

I agree. I believe that the Blagojevich race needs to be looked at, as it is overlooked by many a blog.

However, I also believe that for the beginning of this week, donations, virtual phone banking, and volunteering for Steve Young in CA-48 needs to happen. From now until Election Day this week, we should focus on recruiting as many contributers and volunteers as we possibly can.

Posted by: Kyle Raccio at December 4, 2005 10:30 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

I posted a lot of info about CA-11 in another thread. Check it out here if you're interested.

Posted by: Matt Lockshin at December 4, 2005 12:09 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Kyle, above, is right. While other races are 2006 or CA-50 apparently June 6, per the campaign, Steve Young's is TUESDAY!

DailyKos and DavidNYC have the latest on Steve Young's very realistic chances to win this race. Go there and read the analysis.

We need your help.

Posted by: Stuart O'Neill at December 4, 2005 03:59 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

I would like to see some additional coverage of the Schmidt vs. The World: OH-02 Rematch in Ohio

It is my sincere belief that Paul Hackett could easily defeat Schmidt next fall, leaving Sherrod Brown to send DeWine packing in the Senate race.

But why would Hackett change his plans? Easy. Because "something wicked this way comes..."

There are rumors on several local blogs that Jean Schmidt is facing a possible indictment on ethics charges that are similar to what Ohio Governor Bob Taft plead guilty to...

This very blog covered her failure to report the football tickets and free dinner from the pharmaceutical company. But the Cincinnati Enquirer ran a story that provided cover for Schmidt during the race against Hackett - in short, it said she was no longer under the jurisdiction of the body investigating the ethics infraction...

While true, this only tells part of the story. The important part is that, once the Ohio General Assembly's ethics committee completes it's own investigation, it is bound by law to report the infractions to the local solicitor - the same one that handled Taft's prosecution for the failure to report gold outings.

So, that's the best I can do. Yes it's all hearsay. But dig into the facts of the matter and I think you'll see that at the very least, Jean Schmidt is in for some very ugly headlines in the coming months...

Posted by: Flaming Liberal at December 5, 2005 08:22 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Being a resident of Montana, I have been keeping a close watch on the Senate. Burns association with Abramoff won't to go away and Montana newspapers continue to give the scandal the attention it deserves. Meanwhile John Morrison, who many consider to be the front runner, announces a plan to overhaul ethics laws. His proposal is definatly worth checking out: http://www.johnmorrison.us/index_Improve_Washington.html

Posted by: Andy_Duphrane at December 6, 2005 04:54 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment