Author: DavidNYC

The only purpose of me posting this post is to say fuck that fucker:

When Harold Ford, Jr. walked onto the Quick Center stage for his OPEN Visions forum he knew whose district he was standing in.

“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.

And James Carville was ready to foment a coup in order to install this asshat at the DNC. Ford is undermining one of the best Democratic House candidates this cycle, Jim Himes, as well as the party he claims to be a member of. He should be put on indefinite pariah status.

(Big hat tip to My Left Nutmeg.)

Who do you love, and who loves you?

Update (Trent): We thought we’d shake things up a bit this week with a caption contest.  This time, see what you can come up with for this photo of Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries Ron Sparks (second from left) and Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright.

Whoa, that’s a lot of counts:

A federal grand jury has indicted Republican U.S. Rep. Richard Renzi of Arizona on 35 criminal counts including conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering and official extortion, according to court papers unsealed on Friday.

The indictment stems from plan by Renzi and an associate to benefit from a land-exchange plan in order to receive Renzi’s support for necessary federal legislation, court documents said.

Wonder if he’ll have to bail early ala DeLay and Ney.

Update (Trent): Boehner is encouraging Renzi to resign.

From the Post-Standard (Syracuse):

[F]ormer state fair Director Peter Cappuccilli declared himself a candidate Sunday for the seat in Congress being vacated by Rep. James Walsh.

Cappuccilli, whose potential candidacy has been talked about in Republican circles since Walsh, R-Onondaga, announced his intention to retire, made it official at a late afternoon news conference at his Westvale home.

State fair director? Okay…. Well, Cappuccilli isn’t the only one looking to get in:

Randy Wolken, president of the Manufacturers Association of Central New York; former state Sen. Nancy Larraine Hoffmann; East Syracuse Mayor Dan Liedka; and state Assembly Deputy Minority Leader Robert Oaks, of Wayne County, also are weighing runs.

The article also notes that Dem Syracuse Mayor Matt Driscoll is still considering a bid – which seems like an unpopular, if not near-suicidal, thing to do. Almost all the powers that be, including the DCCC, have rallied around Maffei, an excellent candidate and strong progressive. Does Driscoll really want to be the next Tom Suozzi?

Let’s hope not. Remember, NY has a late primary (September), so a clear shot for Maffei vs. a bloody GOP war could be ideal for us.

(Hat-tip to Willyr.)

This is laughable – but I always like a good joke, as long as it’s on the GOP:

Grams, who was elected to the U.S. House in 1992 [and] the U.S. Senate in 1994, said… today [he] hasn’t yet thrown his hat into the ring.

“I haven’t said yes. I haven’t said no,” said Grams.

Grams was beaten in 2000 by the spectacularly forgettable Mark Dayton, who served only a single term because his re-election chances were so slim. But the ignominy did not end there for Grams:

Grams waged a brief campaign to challenge former U.S. Rep. Mark Kennedy for the 2006 Republican nomination for Senate. He dropped out of that race and ran for the U.S. House against long-time 8th District Rep. Jim Oberstar.

Kennedy was trounced by Democrat Amy Klobuchar in the Senate race and Oberstar skated to his 17th victory in House race.

His ability to make trouble for Coleman is surely slim indeed. But who doesn’t love a little GOP infighting? And even if Grams is just a lousy vessel for winger discontent, that’s a good sign in and of itself.

(Hat-tip: The Big E.)

Let me pose a different sort of question for this Presidents Day: Tell us about some of your favorite campaigns from the past. These could include stunning upsets where unheralded Dems beat incumbent GOPers against all odds; races where beleaguered but worthy Dems held on against stiff challenges; situations where Team Blue utterly pounded highly-touted opposition; or even moral victories, like narrow losses which set the table for an early retirement or a later win. Bonus points for good stories about campaigns you actually worked on.

Anyhow, however you define it, tell us about some of your favorite campaigns from yester-year, and why these memories still stick with you.

About a week ago, anti-immigrant fanatic Lou Barletta jumped into the race against Dem Rep. Paul Kanjorski in PA-11. Barletta is the Republican mayor of Hazelton, PA and is best known for pushing his city to adopt a measure which “sought to deny business permits to companies that employ illegal immigrants, fine landlords who rent to them and require tenants to register and pay for a rental permit.” It was later found unconstitutional.

This, of course, has made Barletta immensely popular among winger circles, and David Wasserman of the Cook Political Report says that GOPers are “justifiably encouraged” by his entry into the race. Consequently, he’s moved his rating on the race from Safe Dem to Likely Dem. This still makes Kanjorski the overwhelming favorite, but it suggests that this seat might be in play.

While bluish, PA-11 is not rock-solid Dem territory – it has a PVI of D+5.5. However, Kanjorski has $1.5 million on hand, and he thumped Barletta by 13 points the last time the two faced off in 2002. (You’ll recall that was not an especially good Democratic year.)

Barletta is definitely swimming against the tide, with the economy teetering and voter disgust about the war in Iraq unchanged. But could being a one-issue candidate somehow play to his advantage? Can his anti-immigrant obsession tap into fears about the economy and push all other issues to the side? Without knowing a lot more about the particulars of this district, I just can’t say.

But SSPers, what say you? Does Barletta have any kidn of shot? Is Wasserman’s rating change justified? What’s this district like? Tell us.

Don’t forget that on 3/4, Texas and Ohio will also hold their congressional primaries, too. Which Lone Star and Buckeye State primaries are on your radar? I’m thinking TX-22, TX-10 and OH-10 for starters. What else?

P.S. Trapper John has a question.

UPDATE: KS-Sen: Dem Greg Orman is out.

Beyond disgusting:

Backstory:

The flier, which provides the name and telephone number of Rev. George Brooks of Murfreesboro, Tenn., has been in circulation since at least last Thursday. On Monday, Brooks took responsibility for the broadside, saying, “I sent that out.”

…

Brooks said he sent the flier because the 9th Congressional District is “about 90-something percent black. That’s the reason.” According to the latest U.S. Census, in 2000, the district was 59.7 percent black.

According to an editorial in yesterday’s Memphis Commercial Appeal, Cohen’s primary oppponent, Nikki Tinker, had been slow to condemn the flier. A newer AP article says she was “incensed” by it.

Previously, Rep. Cohen has been attacked by clergy in the district for supporting a federal anti-hate crimes bill, a measure favored by the NAACP. Cohen also says that no one ever questioned Rep. Harold Ford (his predecessor in the seat) for supporting this bill, too. One clergyman responded:

“He’s not black and he can’t represent me, that’s just the bottom line,” said Rev. Robert Poindexter of Mt. Moriah Baptist Church.

It goes without saying that racist and antisemitic attacks have absolutely no place anywhere in the world, and especially not in American politics.

Global Strategy Group (PDF) for the Bill Foster campaign (Feb. 6-10, likely voters):

Foster (D): 43

Oberweis (R): 45

Undecided: 12

(MoE: ±4.3%)

Some other numbers from the polling memo: Oberweis has higher name rec, but much higher unfavorables (49-41) than Foster (40-14). Meanwhile, Foster polls far better among independents, 49-27. And for comparison’s sake, an April poll taken by GSG for Foster showed him losing to Denny Hastert 53-26.

You’ve probably heard that John McCain is doing a high-dollar fundraiser for Oberweis. I’d love it if Barack Obama would do the same. He’d probably raise three times as much, simply due to his campaign’s wildly higher energy level and the fact that this race is in Illinois. Fingers crossed that Obama shows up, soon.

UPDATE: That was quick. Obama has cut an ad for Foster. Don’t know if the actual video is available online yet.