Blue Majority: Dan Maffei For Congress, NY-25

(From the diaries – promoted by Trent Thompson)

It is with great pleasure that I am able to announce the next Blue Majority endorsed candidate: Dan Maffei, from New York’s 25th Congressional District.

I am particularly excited about this endorsement for several reasons. First, I am from the district, and ever since Jim Walsh originally won the seat by a few hundred votes back when I was a freshman in high school, I have been itching for someone to defeat him. Second, Dan Maffei epitomizes one of my longest-running arguments about the need to run in every district. In 2004, no Democrat ran against Walsh, but in 2006 Dan came within 1% of defeating him. Third, having met Dan Maffei, I can honestly say that there is no member of Congress, or candidate for Congress, with whom I was more personally impressed and within whom I felt more personally comfortable (there are two or three who I feel roughly the same about). When we talked for over two hours over coffee and pizza, it felt like every idea we exchanged about strategy, policy, and life really clicked (like me, he went to local public schools, and hasn’t exactly made a fortune working in progressive politics). Dan is a serious, brilliant progressive, who absolutely means more and better Democrats. Please, contribute to Dan today.


Here is a video Dan put together to introduce himself and the district to the readers of Dailykos, MyDD, Open Left and Swing State Project a few days ago:





Now, some of you might ask something to the effect of “wait-he is running against Jim Walsh, the Republican who just said he was now opposed to the Iraq War? Isn’t that the sort of Republican behavior we should be encouraging, rather than immediately punishing with a major counter-endorsement?” If you are asking this question, I am glad you did, because even though the Maffei endorsement was decided upon several days before Walsh’s announcement, since that time it has revealed the true danger Democrats face in offering up weak, meaningless, “compromise” bills on Iraq. The NY-25 is the first case study of how Democratic weakness in the House on Iraq can allow Republican to potentially blur the difference between the two parties on Iraq, and thus wipe out virtually our entire advantage heading into the 2008 elections.


Here is the situation. Over the past nine months, Jim Walsh has said he was in favor of withdrawal, and then voted a timeline that would actually mandate withdrawal. Even in discussions with local media yesterday, and in calls I made to his staff, he refused to come out in favor of a timetable. Walsh has said that he is in favor of oversight on Iraq, and then voted against oversight. He said he was opposed to the escalation, and then refused to vote against the escalation. In May, he said he was opposed to a blank check for Bush on Iraq, and then voted to give Bush a blank check on Iraq in the capitulation bill. Everything Walsh is saying now, he ha already said before. The key difference is not hat Walsh has changed his opinion, but that Democats in Congress are changing the legislation they are trying to pass through Congress.

Back in the spring, House Democrats forced votes on stiffer legislation that required real oversight and mandated withdrawal. It only received two votes form Republicans, because the many so-called moderate Republicans who are supposedly against Bush’s policy in Iraq are not willing to pass binding legislation opposing Bush’s policy in Iraq. They are, however, willing to pass meaningless legislation that suggests Bush should change course, but does not actually require him to do so. For example, Walsh is a co-sponsor of the Kirk-Lipinski bill that does not mandate any troop withdrawal whatsoever, but sets it as a “goal.” Compromise bills of this sort are in abundance nowadays, and I imagine Walsh will vote for all of them. However, if a bill comes up that actually mandates troops withdrawal, there is still no indication that he would vote for such a bill. Given everything he has said on the matter, I bet he won’t vote for mandated troop withdrawal.

This is the crux of the problem progressives face in the 2008 elections. Bad, Bush Dog Democrats are coming up with cover your ass legislation that won’t do anything to drawdown our military involvement in Iraq. Instead, the actual impact of these bills will be to allow Bush Dogs and endangered Republicans alike to appear as though they oppose Bush’s policies, and thus strengthen all of their hands for re-election. In short, weak Iraq legislation in Congress will help empower Bush Dogs, and help prevent progressives like Maffei from taking over Republican seats. This is the exact opposite of the more and better Democrats refrain that has been traveling around the blogosphere. Weak Iraq legislation will allow Republicans like Walsh to blur their differences on Iraq all over the country, and the result will be fewer, and worse Democrats.


In the first major case study of this kind for the 2008 elections, we can’t let this stand. Supporting Dan Maffei means opposing weak, toothless Iraq legislation in Congress. It means taking a stand against a self-defeating Democratic strategy that will not only do nothing to drawdown the Iraq war, but will also go a long way toward wiping out any chance of a second Democratic wave election. It means supporting more and better Democrats, instead of reverting to the pro-war, minority status Democratic Party of 2002-2003.


Contribute to Dan Maffei on Blue Majority. Fight Bush dogs and Republican blurring alike. This lean-Kerry district is going to be a very big race down the road, and a place where a true progressive like Maffei can hold a seat for a long time to come.

The DCCC Plays In 14 Districts This Independence Day

According to The Hill, the DCCC has targeted 14 Republican incumbents for web/phone/radio hits starting on Monday. Here’s the full list, including each district’s Presidential vote in the last two cycles:









































































































































State CD Incumbent Kerry ’04 Bush ’04 Gore ’00 Bush ’00
AK AL Young 36 61 28 59
CO 4 Musgrave 41 58 37 57
IL 10 Kirk 53 47 51 47
MI 9 Knollenberg 49 51 47 51
MO 6 Graves 42 57 44 53
NC 8 Hayes 45 54 46 54
NJ 7 Ferguson 47 53 48 49
NM 1 Wilson 51 48 48 47
NV 3 Porter 49 50 49 48
NY 25 Walsh 50 48 51 45
NY 29 Kuhl 42 56 43 53
PA 3 English 47 53 47 51
VA 2 Drake 42 58 43 55
WV 2 Capito 42 57 44 54

However, only seven districts (NC-08, MI-09, AK-AL, NV-03, NY-25, WV-02 and MO-06) are getting the radio ads. But this is a good indicator, perhaps, of the districts that the DCCC plans to aggressively contest next year. While many of these look tough, dynamite candidates in State Senator John Unger and Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes (MO-06) could very well be map changers.

Meet Linda Stender, Dan Maffei & Eric Massa in NYC on 4/25

Attention New Yorkers:

Who: Congressional Candidates Linda Stender (NJ-07), Dan Maffei (NY-25), and Eric Massa (NY-29) – and featured guest Jim Dean (chair of Democracy for America)

What: “Expanding our Majority: On to 2008!”  – a fundraiser for DFA

When: Wednesday, 4/25 – 6pm to 8pm

Where: Manhattan (Upper East Side)

For more info & to RSVP, click here. You can also contact Rachel Moss at (802) 651-3200, ext. 134 or rmoss@democracyforamerica.com. A wide range of contribution levels are available for anyone who would like to attend, including a special student rate of just $35.

So if you’re in town, this is a great chance to meet some of our strongest rematch contenders for 2008, plus Jim Dean, brother of Howard and a supremely good guy. Let’s go Team Blue!

CA-45, NM-01, NY-25, NY-29, NV-02, IL-15: House Incumbents Hit Hard on Iraq

Hot on the heels of their hard-hitting ads against Republican Senators McConnell (KY), Collins (ME) and Sununu (NH), Americans United For Change is setting its sights on four Republican House incumbents: Heather Wilson (NM-01), Jim Walsh (NY-25), Dean Heller (NV-02), and Tim Johnson (IL-15):

AUFC picked an interesting mix of incumbents here.  While Walsh and Wilson will be two huge Democratic targets next year, Johnson and Heller are completely out of left field.  Raise your hands if you even knew that the Republicans had their own Tim Johnson.  Yeah, I thought so.

As far as an “expanding the playing field” type of move, I remain skeptical that Heller’s district will come into play next year.  At a PVI of R+8.2, the only reason this district was competitive last year was due to its open seat status, a feisty Republican primary, and Democrat Jill Derby’s strengths.  I’m not anticipating that any of these factors will re-emerge in 2008, and I doubt that a top-shelf challenger will emerge.  If I were in charge of these ad buys, I would have gone after Republican Jon Porter in nearby NV-03, whose D+1.0 district and out-of-the-mainstream views on Iraq make his district ripe for another aggressive challenge.

As for Johnson, his Illinois district went to Bush by 11 and 18 point margins in 2000 and 2004, respectively.  I would be surprised if anything happened here, but at least Mr. Johnson will have to feel some deserved heat on Iraq.  Hopefully his ass will get redistricted into oblivion in a few years.

UPDATE: AUFC is also going after Randy Kuhl (NY-29) and Mary Bono (CA-45).