Author: DavidNYC

The NRCC just put out a memo that allegedly details its top two dozen Dem targets (sub. only):

There are a lot of names that are NOT on here – names which the GOP has talked a lot of smack about in the past, like John Hall up in NY-19, or Zack Space in OH-18. Even some of the targets that are on here are no longer looking so great. For instance, Republican moneybags “Quico” Canseco just got his ass whooped in the TX-23 GOP primary. And in OR-05, you’ve got a primary showdown between corrupt loser Kevin Mannix and Mike Erickson, who I’m told is an even bigger freakshow.

Plus, you’ve got the FBI investigating the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars from the NRCC. It’s never been a better time to be a Republican.

On Tuesday, in additional to their presidential primaries, Texas and Ohio will host congressional primaries. Here are a few of the key races to watch:

• OH-02 (GOP): Will Mean Jean Schmidt survive her primary against state Rep. Todd Brinkman? Let’s hope so!
• OH-02 (Dem): Will voters give Victoria Wulsin, a doctor who narrowly lost to Schmidt in the general last time, a second shot? Or will they instead turn to attorney Steve Black?
• OH-10 (Dem): Can Dennis Kucinich hang on in a crowded primary? Cleveland City Councilman Joe Cimperman, regarded as Special K’s main challenger, channelled the best of the Club for Growth in accusing Kucinich of “eating sushi with Sean Penn.” Meanwhile, Dennis – who once explained his refusal to pay his DCCC dues by saying “Some people make a lot of money for the party, others make a lot of issues” – has managed to rake in $800K for his campaign coffers now that his political career is on the line.
• OH-18 (GOP): I’m almost reluctant to include this race. The Republicans targeted Zack Space the day he got elected. The problem is, they don’t have a candidate who rates higher than “extremely pathetic” on the official Sad-Sack Scale. None have raised more than about $100K, while Space has raked in $1.2 million. Well, we’ll get to find out who gets to be the sacrifical lamb here.
• TX-10 (Dem): Who will get to take on the under-performing Mike McCaul, international affairs consultant (and regular netroots participant) Dan Grant, or attorney and TV judge Larry Joe Doherty?
• TX-22 (GOP): A huge field of wannabees are lining up to challenge Rep. Nick Lampson. Amazingly, after her embarrasing two-month stint as representative after winning the special election in 2006, Shelly  Sekula-Gibbs (aka Snelly Gibbr) has hauled in a million bucks. I’m certainly rooting for her!

What other races are you looking at?

Bill Foster is running in the IL-14 special election to replace disgraced GOP House Speaker Denny Hastert. The election is just a week away – March 8th. We’ve added him to the Blue Majority ActBlue page to help him in this final stretch run. Larry Lessig explains:

So just off the phone with Bill Foster, a physicist from Illinois, Democrat, running in a special election to fill Dennis Hastert’s seat. When I started to think about this run, Foster was a model. A former researcher at Fermilab, and entrepreneur, he is precisely the sort a changed Congress would need.

“Seven hours a day” on the phone raising money. And with a Special Election just 10 days away, they’re pushing to raise a final $200,000 to run an endorsement ad from Barack Obama.

Seven hours a day. Wow.

Let’s help raise some cash for Foster so that he can get that ad on the air and spend more time on the trail. Polls have shown that this is a tight race, despite the district’s R+4.8 lean, and the party committees have been slugging it out.

But we need to chip in and do our part, too. Just think about how great it would be to steal this seat from the GOP. A win here would also fracture an already-dysfunctional Republican election operation and give us added momentum for the fall. An open-seat victory + John Boehner firing Tom Cole’s “dead ass” = sweetness!

On the web: Bill Foster for Congress

Blue Majority ActBlue page

Back in September, the NRCC was talking some big talk:

The committee is expecting recruits to emerge soon against Reps. Michael Arcuri (D-N.Y.), John Barrow (D-Ga.), Baron Hill (D-Ind.), David Loebsack (D-Iowa) and Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.), who are all without major committee-recruited GOP challengers. All but Barrow are freshmen.

The NRCC is meeting with potential candidates against Murphy and Rep. Paul Hodes (D-N.H.), another freshman without a major opponent.

Meanwhile, Indiana Republicans have been anxiously awaiting word from former Rep. Mike Sodrel (R), who is rumored to be in for a fourth straight match-up with Hill. And Iraq veteran Wayne Mosley, an orthopedic surgeon, has been mentioned as a potential challenger to Barrow.

How did Tom Cole and his merry crew fare with recruitment? Tell us in comments.

No, wait! Doc. The… the… the bruise… the bruise on your head. I know how that happened! You told me the whole story. You were standing on your toilet, and you were hanging a clock, and you fell, and you hit your head on the sink. And that’s when you came up with the idea for the Flux Capacitor… which… is what makes time travel possible.

It’s been a while – I think it’s time for another one of these, especially with the entry of Mark Begich into the AK-Sen. So you know what to do: Rank the senate races (as far down the list as you wish to go) in order of likelihood of flipping. Have at it!

Fantastic news:

Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich is expected to announce this afternoon that he’ll be running against Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), setting up a political battle between an iconic figure in Alaska politics against one of the rising Democratic stars statewide.

Begich has called a news conference for 2:30 p.m. EST to “announce his plans regarding the United States Senate seat held by Sen. Ted Stevens,” according to a campaign statement.

This should be a great race.

On Friday, Harold Ford said the following:

“There is not a better Congressman in Washington than Chris Shays,” said Ford, to a crowd of about 600 Fairfield University students and community members.

On Sunday, he said:

My comments were clearly taken out of context.

Clearly. Wanker.

On the web: One of my favorite candidates this cycle, Jim Himes. Put that in whatever context you like!

I’m lovin’ this. On Friday, outgoing GOP congressmember Rick Renzi gets indicted on 35 counts of corrupt bastardy. Later that same day, embattled Republican Minority Leader John Boehner calls on Renzi to resign immediately. Obviously, Boehner doesn’t want a replay of the DeLay and Ney dramas, where tales of Republican wrongdoing played out in the media over many many months.

But today, Rick Renzi said nuts to that:

“I will not resign and take on the cloak of guilt because I am innocent,” Renzi said per a statement released by his congressional office. “My legal team of Reid Weingarten and Kelly Kramer will handle these legal issues while I continue to serve my constituents.”

I especially love the shout-out to his attorneys. It’ll make them that much easier to find on his campaign finance reports. Thanks for everything, Rick!

P.S. Now I can’t get that damn Billy Joel song out of my head!

Those of us behind the Blue Majority ActBlue page would like to gauge reader sentiment on the timing of a presidential endorsement. If two-thirds of the community concurs, we will endorse Barack Obama tomorrow. If not, we will wait until the nominee is certain. Please take the poll below. Thanks!

UPDATE: The results are in. We wait.

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