Tomorrow night will be a lively night here at SSP — we’ll be following the returns from the LA-06 special election. Be sure to check back with us then. Cazayoux wins!
In other news, here’s a copy of the doorhanger that the DCCC is dropping off at houses in Mississippi’s 1st District:
Rep. Vito Fossella of Staten Island might be facing a mandatory sentence of five days in jail after being arrested with DWI charges yesterday:
According to court documents in Alexandria, Va., Mr. Fossella, the only Republican member of Congress from New York City, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.17.
S. Randolph Sengel, the commonwealth attorney for Alexandria, said that a blood-alcohol level higher than 0.15 would require a mandatory jail time of five days.
Ruh-roh.
(H/T: ChadinFL)
Crossposted from Michigan Liberal
Friends,
First, I’d like to begin by thanking all of you for your support. Because of contributions from people like you, our campaign has just been ranked in CQ’s list of the top ten best funded challengers in the country. The voters in Michigan’s 9th Congressional district are tired of the failed leadership they’ve gotten from my opponent, Congressman Joe Knollenberg, for the past sixteen years, and they’re eager for a real change in Washington.
As a former Lt. Commander in the Navy, I wanted to take a moment to write to you this week as we pass the fifth anniversary of one of the most shameful moments in recent American history. On May 1st, 2003, President George W. Bush landed on the USS Abraham Lincoln, in front of the now-infamous “Mission Accomplished” banner and said these words: “My fellow Americans, major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.”
More after the break.
Five years later, another 3,919 brave American soldiers have been killed in combat in Iraq, the country has descended to the brink of all out civil war, and the Republican candidate for President has suggested the possibility of remaining in Iraq for another hundred years.
Five years later, we have more troops in Iraq today (155,000) than we did back then (150,000).
Five years later, we are spending $1 billion every two and a half days in Iraq – money that we could be investing in jobs, infrastructure, and rebuilding our economy here at home.
Five years later, even though it is tragically clear that the mission was not accomplished, Congressman Knollenberg has continued to vote for President Bush’s failed policies. Our men and women in uniform deserve real leadership and a responsible plan to start bringing them home now.
We have also not accomplished the mission of taking care of our troops and veterans when they return home from combat. The brave men and women who have sacrificed for our country deserve the best health care we can provide – instead we have given them the Walter Reed debacle and a VA system with a backlog of more than half a million benefits claims.
This failure of leadership for our veterans is having terrible consequences. Last week, the VA confirmed a truly appalling statistic – an average of eighteen veterans commit suicide every day. At that rate, over 6,500 brave men and women who served and sacrificed for our country will take their own lives this year. That’s nearly 1,500 more than the total number of soldiers who have been killed in combat in Iraq.
Sadly, the reasons for this situation are all too clear. A recent study by the American Psychological Association reported that over 32% military personnel who had been deployed to war zones said that they suffered a ‘negative impact’ on their psychological well-being – but only 1 in 10 sought treatment for mental health concerns. The rest stayed quiet, out of embarrassment, or fear that, if they asked for help, their military careers would be in jeopardy.
As a veteran, I take this very personally. Quite simply, the failure of our leaders in Washington to care for our veterans may be the greatest, unspoken tragedy of the entire Iraq war debacle. The failure to reach out to those veterans who may not have physical injuries – but whose psychological wounds can be even more severe – is not only a betrayal of the sacred trust between our nation and our veterans, but it has serious repercussions on our long-term military readiness and security.
Care for our veterans is a fundamental, guiding principle of our democracy that our greatest leaders have always understood. In his second inaugural address, Abraham Lincoln spoke of our duty to “…care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan….” Three quarters of a century earlier, in 1789, George Washington put it this way: “The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, is directly proportional to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated.”
When Democrats took control of Congress in 2006, they started to address the serious failures in our VA and military health care system. Despite the objections of the President, Democrats passed the largest funding increase in the history of the VA. This was a good start, but we still need to do much more to care for our soldiers, veterans, and their families – and that will take electing real leaders to Congress, and replacing Bush Administration rubber stamps like Congressman Knollenberg.
When the House voted on a bill to guarantee that soldiers would have at least as much time at home as they spend deployed overseas, Congressman Knollenberg voted no.
When the House took up a bill that included $3.3 billion to improve military medical care, $1.8 billion for veterans care, and that would have started withdrawing troops this summer, Congressman Knollenberg voted no. After that bill was vetoed by the President, Congressman Knollenberg voted to sustain the veto.
In Washington, I will work to bring about a responsible end to the war in Iraq and start bringing our troops home now. As a veteran, I will be a voice for a strong foreign policy that keeps America secure and takes the fight to our real enemies, and I will do everything in my power to ensure that we keep faith with the men and women who served and sacrificed for our great nation.
Real leadership means taking action to solve our problems – not passing the buck and waiting for someone else to act – and that’s what I will deliver in Washington. Five years after ‘Mission Accomplished,’ it’s long overdue.
I’m not going to do this alone. This campaign to unseat one of the biggest obstacles to change in Congress will take a group effort. We’re doing well now, but Congressman Knollenberg is going to be very well funded by entrenched special interests who don’t want to lose their inside man in the House Appropriations Committee. If we’re going to be able to fight back against the GOP smear machine and the negative attacks ads that we all know are coming, and if we’re going to bring real leadership to Michigan’s 9th District, I will need your help.
Please visit http://www.petersforcongress.com/ to learn more, or click here to join the effort by contributing on ActBlue.
Per The Crypt, the GOP has found a wealthy magnate to take the place of Tim Baldermann.
Illinois Republicans selected concrete magnate Marty Ozinga III to be their nominee for the seat of retiring Rep. Jerry Weller (R-Ill.), replacing New Lenox mayor Tim Baldermann on the 11th District Congressional ballot.
….
Ozinga also announced he has raised over $400,000 since he began fundraising earlier this month, significantly closing the cash-on-hand gap between himself and his Democratic opponent, state Senate President Debbie Halvorson. Halvorson reported $673,000 in her campaign account at the end of March.
What piqued my interest was that though Ozinga’s wealthy, he’s not exactly a self funder. Why?
Ozinga told the Associated Press yesterday that, despite his substantial personal wealth, he was unlikely to put more than $350,000 of his own money into the race. He elaborated on those remarks in an interview with Politico today.
“It’s a mistake, a bad strategy to try to put your own money in yourself – it’s the broad base that gets people invested in the thing overall and makes you a better candidate,” Ozinga said.
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman Ryan Rudominer, meanwhile, attributed Ozinga’s fundraising haul to “cashing in on his rolodex of fellow fat cats who have made a career of gaming the system.”
OK, that may be well and good, but guess what else happens when you put in more than $350,000? You trigger the Millionaires’ Amendment. Methinks that was no coincidence he mentioned that specific amount as the one he didn’t want to break.
And a wag of the finger to the Politico for not catching that and mentioning it in their article.
Now even if the DCCC is correct that it’s Ozinga’s “fellow fat cats” giving to him, the bottom line is that he’s quickly become financially competitive against Debbie Halvorson, who was part of the DCCC’s first round of their Red to Blue program. She’s raised a total of $433,970 since the pre-primary FEC report on January 17, 2008. He’s raised over $400,000 in April alone. Ugh.
So, what can we do? Well, for starters, you can go to her ActBlue page and contribute!
Opportunity is clearly knocking in southwest Ohio, thanks to Jane Mitakides in OH-3, Steve Driehaus in OH-1, and Victoria Wulsin in OH-2 . But as you consider these races, take a look at the actual, hard numbers comparing the three districts:
Democratic challenger performance in OH-3 is trending through the roof, besting 60% in the 2008 primary. Governor Ted Strickland carried OH-3 in 2006, making it the only district in the region that he won with more than 50%. This is a highly winnable race.
Democratic performance is on a dramatic upward trajectory-up more than 22% from 2004 to 2008, which is the largest increase among Congressional Districts in Southwest Ohio. In 2006, Democratic performance increased 21.5% in the usually GOP counties of Highland and Clinton.
A 137% increase in Democratic turnout between the 2004 and 2008 primary in Ohio’s 3rd Congressional District illustrates how excited voters are in OH-3 for a new direction for America. GOP primary turnout increased by only 25% over the same period.
*It is vital to remember that OH-3 looks skewed because of the sudden withdrawal of the initial candidate in 2006. Despite the odds and no name recognition, a political newcomer got 41% of the vote in a 53 day campaign.
(Cross-posted from www.jane08.com)
Cross-posted at Blue Jersey
According to a new report at NJ Politicker.com, Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ-4) rarely visits his district. This bit of information is not widely known, but it soon will be, and provides another opening for Democrat Josh Zeitz to make his case.
The article speaks for itself:
When Rep. Chris Smith was first elected to the House, he was brand new to the Washington scene. But after 27 years of representing New Jersey in Congress, Smith has spent almost half of his life living in Virginia. [snip]
In 2000, Smith spent 73 days and 41 nights in his district, according to Congressional spending reports. That’s 20% of his days (including travel days) and 11.23% of his nights. Since then, records show the number of days Smith spent in New Jersey has decreased almost every year.
More details after the jump.
Here are the raw numbers of Smith’s time in his home district:
2001- 59 days, 31 nights
2002 -56 days, 26 nights
2003- 47 days, 23 nights
2004 -43 days, 19 nights
2005 – 40 days, 15 nights
2006 – 29 days, 7 nights
2007 – 48 days, 22 nights
Over the last eight years, Smith has spent a total of 395 days and 184 nights in New Jersey while on official business.
Smith was interviewed for the piece and does not dispute the numbers. I’ll leave it to you all to decide what you think of this, but I don’t doubt that the residents of NJ-4 will be interested and that it can’t make them think more positively of their veteran Congressman.
On the more humorous side, the reporter interviewed Smith’s ‘neighbors’ (he has a small rental in Hamilton Township and is the only member of the NJ congressional delegation who does not own a home in New Jersey), and found the following:
Most of Smith’s neighbors in the quaint, middle-class townhouse complex that he lists as his New Jersey residence were surprised – and sometimes elated — to hear that their Congressman was also neighbor. PolitickerNJ.com knocked on all of the doors of the units that adjoin Smith’s apartment, and of the six neighbors who answered, only one had ever seen Smith. Only two had any idea that he lived there.
Chris Smith is ripe for defeat, and Josh Zeitz needs your help to make that happen. Smith, the House ‘pro-life’ caucus chair, is a radical on reproductive rights (and not in a good way) who, for example, sponsored a constitutional amendment to criminalize the birth control pill. Furthermore, he has stood with George Bush on Iraq down the line as a senior Republican on the House International Relations Committee.
Josh is a common sense progressive who will represent the values of Central Jersey. Furthermore, his victory will strengthen the Democratic majority in Congress. Please help him out check out his website and do what you can to support him. If you can volunteer, please email me at:
ian_at_joshzeitz_dot_com
I am a volunteer and Josh’s Netroots Outreach Coordinator
SurveyUSA (4/28-30, likely voters, 4/4-6 in parens):
Jeff Merkley (D): 28 (11)
Steve Novick (D): 30 (23)
Candy Neville (D): 8 (12)
David Loera (D): 2 (6)
Roger Obrist (D): 4 (5)
Pavel Goberman (D): 2 (3)
Other/Undecided: 26 (40)
(MoE: ±3.9%)
That’s quite a big jump for Merkley, who began his statewide advertising campaign this month. However, I don’t doubt that the ultimate outcome will be very close.
The DCCC just posted another round of big money moves in Louisiana tonight. Here’s the rundown:
The new expenditures tally up to $267,242, bringing the DCCC’s total tab in this district to a whopping $1,185,396.
Special election: 5/3. (SSP will be liveblogging the results on Saturday evening. Be sure to check back with us.)
UPDATE: Additionally, SEIU COPE just posted a $150K media buy in support of Cazayoux.
Following yesterday’s massive infusion of cash ($700,000) by the DCCC in Mississippi, the NRCC has mustered its response.
1. Opposes Candidate: CHILDERS FOR CONGRESS
Payee: TARGETED CREATIVE
Date Expended = 05/01/2008 Amount Expended = $7846.01
Purpose: Mailing Service
Yawn.
Meanwhile, the DCCC has posted $40K worth of new expenditures of their own tonight: $6K on literature for Childers, $16K on direct mail for Childers, $16K on direct mail against Greg Davis, and $1200 on phonebanking.
Special election: 5/13.