23 thoughts on “Weekly Open Thread: What Races Are You Interested In?”

  1. This race hasn’t gotten much buzz, but geriatric conservative Democrat Leonard Boswell here in central Iowa is facing a primary opponent in June.  His opponent is Ed Fallon, very much from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.  There’s not much in the way of polling out there but this race is expected to be competitive given Fallon’s hard-core following in Polk County and a general antipathy towards Boswell.  Fallon has to thread a needle of running to Boswell’s left yet not make himself unelectable in this 50-50 district where it’s essentially the city of Des Moines versus the rest of the district (conservative suburbs and all).

    I’m undecided at this point and will carefully analyze the issues ads and polling data (should either emerge) before making a final decision.  Considering Iowa is likely to lose a Congressional seat after 2010 reapportionment, it might be nice to get an “incumbent” Democrat to run against fellow GOP incumbent Tom Latham depending on how the district lines are drawn.  On the other hand, can Fallon win in a district where the demographics continue to trend Republican?  The growth zone of IA-03 is Des Moines’ suburban doughnut, which is monolithically Republican and I have my doubts that West Des Moines and Ankeny will be Ed Fallon country in a general election against a credible GOP challenger.  It’s a crap shoot to be sure, but I’m not ruling either one out for my personal allegiance.  Boswell is too squishy for my taste, but a far cry better than a Republican.  Thus far, I don’t know of a GOP opponent in this race, but if Jeff Lamberti gets in again, you have to figure he’d be formidable against either of these guys but especially Fallon.

  2. I would really love to see all out support for Raul Martinez and Joe Garcia in taking out the Bush stampin’ Diaz-Balart brothers.  

    CQ Politics has changed both of these house ratings from “Safe Republican” to “Republican Favoured”.  CQ tends to be more conservative when it comes to changing house ratings.  However, by recognizing the increased efforts of the DCCC, they have downgraded these two seats down a notch.

    If we can keep up the pressure by giving these house races more exposure and increased fundraising efforts, we can turn these two districts blue!

    here is the link to the article:

    http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmsp

    Just another note, I would love to see FL-18 (Ileana Ros-Lehtinen) get ousted as well by Annette Taddeo so let’s work just as hard for her as well as Raul and Joe!

    You can donate here to any or all of our warriors here:

    1) Joe Garcia – http://actblue.com/entity/fund

    2) Raul Martinez – http://actblue.com/entity/fund

    3) Annette Taddeo – http://actblue.com/entity/fund

    I’m a Canadian citizen and if I’m this interested in these races, I hope you will too!

  3. But want more information are:

    Bill O’Neill in OH-14 against LaTourette

    Steve Harrison in NY-13 against Fossella

    Alan Grayson in FL-08 (open)

    Annette Taddeo in FL-18 against Ileans Ros-Lehtinen

    Any information?

    When will new folks be added to Blue Majority?

    Joe Garcia (FL-25, aginst Mario Diaz-Balart) was recently added.  What about Taddeo and Martinez too?  What about the above folks if they are good candidates?  The first 3 have signed on to Darcy Burner’s Iraq Plan.

  4. Not so much a mass exodus, but a drop in their numbers in Florida.  Then again maybe not.

    http://www.caribbeannetnews.co

    From the Article:

    There are many reasons for rejecting a permanent return. But none is cited more often than the fact that most Cuban Americans now have deep roots in the United States.

    Many have prospered in Miami, as Cuba fell into economic ruin, and have a history of mutual antagonism and deep distrust with those who endured in their homeland.

    If there is a true democratic opening in Cuba, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, an exile and Republican congresswoman from South Florida, said booming tourism and new business and franchise opportunities could lure many Cuban émigrés back to stay.

    She stressed that it would be a very emotional time for the exile community, however, as they take stock of “the way things used to be and the way they’ve been torn down by almost 50 years of a brutal dictatorship.”

    Touching on what may become the thorniest issue in future U.S.-Cuban affairs, Ros-Lehtinen said exiles should not hope to reclaim property confiscated during the revolution. Rather than pushing to regain land and property expropriated by the Cuban state, most exile leaders now favor demanding some sort of compensation from a democratic transition government.

    “There are a lot of family decisions that will be made as soon as Cuba is free from the dictators, whether it’s Fidel or Raul or communist tyranny by any other name,” Ros-Lehtinen said.

    Elena Freyre, a voice of moderation among Miami’s often strident exiles, said Cuban Americans will play only a limited role in a post-Castro Cuba, and should not expect to be well received on the island due to their support for the U.S. economic embargo against it.

    “I think the vast majority of Cuban Americans are here to stay,” said Freyre, who came to Miami as a child in 1960 and now heads the Cuban-American Defense League.

    “Most of the people who speak the most about how much they miss the homeland haven’t been there in over 40 years and have no clue what Cuba looks like today,” she said.

    “The few that are bold enough to venture stepping on the actual ground (of Cuba) are going to catch the first plane back.”

    My favorite quote: Most of the people who speak the most about how much they miss the homeland haven’t been there in over 40 years and have no clue what Cuba looks like today.

  5. Phil Gingrey is as vile as they come.  Votes against the minimum wage increase, SCHIP, Medicare drug price negotiation, war withdrawal, troop rest, just to name a few.  He’s introducted “tort reform” legislation.

    He only got 57% in 2004 against a lackluster opponent in a year when Bush won the district.  His district was redrawn to cut out Democratic areas in Middle Georgia and the more inner suburbs and replaced them with the more exurban areas.  He won with like 70% in 2006.

    But he has his weaknesses:

    1) His voting record (already noted).

    2) Underlying demographics (seniors, minorities, college-related demographics, etc.)  This goes back to his voting record

    3) Changes in demographics (This is mostly a suburban-exurban district, and things are chaning like they are in other suburbs)

    His announced challenger is Bud Gammon (budgammon.us), a retired Air Force pilot.  Not much yet in terms of content on the website, but the more advanced features seem to indicate he is more serious about it than Patrick Pillion was in 2006.

    1. Taddeo is a successful business owner able and willing to self-fund to a large extent. Lacking much political experience, it seems like she may be the least likely of the three to win, but Taddeo is doing most honorable service to the cause. By running in this third Cuban-American district, she will keep Ileana Ros-Lehtinen on defense, and thus prevent the Repub incumbents from ganging up 3 to 2, or even 3 to 1, on Joe Garcia. Martinez apparently has a harder row to hoe than Joe Garcia, so he may be doing similar work covering the other flank for the main charge. Meanwhile, DCCC, union, and other independent expenditures on TV and radio can easily attack three Repubs for the price of one ad on Miami TV stations. Running three solid campaigns also helps generate more free media and more enthusiasm from the volunteers.

      And of course, miracles sometimes happen. In this case especially, expect the unexpected in the six looooooooong months to the election. Did Fidel really give up all power in Havana? We will know by November. Will he be alive by November? Will things start to change under Raul?

      Some say to expect no change. I’m wondering if there is an instance in the history of politics or business where the new boss did not make some changes from the ways of the old boss. When the “kid brother” starts to make his moves, it’s quite possible that the Bush team — including these three members of the Congressional Batista Caucus — will mess things up in a way that their constituents don’t appreciate. Voters could spin around on such an emotional issue.

      But if little happens with Cuba, or the Bush-Batista team do nothing to offend the Cubano voters, then domestic issues could lead to change. There’s considerable evidence that younger Cuban Americans are drifting away from the Repub Party, increasingly registering as Independent or even Democratic. (And all three districts have had considerable in-migration of non-Cubans.) A switch of a small percentage of Cuban Americans in all three districts on top of other national trends could overturn one or two or three of these Repub incumbents, and help to switch Florida to the Democratic side in the Presidential race as well.

    2. I think that’s definitely a competitive district. Right now it’s a very crowded primary field though and both Mike Smith and Alan Grayson as well as one of the others with less funding are pretty progressive. The 2006 Republican Democrat Charlie Stuart is also running again.

      Keller was held to 53% of the vote in 2006.

  6. Roy Carter is poised to take on Virginia Foxx.

    Roy is a retired teacher and football coach and has been working since last fall to build a solid organizational base, has a full staff, boots on the ground in all 12 counties, is raising money, and campaigning full time.  He came in 2nd in DFA’s Grassroots All-star competition out of over 90 other candidates– ahead of 33 other candidates considered ‘competitive’ by the DCCC. He was on Air America in early March. The Carter camp is proving that they know what it takes to win and they are willing to do it– something that the 5th district hasn’t seen in over a decade.

    In 2006 Foxx won but still lost in her own home county because they know her. She brags about being one of the most conservative members of Congress and has publicly embarrassed herself with a variety of recent faux pas– her misconduct during the Clemmons trial, admission that she is trying to scare people, and public criticism of Obama and Clinton for being socialists only to later admit that she doesn’t even know the definition of socialist (featured on Kos today).  ICING ON THE CAKE: Foxx was ranked the 399th most effective member of Congress which = totally ineffective.

    Most importantly, she has one of the most disastrous voting records. She voted against

    * Katrina Aid

    * the minimum wage increase

    * Voting Rights Act

    * low interest student loans

    * SCHIP

    * Head Start Funding

    * Energy Bill

    * Water Conservation Bill

    * Farm Bill

    * AND MORE!

    She received a 10% rating by the Children’s Defense Fund and gets a failing grade consistently from all of the labor unions.  



    I know that everyone says Foxx has too much money and that NC-05 was drawn to be heavily Republican.
     

    I say– BS. Now is the time to get Foxx out, and Carter is the man to do it. People here– Republicans too– are done with her. I hear it every day.  She hasn’t done right by the district and her voting record proves it.

    One thing is for sure, lobbyists will pay whatever it takes to keep Foxx in DC working for them instead of us.  That’s why it’s paramount that folks get on board now, and help Carter in his efforts.  He can win.

    This year, more than EVER, we have the chance to not only vote for change, we also have the power to change the way Democrats WIN. That means running competitive campaigns that are smart and effective, and that means that good people have to rise to the occasion and offer their time, energy, talents, and money.

     

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