The recall effort is being headed by former state Sen Avel Gordly, an A-A supporter of President Obama and then Sen Gordo Smith (R). It’s an upgraded effort relative to the first time, headed by the wife of the previous Mayor (Karin Hansen), who also is a pro-gay activist. The first effort did not get enough signatures.
The spark for this effort is based on questions on a past sexual relationship between Adams and a protege; Adams denied the relationship for a number of weeks until confronted by a local weekly paper – the protege was 18 when they first had relations. So there were accusations of underage sex.
From the article:
A state attorney general’s investigation found there wasn’t enough evidence to charge Adams with a crime.
IMO, that should have been the end of it. Personally, while I support Adams, I find him to be a bit stuffy and awkward in public. w/r/t full disclosure, Hansen is a (friendly) neighbor of ours, and I supported Adams’ opponent in the ’08 election.
And his top seven spots are all blue seats: 1 ND, 2 AR, 3 NV, 4 PA, 5 CO, 6 DE, 7 IL.
(though if and when Biden ever gets in, and if and when Giannoulias wins the IL primary next week, those two states should move down).
And has Democrats most probably winding up with 53 or 54 seats.
Man, remember how rosy things were looking a year ago? Obama sworn in, and 59 Senate seats with MN still out.
And now where things are…
My question is where is the race to replace Tim Kaine as head of the DNC?
Remember Jim Gilmore? Republican lost both the Virginia and New Jersey Governorships and he was gone by January of 2002 after being chair since January of 2001.
Democrats have lost Virginia (all three statewide offices plus several state house seats), New Jersey, and Massachusetts and yet where is the outcry from insiders that Kaine needs to go?
I understand that a lot of this has to do with Obama’s and Congress’ popularity, but still.
The Fair Districts Constitutional amendments will be on the Florida ballot in 2010, one for the state legislature and one for Congressional seats. To pass, they will need to receive 60% support. They would:
“The initiative would add six more standards, including provisions that state politicians cannot draw districts to favor themselves or their parties; and they must make the districts “compact and community based.” The new districts also could not “favor” or “disfavor” minorities.”
I know there is a lot of talk about Ehrlich making a comeback but has anyone polled Michael Steele in that race?
All the talk about dumping Kaine got me thinking. If the GOP wants Steele out at RNC someone should do a poll & try to push him into the MD Gov race.
It be honest with him being such a loose cannon I am suprised their hasnt been more of a push by the GOP to get him to run for Gov of MD.
18-7. Not quite a veto-proof majority but pretty close.
I had read that Hannabusa was being a road block in the state senate due to not thinking she had the votes in the judiciary committee or something like that, so she is no longer tainted in my eyes.
Branstad has about $1.3 million in the bank after raising $1.5 million during the last quarter of 2009. His campaign also leaked an internal Republican primary poll by Hill Research showing Branstad with 63 percent support and Bob Vander Plaats way back with 18 percent.
Vander Plaats burned through a lot of money last year. He raised nearly $600,000 in cash but only has about $200K in the bank now. It’s probably enough to keep his current staffing through the June primary, but not enough for serious paid media unless he captures the affection of wingnuts nationwide. I skimmed through his 88 page filing for contributions and have never seen so many Dutch names in my life.
State Representatives Chris Rants and Rod Roberts insist they are staying in the governor’s race, even though no one thinks they have any chance of getting traction. Rants is a former speaker of the Iowa House but raised just $78K last year and had $6,400 cash on hand at the end of the year.
Rod Roberts raised about $100K and has about that much on hand. He’s just started a modest radio ad buy to boost his name recognition. He insists Republicans want a choice besides Branstad and Vander Plaats. I hope he stays in, because Democrats have a reasonable shot at winning his Iowa House seat (town of Carroll and surrounding area in western Iowa–lots of Catholic Dems there).
We caught a break when the prize Republican recruit, former Secretary of State Paul Pate, announced this week he won’t seek his old job again.
Iowa has an excellent secretary of state in Mike Mauro, and I think he won’t have any trouble against either of the Republicans left in this race. I previewed the race at Bleeding Heartland.
I could be wrong, I just saw it on wikipedia after all.
Piece by NYT outlining how involved the WH will be in the mid-terms. It will pretty much be running it’s own operation, aside from the the DNC, DCCC, and DSCC.
President Obama is reconstituting the team that helped him win the White House to counter Republican challenges in the midterm elections and recalibrate after political setbacks that have narrowed his legislative ambitions.
Mr. Obama has asked his former campaign manager, David Plouffe, to oversee House, Senate and governor’s races to stave off a hemorrhage of seats in the fall. The president ordered a review of the Democratic political operation – from the White House to party committees – after last week’s Republican victory in the Massachusetts Senate race, aides said.
It’s a pretty imperative read for anyone interested in horse race politics in the next Congressional mid-term election, which is pretty much everyone here. Read it, the Obama crew will be running their own thing. I’ve been kind of hoping for this, he will not be losing the absent liberal crowd and will not allow the conservatives to outdo us in enthusiasm, is at least my hope his goal is for this thing. He still has the charm, he just needs to do the ask.
If it hadnt been for Ritter picking a total unknown and screwing us over there, Delaware having Carney just picked as Senator and Beau could be Representative at some point, and IL not being so ridiculous, we would be only looking at North Dakota, Nevada, Arkansas, and Pennsylvania as possible losses with possible pick-ups in Ohio, North Carolina, Missouri, Kentucky, and New Hampshire.
::sigh:: And the only that seemed justifiable was DE as a place holder at least gives everyone a chance to run for what they want.
If Mitch Landrieu becomes the next mayor of New Orleans, (which seems very likely) what is the process for deciding who follows him as Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana?
He’s Guy Molinari’s guy though he also seems to have the support of the local pols. The more liberal Michael Allegretti is the one who the folks in Washington want.
And last but also least Michael McMahon is joining Bobby Bright in asking for the Bush tax cuts to be extended. It will be interesting to see how quickly they are joined by the rest of the caucus.
Spontaneously, he turned to the possible Delaware senatorial campaign of his son Beau.
Biden: “If you run into Beau, talk him into running; he respects you.”
Me: “I don’t think he wants to run, though.”
Biden: “I don’t think he does either. I know he doesn’t want to. … I’m so proud of the job he’s done [as attorney general].”
Me: “Would you campaign for him [against Republican Mike Castle]?”
Biden: “Hell, yes. I told him I’d give him my sixth-born grandchild.”
I doubt Beau Biden “respects” me, but it was quite startling to hear the vice president confirm what many Democrats fear — that Beau does not want to be the candidate.
Nelson’s numbers are taking a nose dive. He’s at 42%-48% approval.
Not sure what Nelson’s approval ratings were before and if they were better before, then this goes with my thinking that those who are making the headlines and getting their names attached to legislation are the ones hurting in the polls. Grassley and Snowe took a hit without even voting for it. Lincoln got her name front and center with EFCA and then with HCR, nosedive. Reid gets worse the more he makes the headlines, and now Nelson and Lieberman as well. Id think the best course of action for any Democrat is still stick your head down and dont make waves. Dont let people get miffed off and see your name in the news story.
I really do think 2010 is meant to be more of an anti-incumbent/politician year and less so a directly anti-Democratic year. It’s just that the Democrats are in power so we are the ones who feel the wrath. Plus, when we are the ones who control all the competitive seats, then of course we’ll be the ones to take the bigger hits.
Someone absolutely had to say it.
One of my favorite clips Ive ever seen was Rachel Maddow doing a 7-10 minute report on the emergence of the tea baggers. She had to pause half way though and say, quiet on the set, everyone stop laughing because I can barely get through this myself without losing it. Just classic.
Pardon my french as an atheist but, god bless those damn tea baggers. They may be all high and mighty over Scott Brown but they have no idea the gift they have given us in sexual innuendo, which will last long beyond the 2010 election cycle.
Right now, I don’t care how much $$$ Reid has in his campaign war-chest.
He ought to just ‘pull a Chris Dodd”. Pronto.
http://www.oregonlive.com/port…
Mayor Sam Adams happens to be gay.
The recall effort is being headed by former state Sen Avel Gordly, an A-A supporter of President Obama and then Sen Gordo Smith (R). It’s an upgraded effort relative to the first time, headed by the wife of the previous Mayor (Karin Hansen), who also is a pro-gay activist. The first effort did not get enough signatures.
The spark for this effort is based on questions on a past sexual relationship between Adams and a protege; Adams denied the relationship for a number of weeks until confronted by a local weekly paper – the protege was 18 when they first had relations. So there were accusations of underage sex.
From the article:
IMO, that should have been the end of it. Personally, while I support Adams, I find him to be a bit stuffy and awkward in public. w/r/t full disclosure, Hansen is a (friendly) neighbor of ours, and I supported Adams’ opponent in the ’08 election.
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com…
And his top seven spots are all blue seats: 1 ND, 2 AR, 3 NV, 4 PA, 5 CO, 6 DE, 7 IL.
(though if and when Biden ever gets in, and if and when Giannoulias wins the IL primary next week, those two states should move down).
And has Democrats most probably winding up with 53 or 54 seats.
Man, remember how rosy things were looking a year ago? Obama sworn in, and 59 Senate seats with MN still out.
And now where things are…
My question is where is the race to replace Tim Kaine as head of the DNC?
Remember Jim Gilmore? Republican lost both the Virginia and New Jersey Governorships and he was gone by January of 2002 after being chair since January of 2001.
Democrats have lost Virginia (all three statewide offices plus several state house seats), New Jersey, and Massachusetts and yet where is the outcry from insiders that Kaine needs to go?
I understand that a lot of this has to do with Obama’s and Congress’ popularity, but still.
But crystal ball ranks Maryland as leans R.
http://www.centerforpolitics.o…
…i bring up “the media” and everybody disappears.
The Fair Districts Constitutional amendments will be on the Florida ballot in 2010, one for the state legislature and one for Congressional seats. To pass, they will need to receive 60% support. They would:
“The initiative would add six more standards, including provisions that state politicians cannot draw districts to favor themselves or their parties; and they must make the districts “compact and community based.” The new districts also could not “favor” or “disfavor” minorities.”
http://www.tampabay.com/news/p…
I know there is a lot of talk about Ehrlich making a comeback but has anyone polled Michael Steele in that race?
All the talk about dumping Kaine got me thinking. If the GOP wants Steele out at RNC someone should do a poll & try to push him into the MD Gov race.
It be honest with him being such a loose cannon I am suprised their hasnt been more of a push by the GOP to get him to run for Gov of MD.
18-7. Not quite a veto-proof majority but pretty close.
I had read that Hannabusa was being a road block in the state senate due to not thinking she had the votes in the judiciary committee or something like that, so she is no longer tainted in my eyes.
Terry Branstad officially launched his gubernatorial campaign this week at the State Historical Building in Des Moines. I enjoyed the imagery of a politician from a past era standing in front of a mammoth skeleton.
He made some promises about spending and job creation that don’t mesh with his record as governor.
Branstad has about $1.3 million in the bank after raising $1.5 million during the last quarter of 2009. His campaign also leaked an internal Republican primary poll by Hill Research showing Branstad with 63 percent support and Bob Vander Plaats way back with 18 percent.
Vander Plaats burned through a lot of money last year. He raised nearly $600,000 in cash but only has about $200K in the bank now. It’s probably enough to keep his current staffing through the June primary, but not enough for serious paid media unless he captures the affection of wingnuts nationwide. I skimmed through his 88 page filing for contributions and have never seen so many Dutch names in my life.
State Representatives Chris Rants and Rod Roberts insist they are staying in the governor’s race, even though no one thinks they have any chance of getting traction. Rants is a former speaker of the Iowa House but raised just $78K last year and had $6,400 cash on hand at the end of the year.
Rod Roberts raised about $100K and has about that much on hand. He’s just started a modest radio ad buy to boost his name recognition. He insists Republicans want a choice besides Branstad and Vander Plaats. I hope he stays in, because Democrats have a reasonable shot at winning his Iowa House seat (town of Carroll and surrounding area in western Iowa–lots of Catholic Dems there).
We caught a break when the prize Republican recruit, former Secretary of State Paul Pate, announced this week he won’t seek his old job again.
Iowa has an excellent secretary of state in Mike Mauro, and I think he won’t have any trouble against either of the Republicans left in this race. I previewed the race at Bleeding Heartland.
http://www.azdailysun.com/news…
Now if only AZ didn’t have a such a weak base and we could really take advantage of this. I hope we at least rope in a State Senator or something.
Anyone have any perspective on Democratic vs. Republican turnout in early voting.
Just to gauge enthusiasm
Watch out Boxer Billy Herrington is running for senate in California as a republican. James, I think its time to change the rank to likely republican.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U…
I could be wrong, I just saw it on wikipedia after all.
Piece by NYT outlining how involved the WH will be in the mid-terms. It will pretty much be running it’s own operation, aside from the the DNC, DCCC, and DSCC.
It’s a pretty imperative read for anyone interested in horse race politics in the next Congressional mid-term election, which is pretty much everyone here. Read it, the Obama crew will be running their own thing. I’ve been kind of hoping for this, he will not be losing the absent liberal crowd and will not allow the conservatives to outdo us in enthusiasm, is at least my hope his goal is for this thing. He still has the charm, he just needs to do the ask.
If it hadnt been for Ritter picking a total unknown and screwing us over there, Delaware having Carney just picked as Senator and Beau could be Representative at some point, and IL not being so ridiculous, we would be only looking at North Dakota, Nevada, Arkansas, and Pennsylvania as possible losses with possible pick-ups in Ohio, North Carolina, Missouri, Kentucky, and New Hampshire.
::sigh:: And the only that seemed justifiable was DE as a place holder at least gives everyone a chance to run for what they want.
Supposedly Cuomo will announce his candidacy for governor in March.
Please let this be true.
If Mitch Landrieu becomes the next mayor of New Orleans, (which seems very likely) what is the process for deciding who follows him as Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana?
http://www.silive.com/news/ind…
He’s Guy Molinari’s guy though he also seems to have the support of the local pols. The more liberal Michael Allegretti is the one who the folks in Washington want.
Right now Grimm’s site ( http://www.mikegrimm2010.com/ ) is grimmer than Allegretti’s. ( http://www.allegrettiforcongre… )
And last but also least Michael McMahon is joining Bobby Bright in asking for the Bush tax cuts to be extended. It will be interesting to see how quickly they are joined by the rest of the caucus.
http://americaneconomicalert.o…
This covers Sept 30 – Jan 13:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/cq/pol…
IL-10:
Julie Hamos (D) – $526k raised, $385k on hand
Dan Seals (D) – $180k raised, $146k on hand
Elliot Richardson (D) – $31k raised, $13k on hand
Bob Dold (R) – $201k raised, $198k on hand
Beth Coulson (R) – $150k raised, $132k on hand
Arie Friedman (R) – $36k raised, $7k on hand
Dick Green (R) – $17k raised, $67k on hand
IL-11:
Debbie Halvorson (D) – $293k raised, $952k on hand
Adam Kinzinger (R) – $122k raised, $166k on hand
Looks like the other Republicans in the race have raised nothing.
IL-14:
Bill Foster (D) – $346k raised, $1 million on hand
Ethan Hastert (R) – $202k raised, $172k on hand
Randy Hultgren (R) – $110k raised, $10k on hand
http://www.delawareonline.com/…
Spontaneously, he turned to the possible Delaware senatorial campaign of his son Beau.
Biden: “If you run into Beau, talk him into running; he respects you.”
Me: “I don’t think he wants to run, though.”
Biden: “I don’t think he does either. I know he doesn’t want to. … I’m so proud of the job he’s done [as attorney general].”
Me: “Would you campaign for him [against Republican Mike Castle]?”
Biden: “Hell, yes. I told him I’d give him my sixth-born grandchild.”
I doubt Beau Biden “respects” me, but it was quite startling to hear the vice president confirm what many Democrats fear — that Beau does not want to be the candidate.
Nelson’s numbers are taking a nose dive. He’s at 42%-48% approval.
http://politicalticker.blogs.c…
Not sure what Nelson’s approval ratings were before and if they were better before, then this goes with my thinking that those who are making the headlines and getting their names attached to legislation are the ones hurting in the polls. Grassley and Snowe took a hit without even voting for it. Lincoln got her name front and center with EFCA and then with HCR, nosedive. Reid gets worse the more he makes the headlines, and now Nelson and Lieberman as well. Id think the best course of action for any Democrat is still stick your head down and dont make waves. Dont let people get miffed off and see your name in the news story.
I really do think 2010 is meant to be more of an anti-incumbent/politician year and less so a directly anti-Democratic year. It’s just that the Democrats are in power so we are the ones who feel the wrath. Plus, when we are the ones who control all the competitive seats, then of course we’ll be the ones to take the bigger hits.
Someone absolutely had to say it.
One of my favorite clips Ive ever seen was Rachel Maddow doing a 7-10 minute report on the emergence of the tea baggers. She had to pause half way though and say, quiet on the set, everyone stop laughing because I can barely get through this myself without losing it. Just classic.
Pardon my french as an atheist but, god bless those damn tea baggers. They may be all high and mighty over Scott Brown but they have no idea the gift they have given us in sexual innuendo, which will last long beyond the 2010 election cycle.