Author: RandySF

While there has been talk for a while that Gordon Smith may face a challenge from the right, it now appears there is a name attached to that prospect. The Associated Press is reporting that anti-tax activist and form gubernatorial candidate Bill Sizemore is considering doing a little bit of our work for us.

National Democrats have made it plain that one of their top targets in the 2008 Senate election will be Oregon Republican Sen. Gordon Smith, who has been reaching out more to moderate voters of late.

But Smith also could face potential trouble within his own party at home.

There are rumors that Smith might draw a primary challenge from the party’s right wing. A national group that promotes fiscal conservatism is making noises about possibly bankrolling such an effort.

A GOP primary challenge could force Smith — who has broken with President Bush and the Republican Party on Iraq and other issues — to veer more to the right, which could harm his chances in a state that’s trending more blue….

Anti-tax activist Bill Sizemore, who was trounced when he ran against then-Democratic Gov. John Kitzhaber in 1998, said recently that he’s giving thought to possibly taking on Smith.

Oh please please please run, Bill. If he does, Peter DeFazio or any other candidate can sit back while Smith has to fend off this challenge from his right. If there is anything you can do to egg Sizemore, feel free to do so. 😉

Jim Inhofe is worried. And he may very well be justified. Accoridng to the Tulsa World, Chuck Schumer and the DSCC are gunning for him and looking hard for a candidate.

Inhofe says the same people who took out Pombo are now gunning for him.

He based that prediction at least partly on recent fundraising letters the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee sent out using Inhofe as one of the major reasons donors should pony up for the cause.

“One seat. That’s all it would take to flip Senate control back to the GOP in 2008,” one letter states.

“And once again, the Oklahoma Republican Senator James Inhofe — who has called global warming the ‘greatest hoax ever 
perpetrated on the American people’ — would assume the chairmanship of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.”

Unfortunately, our two strongest candidates have said no, for now.

Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry has said no to national Democrats hoping to recruit him for the race.

U.S. Rep. Dan Boren is also taking a pass on the 2008 Senate race….

Although much of what Inhofe said was likley due to paranoia, it does appear that the DSCC is looking at this race. We need to help them out and urge either Henty, Boren or another strong candidate to take up this race!

 

North Carolina Senator Elizabeth Dole is still showing vulnerability in recent polls, even if her opponent in not Mike Easley. A new poll has Dole leading 45-30 against Congressman Bob Etheridge.

A new poll out Wednesday has Republican U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole dominating a hypothetical race against Democratic U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge, but the numbers expose a few weaknesses for the incumbent senator, the poll’s author said.

Dole, of Salisbury, has been dogged by rumors about whether she will run in 2008, especially in the wake of a catastrophic outcome for Senate Republicans after her term as chairwoman of the National Republican Senatorial Campaign.

Dole says she’s running.

The poll, by Public Policy Polling, shows Dole running ahead of Etheridge, 45 percent to 30 percent, among likely voters.

But Dean Debnam, president of the company, pointed out that Dole enjoys more name recognition than Etheridge, a Lillington congressman known mostly in his district south and east of the Triangle.

“Dole is not necessarily in a very strong position,” Debnam said.

Etheridge’s name has been floated in the past as a possible senatorial candidate. His spokeswoman said Wednesday he isn’t planning a Senate run in 2008.

“Right now his focus is on working on his committees on issues important to North Carolina,” said spokeswoman Joanne Peters.

Dole political consultant Mark Stephens disputed the accuracy of the poll, which was conducted through automatic phone calls. Respondents signaled their choices by punching numbers on the phone.

“I don’t know a campaign worth its salt that would utilize this kind of polling,” Stephens said. “They don’t even know who they’re talking to on the other end of the phone. It could be a 12-year-old kid.”

Debnam said the polling group will pit other hypothetical candidates, perhaps including U.S. Rep. Brad Miller of Raleigh, against Dole in future polls.

A poll by the group last month showed Gov. Mike Easley beating Dole by 44 percent to 41 percent.

The Dole-Etheridge poll was conducted Monday by automatic phone calls of 448 likely voters. The survey’s margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4.6 percentage points.

Granted, the sample size is small, but it mirrors similar problems she is having in a hypothetical match-up against former Gov. Easley, who has thus far declined to run. Some will also point to Jesse Helms who constantly polled terribly but won elections. But I would argue that Dole does not command the rabid loyalty that Helms did. She’s clearly vulnerable and we need to keep up the pressure.

Folling the tragic news of Charlie Norwood’s death, the Republican vultures took little time to circle the sky above his still-warm body. Two Democrats were also mentioned, but none yet have announced

State Senator Ralph Hudgens (R) — who lost runs for Congress in 1988, 1992 and 1994 — already announced he will run. Hudgens was the early frontrunner in the 1994 GOP primary, but Norwood defeated him in an upset. State Representative Barry Fleming (R) also is likely to run. State Representative Jeanette Jamieson (D) and former Athens-Clarke County Mayor Doc Eldridge (D) are also possible candidates, although CD-10 demographics favor the GOP.

No date has been announced yet, but we should be prepared to at least make the Republicans work for it.