Weekly Open Thread: What Races Are You Interested In?

Let’s get this one started early. Anyone get/give anything good for Christmas, Hanukah, etc.?

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

  2. I’m very interested in the gubernatorial race in California. we’ve got some impressive candidates I’m rooting for John Garamendi or Jerry Brown.

    As for Boxer’s re-election I think she’ll have a cakewalk, This is going to sound random but I totally think I saw her possible opponent the other day at this Jewelry store. I was overhearing this conversation with this Tall white guy with glasses. His friends kept calling him “Senator” and I heard them keep telling everyone that he was going to run for US senate. Not sure if he’s running in California but we’ll see.

    Also CA redistricting. Are we going to protect incumbents or move in and start kicking out some Republicans?

    If we choose the first option that means we need to go all out in 2010 and win some seats.

    If we choose the latter we need to think about which seats are we going change. For Instance if we don’t win in my hometown district of Ken Calvert we can sure make a new Dem seat there by 2012.

  4. if there is any chance of getting some Democratic heavyweight to talk Leonard Boswell into retiring.

    He is ineffective and puts Democrats in jeopardy of losing IA-03 after redistricting.

    I know the DCCC isn’t in the business of encouraging incumbents to retire, but in this case getting an energetic new Democrat elected in 2010 gives us a better chance of holding this seat in 2012.

  5. is ne one else actually kinda excited that texas is gonna be gaining 3-4 seats? i know theyll prob be gerrymanderd the hell outta, but how much more could they do it then its already been done in texas? i think most seats will at least become marginally more democratic and give us a better chance there, espically in the burbs round dallas and houston. i also think, given a few yrs, our bench there will start increasing exponentially. we need to stop looking for safe (ie, wasp-y) candidates and start running minority progressive people with a vision. noreiga ran a good campaign against senator cornyn and i think hed made a great congressional candidate after redistricting. ne one else?

  7. was finding out Franken won’t be officially be announced a Senator-elect until after everyone else gets sworn in…  Boooooooo.

    And an iPod.

  9. My best gift was (by far) a CD called “Wells for Zoe- Water for Life.”

    Tim O’Brien wrote about his part in the project:

    On Monday, I produced a track for a benefit CD at Compass Studio. The song was “Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves,” and the musicians were Maura O’Connell, the Duhks, Casey Driessen, Garry West, and myself. The CD will benefit “Wells For Zoë,” a water project in the African nation of Malawi. In addition to helping the local population drill their own wells to provide a plentiful and healthy water supply, the project helps empower local women to take care of themselves and their families. The track is an acoustic rave up of the old Eurhythmics hit, with Maura and Sarah Dugas of the Duhks riffing together on the lead vocals, and Leonard Podolak’s banjo sounding like an Isaac Hayes wa-wa guitar part.

    I just got my copy of the CD for my Christmas present and it’s incredible. It’s one of the best compilations I’ve EVER heard. Besides the incredible rave up on “Sisters” Tim sings a WONDERFUL duet with Karine Polwart on “Dig a Well for Zoe.”

    It’s for a truly great cause. Please visit the Wells for Zoe website to find out more or to order a copy of this GREAT cd.

    One super track is “Baby, Can I Buy You a Drink” from Sinead O’Conner, which features a mix of African and Celtic influences. You can watch a YouToob video of her doing the song on RTE (Irish TV) Late Show. Check it out.

    (OK, it’s lip synched, oh well…)

  10. I got a new phone, a donation in my name to Courage Campaign, a bag full of tasty veggie tamales, and a box of chocolate dipped pretzels. Ain’t I lucky! 😉

  11. CA-Supreme Court/Prop H8: It looks like AG Jerry Brown gave the court a good reason to overturn Prop H8. Still, I’m not taking anything for granted! If we lose in court, we’ll have to go back to the ballot to secure marriage equality in 2010. If we win in court, we’ll have to defend the judges (and Brown?) at the ballot box. Either way, the Prop H8 fight continues.

    CA-Gov: Right now, my preference looks like-

    1. Lt. Gov. John Garamendi

    2. AG Jerry Brown

    3. SF Mayor Gavin Newsom

    4. LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa

    And if Rep. Loretta Sanchez (CA-47) runs, she instantly jumps to the top of my list. 😉

    NV-Gov: So when will we start seeing Dems announce here? Are they waiting to see how batsh*t crazy Gibbons gets when he realizes he can’t veto away fiscal sanity?

    NV-Sen: Hmmm, why haven’t I heard more than petty saber rattling from the GOP? I’m not too worried about Harry Reid smashing whoever tries to run against him.

  12. Am I the only one a little bit disturbed by the fervor with which most Democrats have been looking towards “gerrymandering” with?  I mean, I’m all for undoing the Republican wrongs of the past, but there seems to be a sentiment that we need to do the same as Tom DeLay would.  It bothers me to hear Democrats–progressives at that–arguing in favor of exploiting one of the more egregious forms of corruption in the US political system.

    And I pay no heed to the defense that “the Republicans do it, too.”  We’re supposed to be the good guys here–we should act like it and come out for fair, independent redistricting.  Certainly not look to carve up districts in anyway we can.

  13. Election interests:

    United States Senate seats in Colorado (D-Salazar), Kansas (R-Brownback), Nevada (D-Reid), and Pennsylvania (R-Specter).  

    United States House seats in Colorado (D4-Markey), Iowa (R4-Latham), Kansas (D3-Moore), Minnesota (R3-Paulsen; R6-Bachmann), Nevada (R2-Heller; D3-Titus), New Hampshire (D1-Shea-Porter), New Mexico (D1-Heinrich; D2-Teague), and Pennsylvania (D3-Dahlkemper; D4-Altmire; R6-Gerlach; D10-Carney; D11-Kanjorski; R15-Dent).  

    Governor’s Offices in Colorado (D-Ritter), Iowa (D-Culver), Kansas (D-Sebelius), Minnesota (R-Pawlenty), Nevada (R-Gibbons), New Mexico (D-Richardson), and Pennsylvania (D-Rendell).

    The Republican-held Pennsylvania State Senate and the Republican-held Kansas House.

  14. Interesting article in defense of Caroline Kennedy’s work experience:

    Yes, her portfolio is diverse, and when I first read the press accounts, I too had my doubts. Okay, I thought, she went to Harvard, then Columbia Law School. Very nice. A book on the Bill of Rights. Check. Another on the right to privacy. Check, check. The three-day-a-week fundraising job for New York schools. Triple check. But two poetry anthologies? The whole thing just didn’t quite add up.

    …

    Perhaps, like many women in her situation, she found stimulation and satisfaction in whatever tasks most easily fit her schedule and her life, and her kids’ lives. You could say her work history was spasmodic; you could say it was scattershot. But you could also say that as her children have grown up, her focus on public life has intensified, culminating in her fundraising for the public schools and her participation in Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. You could say that, consciously or unconsciously, she was preparing for this moment.

    She’s not exactly my first pick for the nomination, but I thought the article has some interesting parallels between Caroline’s often pooh-poohed work experience and what happens with a lot of other women who have the audacity to take care of their children and then see their careers and their potential shoved aside.

    Flame away.

  15. I received the following on DVD:

    The Dark Knight

    Hellboy II

    Star Wars original trilogy

    I also got these books:

    Toll The Hounds (book 8 in a fantasy series I’m reading)

    Men Who Stare at Goats (the true story of how US Special forces have been trying to create a batallion of psychic warriors). This will be the basis for a film next year starring George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor, and Kevin Spacey.

    The Informant (the story of how the FBI relied on a bipolar corporate officer–Mark Whitacre–to help them crack open a huge price-fixing scandal at Archer Daniels Midland). This too will be the basis of a film next year, directed by Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) and starring Matt Damon.

Comments are closed.