Month: March 2008

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.

Continuing through the alphabet….

Minnesota has 8 representatives: 5 Democrats and 3 Republicans

Filing deadline is July 15, primary is Sept. 9

District: MN-01

Location Southern MN, bordering WI, IA, and SD

Representative Tim Walz (D)

First elected  2006

2006 margin 53-37

2004 margin NA

Bush margin 2004 51-47

Notes on opponents Walz ousted Gutknecht while raising $500 K less

Current opponents Dick Day, Mark Meyer, Brian Davis

Demographics 77th most rural (43.5%), 31st fewest Blacks (1.0%)

Assessment Somewhat vulnerable; Superribbie ranks this the 17th most vulnerable Democratic seat; still, Walz has to be favored.  

District: MN-02

Location Southern suburbs and exurbs of twin cities

Representative John Kline (R)

First elected  2002

2006 margin 56-40

2004 margin 56-40

Bush margin 2004 54-45

Notes on opponents In 2006, Collen Rowley raised $700K to Kline’s $1.5 million; in 2004, Teresa Daly raised $1.2 million to Kline’s $1.6 million

Current opponents Steve Sarvi

Demographics 36th highest income (median = $61K), 10th fewest in poverty (3.9%), 60th fewest Blacks (1.6%)

Assessment Possible.  Superribbie calls the 69th most vulnerable Republican seat.  I think it might be more vul. than that.  Kline’s winning percentage isn’t rising with time, he did barely better than Bush in 2004.

District: MN-03

Location Suburbs of the twin cities

Representative Jim Ramstad (R) possibly retiring

First elected  1990

2006 margin 65-35

2004 margin 65-35

Bush margin 2004 51-48

Notes on opponents Neither recent opponent had money

Current opponents :

Terri Bonoff

Ashwin Madia

and former Repub: Jim Hovland

Demographics 26th wealthiest (median income = $64K), 5th fewest in poverty (3.5%),  80th fewest Black (3.8%)

Assessment So far as I can tell, Ramstad is retiring, making this a prime pickup opportunity; superribbie ranks this as the 12th most vulnerable Republican seat.

District: MN-04

Location St. Paul and suburbs

Representative  Betty McCollum (D)

First elected  2000

2006 margin 70-30

2004 margin 57-33

Bush margin 2004 37-62

Notes on opponents In 2004, Patrice Bataglia raised $200K to McCollum’s $700K; in 2006, Obi Sium raised $75K to McCollum’s $600K

Current opponents John Mayer, possibly others. Mayer seems to have no website, others’ sites are down

Demographics Not unusual on what I track

Assessment  Safe

District: MN-05

Location Minneapolis and suburbs

Representative Keith Ellison (D)

First elected  2006

2006 margin 56-21 (remainder to an independent)

2004 margin NA

Bush margin 2004 28-71

Notes on opponents Tammy Lee actually raised more money than the Republican (Alan Fine) and got almost the same number of votes.  Each raised about $200K, Ellison raised about $800K

Current opponents Apparently Barb White, who also might be running in MN-04, or maybe not running at all

Demographics 45th most Democratic, per Cook PVI

Assessment Safe

District: MN-06

Location Mostly in central MN, but extending east and south to the WI border

Representative Michele Bachmann (R)

First elected  2006

2006 margin 50-42 (remainder to John Binkowski)

2004 margin NA

Bush margin 2004 57-42

Notes on opponents Bachmann beat out Wetterling for an open seat. Each spent about $3 million – Bachmann a little less, Wetterling a little more

Current opponents :

Bob Olson and

Elwyn Tinklenberg

Demographics 53rd highest income (median = $57K), 18th fewest in poverty (4/7%), 18th most Whites (94.9%), 28th fewest Blacks (0.9%), 42nd fewest Latinos (1.3%)

Assessment We have definite possibilities.  superribbie  (link above) ranks this the 45th most vulnerable Republ

District: MN-07

Location Western MN, bordering SD and ND and Canada

Representative Collin Peterson (D)

First elected  1990

2006 margin 70-29

2004 margin 66-34

Bush margin 2004 55-43

Notes on opponents In 2004, David Sturrock raised $125K to Peterson’s $500K.  In 2006, Michael Barrett raised little

Current opponents None declared

Demographics 6th most rural (66%), 22nd most Whites (93.1%), tied for fewest Blacks (0.3%)

Assessment I don’t call a lot of people DINO, but Peterson is a DINO.  Still, he wins, he doesn’t use a lot of money, and he lines up on the D side, and this is a Republican district

District: MN-08

Location Northeastern MN, bordering WI, Lake Superior, and Canada, including Duluth and International Falls

Representative Jim Oberstar (D)

First elected  1974

2006 margin 64-34

2004 margin 65-32

Bush margin 2004 46-53

Notes on opponents In 2006, Rod Grams raised $500K to Oberstar’s $1.4 million; the 2004 opponent raised little

Current opponents None declared

Demographics 12th most rural (62.6%), 34th most veterans (16.2%), 20th most Whites (94.6%), 11th fewest Blacks (0.5%), 11th fewest Latinos (0.8%)

Assessment safe

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!

You gotta hand it to crazy Jack Davis.  He sure knows how to kick-start a primary campaign in style — by insulting veterans!  From Newsday:

Davis is already taking tough shots.

[Jon] Powers, Davis said, “is a kid. He’s 29 years old and he’s never had a real job,” said Davis. “If we do get into a primary, he won’t have any money left.”

Powers, as you know, served his country with distinction in Iraq.  Is this really the kind of debate that Davis wants to enter as he attempts to buy the goodwill of local Democrats?

(H/T: The Albany Project)

I live in Kentucky’s First Congressional District. This year, we have a great Democratic Lady running for our Congressional seat, Heather Ryan. Well, we are not the only first district in the south that has an awesome Democratic lady running for their Congressional seat. In the First Congressional District of Louisiana another stellar Democratic woman is running to expand our Congressional majorities. Her name is Gilda Reed.  

Well, the really great news is the fact that Gilda Reed is an awesome Democrat who will fight for us in Washington was not lost upon the Democratic voters in Louisiana’s First District. They rewarded Gilda Reed with a huge victory in their primary the other evening. From Gilda’s site:

The elections, first steps in the new closed party primary system for federal elections, took place in the 1st and 6th congressional districts, which cover much of southeast Louisiana.

In the 1st Congressional District, state Sen. Steve Scalise was forced into a runoff with state Rep. Tim Burns of Mandeville. Scalise had about 48 percent of the vote and Burns 28 percent. The two will face each other in a runoff election 4 weeks from tonight and then face Gilda Reed, the outright winner of the Democrat Primary tonight.

Reed, an adjunct professor at the University of New Orleans, beat Vinny Mendoza, an Air Force retiree handily. Reed won the backing of trade unions and about 70 percent of the vote.  She will continue her campaign in focused on her goal to be the first Democrat to win District 1 in 30 years.  In early May, Reed will face the winner of the Republican run off in a special election.

Gilda gave some brilliant insight on her victory that more Democrats should take to heart:

To the overwhelming pleasure of her supporters and in answer to a question regarding what makes makes Gilda a better candidate than Steve Scalise or Tim Burns, Gilda answered simply, “for one, I’m a Democrat.”

Wow, Democrats running proudly as Democrats and winning? What a profound idea Ms. Reed!!!

Go here to see Gilda Reed being interviewed after her smashing victory in the primary for Louisiana’s first:

http://www.wwltv.com/video/new…

From all of us here at Ryan for Kentucky we want to send a huge Congratulations to Gilda and everyone associated with her campaign!!! We didn’t have a primary here, and we are all happy to know that another great Democrat made it into the election in the fall. We need Ms. Reed and Ms. Ryan in Washington working side by side to change this country and fight for One America!!

Be sure to show Gilda some love and help give her the resources she needs to win in the fall here:

https://www.officialsecureinte…

Now, on to our campaign in Kentucky’s first where we have another great lady who needs our support. Heather Ryan is up against an entrenched Congressman in Ed Whitfield who is part of the corrupt Mitch McConnell machine. He has a million dollars of special interest money to unleash upon us. He has flown under the radar in Washington, and makes little news.

However, Ed Whitfield has no record of achievement for citizens of this district to point to. His only accomplishment was passing a ban on eating horsemeat. While I am sure the horses in Kentucky will acknowledge this achievment, the people of the first district of Kentucky are falling further and further behind. While Ed Whitfield gets richer, wages for our working families are stagnant or worse, and we watch in horror as our economy is now dominated by low-wage service jobs with no benefits.

Yes, while Exxon Eddie reaps the benefits of his Exxon and Chevron stock, those profits are made on the backs of hard-working Kentuckians who face record energy prices on all fronts. Although Kentuckians in the first district are paying the penalties for the corporate greed that has made Whitfield a rich man, Exxon Eddie can’t even buy a house in our district. He must pitch a tent on the empty lot he owns in Madisonville.

This time we have a real choice of a fighting Democrat to replace Exxon Eddie with. We have Heather Ryan, who in a history making year for Democrats can make a little history of her own by being the first ever female Congresswoman from this district.

I recently asked Heather about re-building the Labor movement in our state and the country. She had this to say about it:

Our country has seen an all out assault on Organized Labor in the last several decades. We believe Organized Labor is essential in achieving fair wages and benefits for workers. We believe we need to rebuild our Union movement by passing the Employee Free Choice Act and give workers real choices in forming a union. We believe penalties for breaking labor laws should be tougher, and enforced faster. We also support banning the permanent replacement of striking workers. We should also defend and restore a workers right to overtime. We also need to end the practice of mislabeling workers as an independent contractors to avoid paying benefits and taxes. We should expand minimum wage protections to tipped workers and home healthcare workers. We should give public employees every opportunity to compete with private contractors and evaluate a companies record on tax, labor and environmental standards before awarding them any federal or state contracts. Finally, we should recognize that any work that involves essential government functions should not be privatized.

I couldn’t agree more with those priorities.

Heather also wants to fight to invest in innovation for our state and nation. She had this to say about what we should be doing in that regard:

In the new global economy our economic competitors are investing aggressively in infrastructure, education and engineering. We simply must begin to match them in this pursuit. To do this we must make the tax credit for research and development permanent. We should invest in renewable energy and the fuels and technologies of the future. We should invest in the recruitment and pay of good teachers while strengthening curriculum in High Schools and expanding college opportunity. We should set the goal of having broadband access to all homes, businesses and schools by 2010, even in rural and low-income areas. Finally, we should protect our scientists and researchers from being pressured by political ideology.

Investing in the fuels of the future is essential to this campaign. With a little research, development, and patriotism in something besides war America and Kentucky have an awesome opportunity to lead the world in an exciting new field, growing and refining the fuels of the future. With high Energy prices due to our dependence on foreign oil, and the emergence of a service-type economy in the first district we can kill two birds with one stone.

We can create high-paying union jobs, and end our dependence on the unstable middle-east for our energy needs. We can once again offer Americans a reasonable product for a reasonable price for their energy needs.

The only thing standing in our way is entrenched politicians who profit from the current madness, and care little for the plight of their constituents as long as the money is rolling in. It is time we replaced Exxon Ed Whitfield with a voice of sanity and Progress, and a Democrat who will fight for us in the Congress.

Please join and help us in this endeavor. Go to the site and sign up for email updates. If you live close enough, volunteer:

http://www.ryanforkentucky.com/

More importantly, please help us get the resources we need to get our message of hope and of Exxon Eddie’s abyssmal record for the citizens of Kentucky out to the 62% of registered Democrats in this district. If we do that, we win.

Please help me to my goal of $1500 for Ryan by May 20, I am almost one-third of the way there!!:

http://www.actblue.com/page/am…

No matter what you do this year, don’t forget all our awesome Democratic candidates running for the House and Senate. These are the Democrats who will change this party for all of us!!

And don’t forget about two great ladies in two first districts!!!  

 

It is encouraging to know that the word about our campaign is getting around. This week I was at an event and was approached by a gentleman who told me he was registered Republican. He said he had visited our campaign website and wanted to speak with me about my stance on the issues. He explained that he is thoroughly disgusted with the political process in Washington and specifically is fed up with the partisan politics that cause almost constant gridlock.

He posed the question to me “Mr. McCracken, how can you promise me that you won’t become part of the partisan politics in Washington?” I told him that I could promise him that I would not become part of partisan politics problem and I can offer proof that I know how to work in a bipartisan manner and have success doing so.

During my 10 years on the Clearfield School Board, I had to learn how to work with at least 4 other board members in order to get things done. Frankly, I enjoyed the chance to debate the important issues with the 8 other board members, sharing my positions and listening to the points that the other board members made. I always kept open the possibility of compromise as long as problems could be solved and we were doing what was right for the students, staff, parents and taxpayers.

More recently, I was given a new test of my bipartisan abilities. In November of 2007, I was re-elected as county commissioner finishing first in total votes. However, my fellow Democratic commissioner finished 4th and was not re-elected. I was faced with 2 newly elected Republican commissioners coming into office. Several people asked me, would I help them or would I take on the traditional minority commissioner role and move to the backseat.

My decision was to do all I could do to help the 2 new commissioners come in and learn the job of county commissioner. So many positive things are happening in Clearfield County and I want the Clearfield County Commissioners as a group to be successful and the positive progress for the county to continue. We are into our third month together and we haven’t missed a beat. I’m helping them with any questions they have about the duties of our office and we are working together as a team for Clearfield County with no partisan politics in sight. If I get the opportunity to represent the 5th district in Washington, I will make the same commitment to work in a bipartisan manner to solve the problems facing our country.

After finishing my discussion with the Republican gentleman I feel pretty confident that I may have my first crossover vote for the November election.

MEDIA COVERAGE:

The Centre Daily Times is doing a fantastic job covering the 5th district race. Every Tuesday they will be running the answer to 1 of 8 questions they posed to all 12 candidates. Last Tuesday the question was “What would you do as a congressman to help provide for job-creating economic development in the 5th congressional district? What are the key elements of your manufacturing policy?”

My response was: “I will do as congressman what I’ve had success with as a county commissioner, which is, work in cooperation with elected officials at all levels, community leaders and private business interests to bring economic development to the region. Elected officials and economic development entities must use every available means to bring new business the region and help existing businesses survive and expand. This would include offering incentives from the local, state and federal levels.

On manufacturing policies, I believe we must get back to manufacturing more products here in the United States. Our economy worked best when products were “Made in the USA”. Our existing jobs base is essentially service oriented at one end of the scale and high paid executives at the other leaving nothing in the middle. We need to get back to a strong middle class making a decent living wage with adequate benefits.”

Finally, I’m attaching a picture of Kelly and Amanda wearing their McCracken for Congress sweatshirts that we got today. They look great and people will know who we are and what we’re doing when they see us out in public.

Mark B. McCracken

Your Candidate For Congress

This diary is cross-posted at McCracken’s campaign blog, PA’s Blue Fifth

Mark McCracken for Congress

ActBlue page

I'm sure that, by now, everyone has heard the news about New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's ties to a prostitution ring.  I must say, it comes as a major disappointment after Spitzer established himself as the ethical white knight who fought Wall Street corruption during his tenure as the state Attorney General.  During the run-up to the gubernatorial election, Spitzer was heralded as the next FDR.  It is, therefore, amazing to see how quickly his political capitol evaporated, as he clashed with State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno (R-Rensselaer).  That was disappointing enough; this latest offense is nauseating.  Right when the public is just beginning to build enthusiasm about the political process and the Democratic party, something like this happens, reminding everyone of the Lewinsky scandal of ten years ago, and reinforcing the idea that all politicians are sleazy, self-serving, Huey Long-esque megalomaniacs. 

Meanwhile, if Spitzer steps down, Lt. Gov. David Paterson will become the Governor.  I'm very interested to see what effect he'll have on the state and congressional races in New York if he ascends.  Is his name too tied to Spitzer's, or will his presence provide a breath of fresh air for the party?  I cautiously await . . . 

It looks like Al Franken has a virtual lock on the Democratic Senate nomination in Minnesota.  From The Hill:

Attorney Mike Ciresi announced Monday that he is dropping out of the race for Sen. Norm Coleman’s (R-Minn.) seat, likely clearing the way for comedian Al Franken in the Democratic contest.

“In my judgment, continuing the endorsement race would only lead to an unnecessary floor fight. It is time to step aside,” Ciresi said in a statement.

Franken still faces little-known professor Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer for the DFL nomination.