Author: DavidNYC

It’s not just the netroots who are up in arms about the fact that key South Florida incumbents Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Kendrick Meek are refusing to support fellow Dems Annette Taddeo, Joe Garcia and Raul Martinez. Local Democrats are outraged, too:

Two influential congressional Democrats from South Florida are coming under fire from Miami-Dade Democrats for sitting on the sidelines as the party seeks to oust three Republican incumbents.

Miami-Dade party members meeting late Monday to elect a new leader said they were dismayed that Democratic Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston and Kendrick Meek of Miami have decided not to publicly support the Democratic challengers.

“I was appalled when I saw certain elected officials think they have the right to anoint who can run,” Bret Berlin said as he was elected chairman of the county party. “That’s not their job, it’s our job.”

His words echoed those of North Miami Mayor Kevin Burns, who also ran for county party chairman. He told the crowd at the meeting that he couldn’t “believe two of our elected Congress members have the nerve to stand up and say they won’t support three local Democratic candidates.”

Fortunately, party leaders in the area are having absolutely no trouble getting behind our three excellent candidates:

County Democrats say they may have their best shot in years to unseat at least one of the three, and after winning the county party’s election, Berlin immediately moved to “pledge support behind the three Democratic candidates.”

The more than 100 party executive committee members who assembled at the American Legion Hall in Miami unanimously agreed.

But rather than upbraid Wasserman Schultz and Meek for their embarrassing attempts to recuse themselves from these vital races, the DCCC has signalled its assent:

The national party has said it’s “very excited” about the races, and Jennifer Crider, communications director at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said the party has made similar arrangements when other members of Congress have conflicts.

“It doesn’t change our level of commitment in any way or diminish it,” Crider said. “Members [of Congress] have to do their own politics as well. We completely understand they need to do what’s best for them and their constituents.”

How utterly dismaying. Anyone who has read The Thumpin’ knows how bitterly Rahm Emanuel fought against this insulting practice. Attitudes like Meek’s and Wasserman Schultz’s were one reason the Dems languished in the minority for twelve years – and, if they aren’t curbed now, will be a reason we don’t expand our majority.

What’s more, Meek & DWS sit in totally safe districts. In Debbie Dubya’s home base of FL-20, voters chose Kerry over Bush by 64-36 in the last election. Meanwhile, in Meek’s FL-17, Kerry was favored by an almost hilarious 83-17 margin. So the idea that DWS and Meek could possibly be doing “what’s best for them and their constituents” by kneecapping strong challengers and damaging the Democratic Party’s prospects is totally ludicrous.

As I’ve said before – and as I won’t stop saying – Debbie Wasserman Schultz either has to completely change her tune on this and vocally embrace our challengers, or step down from the DCCC. And for his part, Kendrick Meek should do the same. South Florida Democrats – and the whole party – deserve nothing less.

I’m getting a lecture on recruitment when A, you haven’t done a goddamn thing and B, we’ve got a [Republican] target and you’re out there kissing his ass in the press?

– Rahm Emanuel (The Thumpin’)

I can’t say enough good things about Ileana Ros-Lehtinen; she has been my friend since I was first elected to office.

– Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Miami Herald)

You see, in my trade, this is called – what you did – you cracked out of turn. Huh? You see? You crumbed the play.

– Joe Mantegna (House of Games)

Why is a co-chair of the DCCC’s Red to Blue program blathering to the press about her inability – nay, refusal – to help fellow Democrats, and how fond she is of a particular Republican? If this truly is such a sensitive issue, Debbie Dubya could at least have kept things quiet and handled matters privately in Chris Van Hollen’s office.

Instead, for no reason at all, she chose to make a big public mess of it. And things like this have serious reprecussions:

However, Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report, which tracks political campaigns, said the lack of support from top Democrats could make donors leery.

“Debbie Wasserman Schultz is a favorite of leadership, somebody on the move,” Rothenberg said. “When somebody like that doesn’t want to be a major player in taking on a Republican, that’s a signal.”

No shit. Bizarre public confessionals like Debbie Dubya’s can have a devastating impact on promising challengers like our South Florida trio, especially with big donors and establishment players. Is it too much to ask key Democratic leaders not to air their dirty laundry down at Lincoln Road Mall?

Debbie Dubya herself said: “At the end of the day, we need a member who isn’t going to pull any punches, who isn’t going to be hesitant.” We also need someone who is savvy enough to keep his or her mouth shut for the duration of the campaign cycle. It’s bad enough that Wasserman Schultz is kneecapping excellent candidates. Her inability to refrain from “cracking out of turn” is another reason why she should step down from her post – unless she does a 180 on this, and vocally supports Raul Martinez, Joe Garcia and Annette Taddeo, just like proud Democrats everywhere are doing.

This is a post I wish I didn’t have to write. But I think the DCCC is going down a very unwise path here, and I won’t hesitate to call them out on it:

While some of our Members may not always be able to actively campaign with every candidate due to their local commitments and obligations, you can be assured that the DCCC will be there.

In a recent blog post at Swing State Project, there was frustration against Rep. Debbie Wasserman Shultz’s call that she would not be campaigning for South Florida candidates because of a long-standing tradition in South Florida to not campaign against member of the state delegation. But, we know from Rep Ron Klein’s stellar campaign that sometimes that doesn’t matter. In 2006 Alcee Hastings didn’t campaign, in keeping with the tradition, and Ron Klein’s meteoric rise to victory was unstoppable.

In short, this is not acceptable. There are no recusals in politics. Rahm Emanuel fought tooth-and-nail against this type of dysfunction, where faint-hearted Democrats refused to campaign against Republicans because of “local commitments and obligations.”

If you’re a member of the Democratic caucus, your first “commitment and obligation” is to the caucus, not to personal friendships with Republicans. That means you mentor challengers, raise money, protect vulnerable incumbents, and damn well don’t go jawing to the press about how much you love this or that Republican, or talking down our candidates’ chances.

Honestly, I’m a bit sickened to see the DCCC accept this kind of behavior. Rahm was furious – and rightly so – at Alcee Hastings for sandbagging Ron Klein. But you know which Florida incumbent said “screw it” to this ridiculous “tradition” and did everything she could to help Klein? Yep, that’s right – Debbie Wasserman Schultz. At the time, Debbie said:

“It’s not good for my relationship with Clay Shaw, but Democrats can’t afford to leave a seat like that uncontested.”

So she stuck her neck out and helped drag Klein across the finish line. But just because Klein managed to win in spite of getting kneecapped by a lazy incumbent in a super-safe district (D+29) like Alcee Hastings is hardly a reason to tolerate this sort of bullshit.

And Hastings, let’s face it, is a backbencher – only the sixth federal judge in history ever to be impeached by Congress, whose questionable background precluded him from becoming chair of the Intelligence committee last year despite his seniority. Debbie Wasserman Schultz should want to be held to a higher standard. She’s  a “rising star” in the party and co-chair of the Red to Blue initiative – the very program tasked with increasing our majority on the Hill.

And I can assure you, we aren’t just unhappy at Debbie’s refusal to help Raul Martinez, Annette Taddeo and Joe Garcia. We’re pissed that, for no reason at all, she went to the Miami Herald and told the paper:

“I can’t say enough good things about Ileana Ros-Lehtinen; she has been my friend since I was first elected to office.”

We’re pissed that she’s now decided to follow some ridiculous, hoary tradition that she had no problem abandoning two years ago. And we’re pissed that she’s fomenting discord and damaging morale among local Dems, too. And all this coming from an important leader at the DCCC. (Though don’t think we’ve forgotten about Kendrick Meek, too.)

We in the netroots have always understood that if you are unwilling to help a fellow Democrat, that means you are helping a Republican. You can’t privilege personal feelings over the good of the party – too much depends on it. Rahm Emanuel understood this, too. I realize that there is still a great deal of ossified dysfunctionality rusted into the joints of Congress. But the DCCC should be fighting against that dysfunction, not accepting it.

10:43PM: With 346 precincts reporting, Carson has this locked.  The Indianapolis Star and other media outlets are calling this race for Carson.

10:35PM (James): With 327 of 445 precincts reporting, it’s not looking good for El Rod: 53-44 Carson.

9:46PM (David): This site might be updating quickest of all. 51-47 Carson with 232 of 445 precincts reporting. My sheet now shows Elrod would need over 54% of the outstanding vote to pull ahead.

9:33PM (James): 50-47 Carson with 51% in.

8:43PM (David): 51-46 Carson with 27% in. My spreadsheet indicates, that at least as far as the two-party vote goes, Elrod would have to perform 10% better than he is now in the remaining precincts to overtake Carson.

8:23PM: Carson 52%, Elrod 45%, with 26% of precincts reporting.

8:12PM: With 18% of precincts in, Carson is up 51%-46%.

7:46PM ET: With 13% of precincts reporting, Carson now has a 50%-47% lead.

7:37PM ET (J. Hell): With 6% of precincts reporting, Elrod has a 51%-46% lead over Carson.  The commenters over at Blue Indiana caution that GOP-friendly precincts tend to report first.

UPDATE: WISH-TV has results. Also available on the front page at Indy Star.

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Right now, as SSP readers know, a special election is taking place in Indiana’s 7th Congressional District to replace the late Julia Carson. The Democrat is her grandson, Indianapolis councilman Andrew Carson, and the Republican is state Rep. Jon Elrod.

Polls close ridiculously early here – 6pm Eastern. I personally think this is an affront to working people and should be changed. But we can have a long conversation about voting reform another time. For now, please post your predictions in comments. Then, we’ll turn this over to results once they start streaming in.

I suspect the Indy Star will carry results here. Also, I’m sure that our friends at Blue Indiana will be all over this sucker. Let’s just hope we pull this one off.

A key leader of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, by her own admission, has a serious conflict-of-interest:

The national party, enthusiastic about the three Democratic challengers, has not yet selected Red to Blue participants. But Wasserman Schultz has already told the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee that if any of the three make the cut, another Democrat should be assigned to the race.

Let’s leave aside for a moment that the first part of this statement is incorrect – the first round of Red to Blue challengers has already been announced. It’s the second sentence that troubles me.

Debbie Dubya co-chairs the Red to Blue program. She has a major say in who gets tapped for it. Yet here she is saying she couldn’t help three awesome candidates – Joe Garcia, Raul Martinez, and Annette Taddeo – if they get picked for that program. But if she’s already so hostile to the idea of them running, don’t you think she might steer the D-Trip away from choosing any of these three for R-to-B status in the first place?

This is a major conflict of interest, one which threatens to hurt not just our South Florida trio, but the fortunes of the Democratic Party as well. I also think it undermines the DCCC, too – what other decisions might start to look suspect? Who else harbors a conflict like this? And which other potential recruits might shy away from running if they thought that the scales were tipped against them?

As James Hell said, there are no recusals in politics. Debbie Dubya has to buck up, heartily endorse all three candidates and throw fundraisers for each of them. If she can’t do that, then she is hopelessly unqualified to perform her job at the DCCC.

An enraged Rahm Emanuel once thundered: “[W]e’ve got a [Republican] target and you’re out there kissing his ass in the press?” Rahm didn’t accept this kind of bullshit from Alcee Hastings, and Chris van Hollen shouldn’t accept it from Debbie Wasserman Schultz. She needs to change her tune, or take a seat on the bench.

As you may know, the Arkansas congressional filing deadline has come and gone, and incumbent Dem. Sen. Mark Pryor has drawn no challenger at all – as Monty Python might say, not even a sausage. He also has, as of the last reporting period, $3.6 million cash-on-hand. That’s a lot of scrilla.

So what’ll he do with it? He can donate to other Democratic campaigns, for sure. I presume he can give to state parties, PACs, and perhaps 527s. He can also make an unlimited donation to the DSCC (and I don’t doubt he’ll be asked to make a very large one). But he’s very young – just 45 – and undoubtedly has a long political career ahead of him, as long as he wants one. So I bet he’s inclined to hold on to a lot of that cash, and I can’t really begrudge him.

But I do hope he sees fit to share a good chunk of it. What’s more, without any race this fall, Pryor can also spend lots of time helping out other candidates with fundraisers and mentoring. Be generous, Sen. Pryor!

Match the following statements…

1) George Bush is “the right man at the right time.”

2) “Let’s put the United States first again, and John McCain is the man as president who will help us do that.”

3) “There is not a better Congressman in Washington than Chris Shays.”

4) “I can’t say enough good things about Ileana Ros-Lehtinen; she has been my friend since I was first elected to office.”

… to the list of politicians below:

A) Zell Miller

B) Joe Lieberman

C) Harold Ford

D) Debbie Wasserman Schultz

I doubt anyone needs an answer key to know who said what. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a member of the DCCC’s leadership, sure keeps good company.

Tom Cole, the chair of the NRCC, just lost an R+5 district formerly held by none other than Dennis Hastert, aka Denny the Hutt, aka the immediate past Speaker of the House – a district that the Hutt himself helped re-draw after the 2000 census as part of an incumbent protection plan. Tom Cole spent over a million bucks on this race from his shrinking kitty. Tom Cole is now one seat further from retaking a majority that is so, so far out of reach.

And, I suspect, there’s a good chance that Tom Cole will be out on his ass before long.

Brownsox recently took note of rumors that an Oberweis loss here would lead to Cole getting sacked. And the signs are all there. Remember this?

Apparently, House Minority Leader John “Small Price” Boehner is upset with NRCC Chair Tom Cole’s stewardship of the organization, and is heavily pressuring Cole to make some significant personnel changes.  Cole has said privately that he would rather resign than bow to such demands.

And just a ten days ago, there was this:

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) is clearly not content to sit this one out, as he exhorted his colleagues to get off their “dead asses” and pony up for the party.

However unhappy Boehner was last week, he is a lot more pissed off tonight. Pissed enough to can Cole’s sorry ass? He may just be.

So, cast your predictions in this thread and vote in the poll below the fold. Will Cole get fired? If so, when? The deathwatch begins!

P.S. The GOP is stuck with Oberweis for November, too! Hahaha suckers!!!

9:48 PM: 94% in, and Foster is holding onto a 4500 vote lead.  With most of the outstanding precincts being in Kane county, this one is in the bag for Foster.

Let’s paint IL-14 a bright shade of blue.

9:43 PM: 88% of precincts reporting, and Foster is looking good at 53%.  I’m calling it for Foster.  Oberweis just doesn’t have The Math.

9:33 PM ET: With 74% of precincts reporting, Foster’s 53%-47% lead is holding firm.  This one is looking good, folks.

UPDATE (J. Hell): With 55% of precincts reporting, Foster (D) is leading Oberweis (R) by a 53%-47% margin.

While we’re at it, take a look at the county-by-county returns and compare them with the 2006 numbers.  Foster is (so far), taking an 8-point lead in Kane county, the district’s population anchor.  This is the same county that Hastert won by 18 points in 2006.  Considering that Hastert won the district overall by 20 points, this is very, very encouraging news for Foster.

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Polls close at 7pm Central/8pm Eastern.

Downballot rocks!