Monday, October 23, 2006
WY-AL: Barbara Cubin is Despicable
Posted by DavidNYCThe verbal sparring between two candidates for Wyoming's lone U.S. House seat didn't end when the televised debate ended Sunday evening.Immediately after the lights and cameras shut down, incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Barbara Cubin walked to Libertarian candidate Thomas Rankin, who had criticized her for receiving contributions from former House Speaker Tom Delay, R-Texas.
"'If you weren't sitting in that chair, I'd slap you across the face,'" Cubin told Rankin, he said Monday.
Rankin suffers from multiple sclerosis. "That chair" is the wheelchair he uses. I'm just in disbelief.
Barbara Cubin is a despicable, disgusting human being - and I think I'm being too polite. I sure as hell hope netroots candidate Gary Trauner sends her into early retirement next month.
(Via the DCCC.)
Posted at 11:07 PM in 2006 Elections - House, Wyoming | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) | Technorati
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
WY-AL: Barbara Cubin Has Another Lousy Primary Showing
Posted by RBHThe results from the August 22nd Primary:
Barbara Cubin - 51,050 (60%)
Bill Winney - 33,955 (40%)
Cubin spent $464,715 though August 2nd, Winney spent $18,645.
In 2004, Cubin won a five-way primary with 55%. Two of her primary opponents spent over $100K in the 03/04 cycle. She then went on to win the general election by a 55-42 margin over Ted Ladd (who spent $373436). Meanwhile, Bush was beating Kerry by a 69-29 margin in Wyoming.
According to SurveyUSA, Bush's approval rating in Wyoming is 52%.
In the 2004 General Election, the CNN exit poll claims that Cubin won 76% of Republicans, 42% of Independents, and 18% of Democrats. The partisan split there was 53% Republican, 25% Democrat, 22% Independent. She ran 19% behind Bush amongst Republicans, 12% behind him amongst Independents and 9% behind him amongst Democrats.
Barbara Cubin has another serious opponent this year and his name is Gary Trauner. Gary has $205,914 on hand and has spent $241,693 so far.
With Cubin's weak showing in 2004, a vastly popular Democratic Governor on the ballot in 2006, and the whole thing about Republicans being in bad shape in general, Cubin is a lot more vulnerable than we know right now. Given the right momentum, Dick Cheney's Representative in 2007 could be a Democrat.
CQPolitics.com says this about Cubin's race
Cubin has struggled to win unanimous support among party members, in part because some party leaders think she has not adequately dealt with the state’s pressing issues, including the prevalence of methamphetamine. The Wyoming Tribune-Eagle newspaper, in an unenthusiastic endorsement of Cubin, said she showed a “lack of leadership” but was “the best that the Republican Party has to offer at this time.”
The sheer number of Republicans in Wyoming are enough of a reason to be discouraged here. But then again, Trauner recieving 1/4th of the Republican vote is conceivable. He's definately on equal ground, cash-wise and he should be encouraged that a guy who spent $18645 got around 1.82 votes for every dollar he spent.
Posted at 08:42 AM in 2006 Elections - House, Wyoming | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0) | Technorati
Thursday, March 16, 2006
WY-Sen: Kempthorne Tapped for Interior
Posted by DavidNYCSo it looks like Dick Kempthorne will replace Gail Norton as Secretary of the Interior.
Yes, Kempthorne is the Republican Governor of Idaho, but I've prefaced the title of this post with WY-Sen. It's not a mistake. As several commenters pointed out in an earlier thread, Wyoming Senator Craig Thomas was rumored for this job as well. If he had been tapped, that would have created a potentially interesting open seat in WY. But with Kempthorne getting the nod, nothing changes. He was term-limited out of running for ID-Gov again. CQ has some color on that race if you are curious (they rate the race Safe Republican).
Posted at 05:23 PM in 2006 Elections - Senate, Wyoming | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0) | Technorati
Saturday, April 02, 2005
U.S. Senate "Nuclear Option" and 2006 midterm elections
Posted by Bob BrighamOver at DailyKos, Kargo X has kickstarted a conversation on the coming "Nuclear Option" -- the Republican scheme to end the filibuster and gain absolute power.
If the GOP pushes forward with this power grab, it will force a major backlash against Republicans in the 2006 midterm elections. During the Schiavo usurpation, Bush dropped 10 pts in the time it took for Santorum to permanently tie himself to the issue.
If the GOP continues their quest for absolute power, the backlash will be severe. Already, Democrats have 12 Republican Senators (facing re-election in 2006) on record with their Social Security vote.
It has become conventional wisdom that Americans oppose the GOP plan to privatize Social Security. If the GOP moves for absolute control of the Senate while Bush forces privatization then the storyline gets a villian in a potent way. Add Tom DeLay as the public face of Republicans in Congress, a splintering of the conservative coalition, and a united Democratic Party. Together, this could result in a major restructuring of party perception in a nationalized 2006 midterm election cycle.
Senator Bill Frist (R-TN) wants to be President so he needs to protect his record. In addition, the following Republican Senators need to worry about running for re-election in 2006:
- Senator George Allen (R-VA)*
- Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT)*
- Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI)*
- Senator Mike DeWine (R-OH)
- Senator John Ensign (R-NV)*
- Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT)*
- Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)*
- Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ)*
- Senator Trent Lott (R-MS)*
- Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN)*
- Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA)*
- Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME)
- Senator Jim Talent (R-MO)*
- Senator Craig Thomas (R-WY)*
* Social Security: on record voting in favor of "deep benefit cuts or a massive increase in debt."
In addition, such a move would allow the following Democrats a hero vote to bolster their 2006 re-elections:
- Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI)
- Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
- Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV)
- Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
- Senator Thomas Carper (D-DE)
- Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY)
- Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND)
- Senator Jon Corzine (D-NJ)
- Senator Mark Dayton (D-MN)
- Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
- Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA)
- Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI)
- Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-CT)
- Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE)
- Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL)
- Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
Posted at 06:36 PM in 2006 Elections, 2006 Elections - Senate, Arizona, Indiana, Maine, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Nuclear Option, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wyoming | Technorati
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Vote on Social Security
Posted by Bob BrighamYesterday, the Senate gave the following statement an up or down vote:
"It is the sense of the Senate that Congress should reject any Social Security plan that requires deep benefit cuts or a massive increase in debt."
Here are the 12 Senators (standing for re-election in 2006) who voted for deep social security cuts and massive debt:
Allen, George VA
Burns, Conrad MT
Chafee, Lincoln RI
Ensign, John NV
Hatch, Orrin UT
Hutchison, Kay Bailey TX
Kyl, Jon AZ
Lott, Trent MS
Lugar, Richard IN
Santorum, Rick PA
Talent, Jim MO
Thomas, Craig WY
Here is the link to the vote.
Posted at 09:24 AM in 2006 Elections, 2006 Elections - Senate, Arizona, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wyoming | Technorati