Author: Blue State Soul

You have seen the latest poll by Rasmussen:  Mark Begich 50%, Ted Stevens 41%. Not only is Mark an excellent candidate, but it looks like he will actually be a Democratic Senator from Alaska.

If you are in the DC area, you have the chance to meet Mark Begich on Wednesday, July 23rd. Blue Catapult PAc is hosting the event at a Dupont Circle watering hole:

Have a Beer with Alaska Democratic Senate candidate and Anchorage Mayor, Mark Begich

Wednesday, July 23, 6 to 7:30PM

at James Hoban’s Restaurant (1 Dupont Circle – South Side of Circle)

We’ll be in the back room.

Suggested Contribution: $35 – $25 for those under 30 – ($70/$125/$250 are other contribution levels)

When incumbent GOP Representative Wayne Gilchrest lost his primary to a “Club for Growth” backed extremist, Maryland’s First Congressional District became competitive — and with help, could actually favor the Democratic candidate, Frank Kratovil.  When Blue Catapult PAC held an event for Frank, we learned that not only is he a great candidate, but that the dynamics of the district make it ripe for a Democratic pickup.

Why can MD-01 turn Blue?

Frank is a Great Candidate. He is the current State’s Attorney for Queen Anne’s County, and he is in court in the morning and campaigns later in the day. Unlike his opponent, he is a native of Maryland’s Eastern Shore, which comprises about half the voters and are very protective of their congressional representation. Frank is a lifelong Democrat and was President of Maryland Young Democrats when he was younger. He is outspoken against the War and supports a sane fiscal policy.

This is now an Open Seat. With the moderate Wayne Gilchrest losing his primary, the seat is now truly competitive. The district breaks down in Party ID to about 40% Democrat, 40% Republican and 20% independent. Gilchrest represented the district well with his moderation, including opposing the continuation of the War, and not always supporting Bush’s tax policies. As this is going to be a truly competitive seat, it should get most of the attention of Maryland’s Democratic political apparatus.

Frank’s opponent is Too Conservative for the District. The right-wing 527 “Club for Growth” put in over $1 million in media and mailings in beating Gilchrest and will probably do more in the Fall. Gilchrest has not endorsed the man who beat him in the primary and some of his former staff are already helping Kratovil. The GOP candidate, Andy Harris, is a state representative who believes that taxes are too high and government should leave business alone. As Frank said to us on Tuesday, with all the problems in the country — the War, health care, the environment, etc. — all Harris talks about is taxes.Gilchrest’s independence fit the district well — Harris’ knee-jerk conservatism does not. he is alos from the Baltimore metropolitan area which will put Eastern Shore resident ill at ease.

But to make this District blue, Frank needs your help. While his Cash on Hand at the end of last quarter was not far from Harris’, the Club for Growth spending will add unofficial troughs to his campaign. Once Frank gets his message out he should win — but he needs the resources to do that.

Please Contribute to Frank Kratovil HERE

Just $15, $20 or $30 will go a long way as the more funding Frank gets now, the more seriously the national party will take his campaign.
Thank you.

Please Contribute to Frank Kratovil HERE

Frank Kratovil is the Democrat running for the seat currently held by GOP moderate Wayne Gilchrest who lost his primary. The current GOP nominee, Andy Harris, is an extreme right-wing, Club for Growth backed candidate who had hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on his behalf. Frank is a great candidate who is a solid Democrat — and with support can definitely win this district.

Tonight (Tuesday, May 13) Blue Catapult PAC and WNDC Pac will cohost a fundraiser for Frank Kratovil.  We are asking for minimum contributions of $35 — with the open wine/beer bar and food, it is a great deal.  Plus Senators Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin are expected to join us after votes.

Tuesday, May 13

6:30PM to 8:00PM

at the Woman’s National Democratic Club

1526 New Hampshire Ave, NW

Washington, DC 200036On the corner of Q Street and New Hampshire Ave, NW-about 3 blocks east of the DuPont Circle North Metro Exit

If you might attend, please email frankevent [at] bluecatapult.com

If you can’t come, please consider a contribution to Frank’s campaign here:

http://www.actblue.com/page/bl…

Our PAC, Blue Catapult, is holding its first fundraiser next Tuesday in Washington, DC.  We support Democratic congressional candidates who are challenging incumbent Republicans or Republican-held open seats.  The idea is that incumbents should do well on their own in raising money, but if we want to expand the Democrats’ majority in Congress, then we need to help emerging Democratic challengers in their campaigns.

So we need some help right now in identifying good Democratic challengers, and we are hoping that you can provide some nominations.  Here are our criteria:

1) The Democratic congressional candidate must be running for a seat currently occupied by a Republican, whether the incumbent is running for reelection or not.

2) The candidate must have a clear path to the nomination.  No primary challenge.

3) The candidate must have a decent campaign operation.  Our support is for candidates who, with some more support and attention, could become a competitive seat.

4) The campaign should not be a top target of the DCCC.  We want to help emerging candidates, not ones who are already assured of good support.

If you know of any good candidates, please post them in comments.  We will choose 5 candidates, and at our event next Tuesday the attendees will vote and the top two will be the recipients of our first contributions.

So, in the comments below, please nominate potential candidates for us to support with some explanation as to why they are good investments.  If you want more info about us, please visit www.bluecatapult.com  We will of course post our decisions and results as they are determined.

Thanks for your help.

While Bush may have come to Greeley, CO to try to save the seat of Marilyn Musgrave on Saturday, the candidates here in Colorado who can speak before a crowd without the need of a script rallied today, Sunday, in this battleground city of the 4th CD.

Senator Ken Salazar, Gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter and Democratic congressional challenger Angie Paccione took the stage before about 500 enthusiatic citizens to explain why this is such an important election.  When Angie took the microphone to cheers of “Angie!  Angie!  Angie!”  She presented the simple, obvious reasons why the Democrats must take back Congress and why Musgrave must go.

More after the jump.

If you have ever seen Angie speak, you would know how she draws upon the energy of the crowd — and this crowd was electric.  Angie doesn’t need a script to explain why it is so important for the Democrats to be in the majority — to raise the minimum wage, to implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, to vote to override Bush’s veto of stem-cell research, to get rid of the corrupt politicans who are doing the bidding of special interests.

But Angie was most eloquent when she reminded the audience of Eisenhower’s statement that “America is great because America is good” — telling the audience that when the Democrats return to the majority in Congress, they will “make America great again because they will make sure America is good again.”

After the event, some reporters gathered around Angie to ask her questions — about the last 2 days of campaigning and what she thought would happen.  Using the analogy from her basketball playing days, she said that the campaign was peaking at the right time as the polls showed the race now basically a toss-up.

When asked “What do you think of Bush and Cheney coming to this state to rally for the Republicans?”  Angie replied, “Well, their numbers are in the tank — and if the Republicans in this state want to attach themselves to them, then their numbers will be in the tank too.”

As she explained: “There has been a massive failure of leadership both in Congress and his Administration.  People are looking for change.  I say if you want to change the Congress, you have to change the people you send to Congress.  And that’s why I am asking voters tio send me — because I’ll be that change.”

Whatever happens on Tuesday, nobody can question that Angie is going into the election fighting for every vote.

I left Washington, DC Friday and flew to Colorado to help out on the Angie Paccione congressional campaign, arriving at campaign HQ in Fort Collins around 9PM. The staff here is psyched and energetic and the field operation has gone full throttle with several hundred volunteers this weekend knocking on doors of both Democrats and Independents making sure that they get to the polls. Just today, Saturday, about 30,000 doors were knocked on by canvassers, with many people telling us they had already voted for Angie through absentee or early voting — they have a very good early voting system in Colorado. What is great about being in the field is that you can really get a feel for the energy and momentum of a campaign — and Angie’s team has it.

Three members of Congress were here to help rev up the troops — Diana DeGette (CO), Diane Watson (CA), and Barbara Lee (CA). At the meeting point for canvassers in Longmont, Diane Watson gave a stirring talk about why this election was so critically important just before everyone went to walk their assigned precincts.

A few points I’ve learned after the jump.

— Bush came to Greeley to rally the “faithful” for Rep. Marilyn Musgrave and Gubernatorial candidate Rep. Bob Beauprez.  The feeling in the Paccione Campaign is that the Bush appearance will do as much to rally Dems in the district as it would GOPers.

— Greeley is a battleground for both campaigns.  Stan Matsunaka, who ran as the Dem candidate last time, lost Greeley by 10,000 votes.  We expect to lose Greeley, but if we can cut the Greeley margin significantly, Angie should be fine.

— To counter the Bush rally in Greeley, the Democrats will have a counter-rally Sunday with Senator Ken Salazar, Dem Gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter, and Angie — followed by a major door-to-door canvassing event.  Ritter will win election easily, Ken Salazar is very popular, so this should be a great antidote to the Bush rally.

— Eric Eidsness, the Reform Party candidate, will have a major impact on the results.  Almost all of his votes are coming from GOPers, and we have seen polls that give him anywhere from 6% to 11%.  The more he gets, the better it is for Angie.  He is a former Republican and did a very good job in the one debate, focusing most of his criticism at Musgrave.

— The ads on TV are non-stop as most of the congressional candidates are using Denver media.  The negative ads are now focused on CO-04 as the GOP has basically pulled out of the open seat in CO-07, conceding it to Ed Perlmutter.  The DCCC now has a presence in CO-04, and is dropping six-figures in advertising money, as wel as providing field operatives.

Angie is a great candidate for anyone who has met her, and she has a nice, positive ad to end the campaign.

I will report more from CO-04 tomorrow.