Campaign and Election News – Covering Key Races Around the Country
Weekly Open Thread: What Races Are You Interested In?
It’s that time of week.
21 thoughts on “Weekly Open Thread: What Races Are You Interested In?”
I only ask because we did the same for Iowa and New Hampshire.
5 days… How long does it take for SSP to get the chart set up? I don’t remember how long it took 3 months ago. That’s what I’m interested in.
Domenic Recchia, potential D challenger to Rep. Fossella is claiming $220,000 in his 4Q filing. This likely would have him out raising Fossella for the quarter who reported $99k in 3Q. Also Steve Harrison, 06 candidate is claiming $110,000 total so far, equal to about what he raised all of 06. We are looking to be in very good shape with this race
Maybe Staten Island shouldn’t be part of the city. It looms awfully close to Elizabeth, NJ (where it is connected by a bridge) but only connects to the more distant NYC proper by ferry.
But hey, I grew up in Jersey and the schools used to teach that NY tricked NJ out of Staten Island. I forget the gimmick, something about stretching a deerskin by making it into an impossibly long strip. Well, at the time, Staten Island felt even less like NYC. It was practically bucolic in the late 50s and early 60s. Now it looks more like older suburban areas (but with newer buildings). A little dense but not like a city. Parts of Bergen County maybe.
The six NY GOP districts can be described as including Staten Island and a strip of the mainland, a barbell like district that covers both sides of the Nassau-Suffolk border but flanges out a bit to take in a larger chunk of more affluent coast towns (Glen Cove on the north, I know), and four districts stretching from Rochester west to the eastern edge of the Buffalo suburbs.
In his last quarterly report, Fossella’s cash (NY-13, the aforementioned Staten Island) on hand was being drained quickly. He was down to around $50 K (cut in half from the previous quarter) and the district had the look of a possible retirement/open seat. It will be interesting to see if the trend continued, in which cause Vito’s broke.
Presidential Primaries
I think the Republican Primaries are actually more interesting that the Democratic ones this year. It is basically a two person race for the Democratic one between Obama and Clinton. I have a long time to decide which one I am voting for. I am slightly leaning towards Clinton. I am getting less comfortable with her every day though as the primary season continues.
The Republican seems to be more of a three person race with no frontrunner. Yes, the media claims McCain the Republican frontrunner after South Carolina. I don’t see how anyone can say that with a straight face for various reasons:
1) Romney has more delegates right now.
2) McCain only won 33% of the South Carolina vote. How can you declare a frontrunner who won only 2 out of every three votes? He also only won South Carolina by the skin of his teeth. Huckabee was a close second with 30%.
3) Romney won a state Saturday too. Does Nevada not count?
Here is the way I see the Republican race:
1) Romney – A very artificial candidate but he has all the money to run his campaign. I don’t think he will ultimately win, but he will be in this race for a long time.
2) McCain – He has benefited greatly by Giuliani’s nonchalant campaign. After Giuliani is out of the race, he will not have any competition for the moderate Republicans and Republican leaning Independents. Honestly, I have never trusted this man. His “Maverick” votes in the Senate have always seemed to me to be a way of trying to gain attention and increase his chance at the presidency. Ultimately, the Right Wingers will unite behind someone else in order to keep him off the ballot.
3) Huckabee – This is the Republican that scares me the most. He doesn’t have the financial backing, but he is a smooth talking snake. He is one of the three Republicans who should make it to the convention. He competes with Romney for a lot of the same voters.
4) Giuliani – His nonchalant campaign has turned him from frontrunner to long shot. He has been competing with Paul for sixth place in every Republican primary so far. He is betting everything on Florida giving him momentum for Super Tuesday. I think he will lose Florida and drop out after Super Tuesday. What are left of his supporters are soon to be McCain supports.
5) Thompson – Talk about a poorly run campaign. He peaked out the day he announced he was running for president. It has been downhill ever since. He seemed to be trying to help McCain in South Carolina by courting Huckabee voters. It looks like he will be out of the race prior to Florida. Huckabee and Romney should get a majority of his supporters.
6) Ron Paul – Why is he still in the race?
I’m always interested in the Michigan 7th, of course, but today I’m looking to the SSP community and their wealth of information.
Someone closer to Tim Walberg’s congressional office than I am came to me and told me that Walberg’s staff has been told that requests for vacation time between January 1 and November 4 (Election Day) will not be approved. When asked if that meant they were required to work on the campaign, the staff was told that if they expected to have a job next year, they would have to “do their part.”
Needless to say, some staffers– particularly the ones who already had vacation plans– are not happy. But they were told that, since they were hired by a “targeted” congressman, they should have expected these kinds of sacrifices.
If this is all true, obviously Walberg is a horrible boss. But does this cross any legal lines? I’m not a lawyer, and I’m not sure where I would begin.
I only ask because we did the same for Iowa and New Hampshire.
5 days… How long does it take for SSP to get the chart set up? I don’t remember how long it took 3 months ago. That’s what I’m interested in.
Domenic Recchia, potential D challenger to Rep. Fossella is claiming $220,000 in his 4Q filing. This likely would have him out raising Fossella for the quarter who reported $99k in 3Q. Also Steve Harrison, 06 candidate is claiming $110,000 total so far, equal to about what he raised all of 06. We are looking to be in very good shape with this race
Maybe Staten Island shouldn’t be part of the city. It looms awfully close to Elizabeth, NJ (where it is connected by a bridge) but only connects to the more distant NYC proper by ferry.
But hey, I grew up in Jersey and the schools used to teach that NY tricked NJ out of Staten Island. I forget the gimmick, something about stretching a deerskin by making it into an impossibly long strip. Well, at the time, Staten Island felt even less like NYC. It was practically bucolic in the late 50s and early 60s. Now it looks more like older suburban areas (but with newer buildings). A little dense but not like a city. Parts of Bergen County maybe.
The six NY GOP districts can be described as including Staten Island and a strip of the mainland, a barbell like district that covers both sides of the Nassau-Suffolk border but flanges out a bit to take in a larger chunk of more affluent coast towns (Glen Cove on the north, I know), and four districts stretching from Rochester west to the eastern edge of the Buffalo suburbs.
In his last quarterly report, Fossella’s cash (NY-13, the aforementioned Staten Island) on hand was being drained quickly. He was down to around $50 K (cut in half from the previous quarter) and the district had the look of a possible retirement/open seat. It will be interesting to see if the trend continued, in which cause Vito’s broke.
Presidential Primaries
I think the Republican Primaries are actually more interesting that the Democratic ones this year. It is basically a two person race for the Democratic one between Obama and Clinton. I have a long time to decide which one I am voting for. I am slightly leaning towards Clinton. I am getting less comfortable with her every day though as the primary season continues.
The Republican seems to be more of a three person race with no frontrunner. Yes, the media claims McCain the Republican frontrunner after South Carolina. I don’t see how anyone can say that with a straight face for various reasons:
1) Romney has more delegates right now.
2) McCain only won 33% of the South Carolina vote. How can you declare a frontrunner who won only 2 out of every three votes? He also only won South Carolina by the skin of his teeth. Huckabee was a close second with 30%.
3) Romney won a state Saturday too. Does Nevada not count?
Here is the way I see the Republican race:
1) Romney – A very artificial candidate but he has all the money to run his campaign. I don’t think he will ultimately win, but he will be in this race for a long time.
2) McCain – He has benefited greatly by Giuliani’s nonchalant campaign. After Giuliani is out of the race, he will not have any competition for the moderate Republicans and Republican leaning Independents. Honestly, I have never trusted this man. His “Maverick” votes in the Senate have always seemed to me to be a way of trying to gain attention and increase his chance at the presidency. Ultimately, the Right Wingers will unite behind someone else in order to keep him off the ballot.
3) Huckabee – This is the Republican that scares me the most. He doesn’t have the financial backing, but he is a smooth talking snake. He is one of the three Republicans who should make it to the convention. He competes with Romney for a lot of the same voters.
4) Giuliani – His nonchalant campaign has turned him from frontrunner to long shot. He has been competing with Paul for sixth place in every Republican primary so far. He is betting everything on Florida giving him momentum for Super Tuesday. I think he will lose Florida and drop out after Super Tuesday. What are left of his supporters are soon to be McCain supports.
5) Thompson – Talk about a poorly run campaign. He peaked out the day he announced he was running for president. It has been downhill ever since. He seemed to be trying to help McCain in South Carolina by courting Huckabee voters. It looks like he will be out of the race prior to Florida. Huckabee and Romney should get a majority of his supporters.
6) Ron Paul – Why is he still in the race?
I’m always interested in the Michigan 7th, of course, but today I’m looking to the SSP community and their wealth of information.
Someone closer to Tim Walberg’s congressional office than I am came to me and told me that Walberg’s staff has been told that requests for vacation time between January 1 and November 4 (Election Day) will not be approved. When asked if that meant they were required to work on the campaign, the staff was told that if they expected to have a job next year, they would have to “do their part.”
Needless to say, some staffers– particularly the ones who already had vacation plans– are not happy. But they were told that, since they were hired by a “targeted” congressman, they should have expected these kinds of sacrifices.
If this is all true, obviously Walberg is a horrible boss. But does this cross any legal lines? I’m not a lawyer, and I’m not sure where I would begin.