Month: July 2008

Public Policy Polling (7/9-10, likely voters):

Mark Udall (D): 47

Bob Schaffer (R): 38

Undecided: 14

(MoE: ±3.0%)

While most polls in 2007 and the early part of this year showed this one to be a close race, this is now the fourth poll in a row showing Udall with a lead of 9 or 10 points. After being hit with his ties to Abramoff and a few other campaign trail gaffes, Schaffer seems like he’s beginning to unravel a bit. The DSCC would clearly love to kill his candidacy in the crib, but it remains to be seen whether he can regain his footing and put some heat on Udall for a change.

Bonus findings: In the presidential race, Obama leads McCain by 47-43. In a hypothetical 2010 match-up with former Denver Broncos star John Elway, Democratic Sen. Ken Salazar leads by 44-37. Against former Gov. Bill Owens, the contest is much closer: 44-41 for Salazar.

Momentum Analysis for Kathy Dahlkemper (likely voters, 7/8-10):

Kathy Dahlkemper (D): 41

Phil English (R-inc): 40

Undecided: 19

(MoE: ±4.9%)

Wow. These are some stunning numbers, which I wouldn’t be surprised to see English attempt to refute with his only poll soon.

English has been airing ads touting his record well in advance of the general election, which shows that he acknowledges that he’s facing a real race this year — even against a political neophyte like Lake Erie Arboretum Director Kathy Dahlkemper. A staunch conservative occupying an R+1.6 district, English could be vulnerable in a strong year. Indeed, even against a fourth-tier candidate in Steven Porter last cycle, English only managed to score 54% of the vote.

With English holding a dismal 52% negative job approval rating, this is definitely a race to keep a close eye on.

I will make an admission. I don’t want anyone to think that here at Ryan for Kentucky we are not fair. Our Congressman, Exxon Ed Whitfield, besides supporting Big Oil, Energy, and their record profits has managed to do a little good. Yes, Exxon Eddie has managed to be a defender of horses. Now, at Ryan for Kentucky, we love animals too, and applaud Whitfield for being a defender of horses. But, we must ask, what about the PEOPLE?

Yes, Whitfield won praise for his work on horses, we cannot deny. He even won a huge endorsement for this work.  However, we would like to ask the Congressman, what about the people of this district? Where was Exxon Eddie when the PEOPLE of this district needed him? In fact, where was he when the Constitution needed him?:

On June 20 2008, Representative Ed Whitfield broke faith with the Congressional Oath of Office, in which every member of Congress solemnly swears to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Rep. Whitfield swore to do this, and yet failed to vote against H.R. 6304, the FISA Amendments Act. The FISA Amendments Act not only makes the misnamed Protect America Act permanent, but even expands upon it in its gutting of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. H.R. 6304 sets up a system:

* For the federal government to spy on you electronically

* Reading your email

* Listening to your telephone calls

* Watching what web pages you visit

* Following your financial transactions

* More than that, for the federal government to engage in physical searches

* Of your home

* Of your office

* Of your car

* Without any explanation of why they are doing it

* Without the ability of a judge to even stop it

* Without oversight by Congress

* Letting the government use information it obtains illegally

* Giving telecommunications companies retroactive immunity for helping the government do this, even when it was expressly against the law to do so

When a President of the United States has this kind of power at his disposal, she or he cannot be stopped. The power of the president becomes total and the president becomes a totalitarian. By failing to oppose this bill, Representative Ed Whitfield aided and abetted the advent of American totalitarianism.

http://www.progressivepatriots…

It seems very ironic to us that Exxon Eddie, who constantly seeks to lecture all of us on the size of the Federal Government votes to vastly expand the powers of that entity. Yes, the people of this district needed their Constitutional rights protected, and Exxon Eddie was nowhere to be found:

Rep. Ed Whitfield failed to vote against the ironically named Protect America Act. The Protect America Act is a law now passed by both houses of Congress which replaces judicial warrants with executive prerogative and substitutes blank checks for reasons. The Protect America Act gives the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence the power to spy on your emails, your web surfing, your telephone calls and other electronic communications. All this is carried out without a warrant, which is required by the 4th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

There is no supervision of the spy programs put in place by Gonzales and McConnell, except by Gonzales and McConnell. No one has the power to stop them any more. They can search your records, sift through your private messages, watch you go from web page to web page, on the pretext of protecting America from terrorists, all without a search warrant. No one has the power to tell them no.

Gonzales and McConnell have the power under the Protect America Act to order any American to help them conduct their electronic spying against other Americans. Under the new law, if they order you to take part in their spying operations, and you say no, they can throw you in prison. If you do not keep their spying on other Americans a secret, even from your family, they can throw you in prison.

The Protect America Act institutes Big Brother government in the United States. It betrays American liberty. And Representative Whitfield failed to vote against it.

http://www.progressivepatriots…

Of course his opponent, Heather Ryan spoke out in support of our Constitution. From an email:

Later this week, the Senate will be considering passage of the compromise on the FISA Bill. Since many voters in the First Congressional District of Kentucky have contacted me wondering what my stance on this legislation is, I felt compelled to speak on this issue.

While I was in Washington on that terrible day of Sept. 11, 2001 when planes crashed into the World Trade Center and in Western Pennsylvania, and the Pentagon, I can understand the passion that has fueled this bill. Having said that, I must urge the Senate to reject this FISA compromise as proposed and passed by the House of Representatives with H.R. 6304.

There are several reasons why I feel this bill is unnecessary. First, I think that we have lost focus on the fact that a competent Administration could have actually gone a long way in preventing this tragedy.  The Bush Administration was warned in advance of  9-11 and did nothing at the time to prevent it. I believe if the Bush Administration would have acted on the intelligence provided them, then the 9-11 tragedy could have been avoided through the laws that existed at the time.

I believe this law is an extension of the Bush Administration’s attempts to politicize the Justice Department. Prosecuting entities are provided by the Constitution with checks and balances on which to operate. They already have  very broad  powers and if they found a credible threat would have no problem getting a warrant in a timely fashion.  

I believe that FISA and this compromise are an abomination to the Constitution because it seeks to circumvent the checks and balances provided all of us by that document.  I strongly oppose giving  the Telecom Corporations immunity when they knew they were breaking the law when the Bush Administration asked them to break the law.

I saw where my opponent in this race, Exxon Ed Whitfield voted for this Legislation.  I think it is pretty ironic when the very Republicans that lecture us about the size of the Federal Government propose, and push through the House of Representatives a bill that broadens the powers of the Federal Government vastly. I think this is one issue that Liberals, Moderates and Conservatives should all be able to agree on.  There are certain things that none of us should ever compromise on, and the Constitution is one thing I will never compromise on as Representative of Kentucky’s First District.

His work against the Constitution did not stop there:

When the Head Start program of early childhood education came up for reauthorization in May of 2007, Rep. Howard McKeon tried to offer an amendment that would provide special permission for religious organizations to engage in employment discrimination when using government-provided funds to hire Head Start Workers. That sounds complicated, but what it boils down to is that the McKeon amendment would have let churches take government money to hire workers for the government-funded Head Start program, and yet refuse to hire particular workers because they were from the “wrong” religion.

The Head Start program is not a religious program in its content, so there is no substantive reason for this discrimination to occur. If churches want to run a preschool and discriminate on the basis of religion, they can already do so — they just have to pay for it themselves. If churches want to grab government money to run a government program, on the other hand, then the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is perfectly clear — government resources can’t be used to establish advantages for a religion or its adherents.

The McKeon amendment would have let government resources be used to discriminate against people who were not religiously correct. It fortunately was rejected in a roll-call vote. But Rep. Ed Whitfield didn’t help in that regard. By failing to vote against the McKeon amendment, Rep. Whitfield showed a disregard for the constitutional basis of American government.

http://www.progressivepatriots…

Then consider his failure to lead on H. Res. 68:

For more than three decades, the United States has been a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, better known as the Non-Proliferation treaty. This treaty requires the United States to “pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament.” George W. Bush has been fond of using images of mushroom clouds and nuclear proliferation to push the country into war. Yet under George W. Bush, the United States has failed to pursue negotiations in good, middling or even bad faith on nuclear arms or nuclear disarmament, marking a violation of this treaty which is essential to international peace.

H.Res. 68 is a bill that calls on President Bush to issue a report indicating the means by which the United States will meet its numerous, legally-binding treaty obligations. Asking the president to obey the law seems like a no-brainer, right? Well, not according to Representative Whitfield, who has failed to cosponsor this bill. When you get the chance, please contract Rep. Whitfield and ask what gives.

Of course the last thing in the world Exxon Eddie would want to be caught doing is questioning any of the failed policies of the Bush Administration.

Whitfield also failed to lead in insuring that every vote cast in America is counted fairly in

H.R. 811:

Any reasonable person who believes that trust in America’s democratic institutions is important can see the value in being able to determine with assurance how a person has voted. It should be a matter of common sense, for instance, that when an electronic voting machine malfunctions and loses votes (as has happened in the past), a backup paper record of the actions of the machine would help elections officials set things right and make sure that every person’s vote has been counted. Yet today, despite a history of malfunctioning electronic voting machines, there is no requirement for a backup paper trail. It’s as easy as attaching a printer to a voting machine. It’s a matter of simple common sense for those who are interested in reliable verifiable, democracy. So why has Congressperson Whitfield failed to lend formal support to H.R. 811, a bill which would require the establishment of such a paper trail? It’s a mystery to me. Ask Congressperson Whitfield to leave a verifiable paper trail of support for H.R. 811 — in the Congress, that’s called cosponsorship.

http://www.progressivepatriots…

Of course, with  

H.R. 897 Whitfield failed to stand up to Corporate corruption and war profiteering:

H.R. 897 is a bill before the House of Representatives that would “require the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State, Secretary of the Interior, and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development to provide to Congress copies and descriptions of contracts and task orders in excess of $5,000,000 for work to be performed in Iraq and Afghanistan.” When Republicans controlled the Congress, they killed efforts to uncover corporate corruption and war profiteering. If there is really nothing going on with the contracts, then why is there a problem with looking at those contracts? Only those who think there is a problem and want to hide the problem could be opposed to Congressional oversight. Ed Whitfield apparently is comfortable with something being hidden, since the name of Rep. Whitfield does not currently appear in cosponsorship of this legislation. Contact Rep. Whitfield and ask why.

http://www.progressivepatriots…

Of course, it would be a shame if Whitfield stood up to the failed leadership of President Bush, and the fleecing of the American taxpayer by Corporate America.

With H.R. 1255 Whitfield once again showed failure of leadership, and cowered to the Bush Administration:

H.R. 1255, a bill that passed the house on a vote of 333-93 in the House of Representatives, was the work of a large congressional majority which believes that White House records belong ultimately to the people of the United States. When he entered office, George W. Bush issued an edict which assigned past presidents and their heirs the right to do with presidential records what they personally saw fit. This is a recipe for historically disastrous revisionism. H.R. 1255 reverses the Bush edict, returning the ownership of presidential records to the people of the United States and making them available (after a period of time) for complete and accurate, not gauzily redacted, historical research. Representative Whitfield failed to vote for this bill, prioritizing the prerogatives of those in power above the historical value of accuracy and the political value of openness.

http://www.progressivepatriots…

H.R. 1309 proved once again that Whitfield supports a move toward an authoritarian government, in another capitulation to President Bush:

H.R. 1309, a bill that has passed the House on a vote of 308-117, removes the authoritarian stain placed on the government of the United States shortly after George W. Bush took office — well, at least one of them. It used to be that citizens could access government documents through the Freedom of Information Act unless the government could affirmatively demonstrate the need for the document to remain private. George W. Bush changed that with an executive order in 2001, mandating that unless a citizen affirmatively demonstrated a lack of national security reasons for the disclosure of a document, the government could keep its documents off-limits. This is another authoritarian step in a nation founded on principles of openness and liberty. Ed Whitfield failed to vote for this bill. Rep. Whitfield made a most unfortunate stand against openness in favor of authoritarianism.

Even more disturbing are Whitfield’s failed leadership for children at home and abroad. Just look at H.R. 2620:

H.R. 2620, The Child Soldier Prevention Act, prohibits the government of the United States of America from providing military aid to any foreign government that uses child soldiers in its military, paramilitary forces, or other official or sanctioned armed groups. The Child Soldier Prevention Act also requires the Executive Branch to research and publish reports on the use of child soldiers around the world, providing important information that can be used to more effectively counter the use child soldiers.

There are some clauses that make the bill less strong than it could be. One gives the President of the United States to issue a waiver to the law when he decides that giving military aid to a government that uses child soldiers is in the interest of the United States. However, the President is required to register every such waiver, and report on the justifications for each waiver to the Senate and to the House of Representatives. Another clause permits support for armies that recruit volunteer child soldiers as young as 16 — because that’s what the U.S. Military currently does.

These clauses make the Child Soldier Prevention Act of 2007 an imperfect piece of legislation, but it’s pretty darned good, and it’s the only legislation to even address the issue. It is therefore a piece of legislation that all decent Americans ought to be willing to support, regardless of political party affiliation.

So why hasn’t Representative Whitfield offered cosponsorship of even this mild, unobjectionable bill? Something seems askew with Representative Whitfield’s priorities.

http://www.progressivepatriots…

Not only did he fail to show leadership for children around the world, but he voted against children right here at home:

Voted NO on Veto override: Extend SCHIP to cover 6M more kids.

OnTheIssues Explanation: This vote is a veto override of the SCHIP extension (State Children’s Health Insurance Program). The bill passed the House 265-142 on 10/25/07, and was vetoed by Pres. Bush on 12/12/07.

CONGRESSIONAL SUMMARY: This Act would enroll all 6 million uninsured children who are eligible, but not enrolled, for coverage under existing programs.

PRESIDENT’S VETO MESSAGE: Our goal should be to move children who have no health insurance to private coverage–not to move children who already have private health insurance to government coverage. My Administration strongly supports reauthorization of SCHIP. [But this bill, even with changes, does not meet the requirements I outlined].

http://www.ontheissues.org/Hou…

Yes, Exxon Ed Whitfield actually stood with a failed President and the Insurance Companies over even uncovered children, AMERICAN CHILDREN!!!

What a sickening disgrace!! Exxon Ed Whitfield is so out of touch with the voters of the First Congressional District of Kentucky, ITS EMBARRASSING!!!

Heather Ryan on the other hand, believes all Americans have a fundamental right to healthcare, whether the insurance companies profit from it or not:

Health care:

It is an absolute travesty that 50 million Americans struggle without health care in the wealthiest nation in the world.  What’s worse is when our representative votes against improvements in access to health services for children and the poor.  Unfortunately, these are both realities that we’ve experienced under the current leadership.  I propose that health care for every American is more important than tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy. It is time we had a representative who thinks about more than just how much money he can make when he helps pass legislation that benefits drug and insurance companies.  As the leaders of the free world, it is an embarrassment that we are the only industrialized nation that does not offer health care for our citizens.

http://www.ryanforkentucky.com…

As you can see, although Exxon Ed Whitfield has shown leadership for horses, and has followed blindly behind President Bush and the insurance companies, he has failed to show leadership in defending the very rights that generations of Americans have fought and died for. Exxon Ed Whitfield offers more of the same failed leadership, and cowardice in standing up to his party when it is wrong. Heather Ryan has already shown the courage to stand up for what is right against many in her party’s leadership on FISA. She offers courage, and new leadership for the voters of Kentucky’s First Congressional District:

Please join us in the fight to oust Exxon Ed Whitfield and replace him with a “Fighting Democrat”, who is not afraid to fight for what is right. Heather Ryan is a veteran, mother, and citizen of the First Congressional District that brings new ideas, new hope, and most of all courage to the citizens of this district. Please, help us fight for Progress, and expanded Congressional majorities here:

Best wishes everyone!!  

Rasmussen (7/9, likely voters) (6/9 in parentheses):

Chris Gregoire (D-inc): 49 (50)

Dino Rossi (R): 43 (43)

(MoE: ±4.5%)

This strikes me as the most heavily polled governor’s race in the nation, but I’m really starting to wonder why. The numbers are remarkably stable from poll to poll, not just with Rasmussen but with SurveyUSA and Elway as well. Each poll has a slightly different snapshot, probably based on how they weight their samples, but the snapshot is very similar each month. People have had their minds made up about this one since 2004.

The Terrance Group for Kirk Schuring (7/8-9, likely voters):

John Boccieri (D): 34

Kirk Schuring (R): 40

(MoE: ±4.9%)

You’re free to take this one with as many grains of salt as you’d like, but this is the first publicly-released poll of this race that I’m aware of.

Between the district’s Democratic trend, Schuring’s embarassing campaign trail gaffes, and Boccieri’s stronger fundraising pace in the first quarter, Democrats have a strong shot at picking off this open seat. I look forward to seeing the 2Q fundraising results for this race.

SSP currently rates this race as a “Tossup“.

In order so that those of you who have been reading my Oregon politics diaries can understand who these people are I have been talking about, I present the following entry.  For brevity’s sake, only statewide and congressional candidates will be discussed.

For your information, my last Oregon elections preview is here: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/7/10/12954/7313/791/549408.

Cross posted from Loaded Orygun: http://www.loadedorygun.net/showDiary.do?diaryId=1234

Statewide Offices:

US Senate (R Defending)

Incumbent: Gordon Smith

Party: Republican.

Birthdate: 05/25/1952

Hometown: Pendleton.

Experience in Current Job: 12 Years.

Previous Government Experience: Oregon State Senator 1993-1997

President, Oregon State Senate 1995-1997.

Key Interest Group Ratings:

NARAL-40%.

ACLU-57%.

Gun Owners of America-0% last year, 100% the year before that.

AFL-CIO-44%.

Did You Know: Gordon Smith’s brother Milan Dale Smith, Jr. is a federal judge, appointed by Dubya in 2006 to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Challenger: Jeff Merkley

Party: Democratic

Birthdate: 10/24/1956

Hometown: Portland.

Experience in Current Job (If an elected official): 10 Years.

Previous Government Experience: Speaker of the House, Oregon State House of Representatives, present

Representative, Oregon State House of Representatives, 1998-present.

Democratic Leader, Oregon State House of Representatives.

Key Interest Group Ratings:

NARAL-100%.

ACLU-75%.

NRA-F, every year they have rated him.

AFL-CIO-94%.

Did You Know: Among his previous work, Merkley was head of Portland Habitat for Humanity, where he successfully helped expand the program’s reach and success.

Congressional Races:

District 1 (D Defending):

Incumbent: David Wu

Party: Democratic

Birthdate: 04/08/1955

Hometown: Portland

Experience in Current Job: 10 Years

Previous Government Experience: Commissioner, Oregon Planning Commission.

Key Interest Group Ratings:

NARAL-100%.

ACLU-100%.

NRA-F.

AFL-CIO-96%.

Did You Know: David Wu was the first-ever Taiwanese-American representative.

Challenger: Joel Haugen

Party: Republican

Birthdate: 11/19/1949

Hometown: Scapoose

Experience in Current Job: N/A

Previous Government Experience: Scappoose Park and Recreation Commissioner, Scappoose Park and Recreation Commission, 2002-2004.

Key Interest Group Ratings: N/A

Did You Know: He cites as his political inspiration a Minnesota legislator by the name of John McKee.

District 2 (R Defending)

Incumbent: Greg Walden

Party: Republican

Birthdate: 01/10/1957

Hometown: Hood River

Experience in Current Job: 10 Years.

Previous Government Experience:

Senator, Oregon State Senate, 1995-1997

Representative, Oregon State House of Representatives, 1988-1995

Majority Leader, Oregon State House of Representatives, 1991-1993

Key Interest Group Ratings:

NARAL-100% last year, 35% the year before.

ACLU-17%.

NRA-A.

AFL-CIO-42%.

Did You Know: Until recently Walden owned Columbia Gorge Broadcasting, which ran five radio stations in the Columbia Gorge area.

Challenger: Noah Lemas

Party: Democratic

Birthdate: 02/16/1970

Hometown: Bend

Experience in Current Job: N/A.

Previous Government Experience: N/A.

Key Interest Group Ratings: N/A.

Did You Know: Noah has been a successful entrepreneur in the snowboard industry, building and then selling off two companies (Sunriver Snowboards and Side Effect Board Shop).

District 3 (D Defending)

Incumbent: Earl Blumenauer

Party: Democratic

Birthdate: 08/16/1949

Hometown: Portland

Experience in Current Job: 12 Years.

Previous Government Experience:

Commissioner of Public Works, Portland City Council, 1986-1996

Commissioner, Multnomah County Commission, 1978-1986

Representative, Oregon State House, 1973-1978.

Key Interest Group Ratings:

NARAL-100%.

ACLU-100%.

NRA-F.

AFL-CIO-96%.

Did You Know: Earl got his start in elected office in the 1970s as a proponent of the Right to Die, Right to Vote Constitutional amendment, which lowered the voting age to 18.

Challenger: Delia Lopez

Party: Republican

Birthdate: 02/14/1963

Hometown: Oakland (OR)

Experience in Current Job: N/A

Previous Government Experience: N/A

Key Interest Group Ratings: N/A

Did You Know: Is running in Earl’s district despite the fact that she lives in the fourth district, in which Peter DeFazio (D) is unopposed.

District 4 (D Unopposed)

Incumbent: Peter DeFazio

Party: Democratic

Birthdate: 05/27/1947

Hometown: Springfield

Experience in Current Job: 22 Years.

Previous Government Experience: Chair, Lane County Commission, 1982-1986.

Key Interest Group Ratings:

NARAL-100%.

ACLU-100%.

NRA-B.

AFL-CIO-96%.

Did You Know: In his prior life before becoming an elected official, DeFazio was a gerontologist (someone who studies the social, psychological and biological aspects of aging).

District 5 (D Open)

Democrat: Kurt Schrader

Birthdate: N/A.

Hometown: Canby.

Experience in Current Job: 6 Years.

Previous Government Experience: Senator, Oregon State Senate, 2002-present

Representative, Oregon State House of Representatives, 1996-2002

Former Chair, Canby, Oregon Planning Commission.

Key Interest Group Ratings:

NARAL-100%.

ACLU-67%.

NRA-B-.

AFL-CIO-89%.

Did You Know: Kurt has been both an organic farmer and a veterinarian.  His wife is currently chair of the Clackamas County Board of Commissioners.

Republican: Mike Erickson

Birthdate: N/A

Hometown: Salem

Experience in Current Job: N/A

Previous Government Experience: N/A

Key Interest Group Ratings: N/A

Did You Know: Erickson was the placekicker and punter for Portland State’s football team and still holds the school record for career field goals made with 32.

Statewide Offices:

Attorney General (D Unopposed)

Democrat: John Kroger

Birthdate: N/A

Hometown: Portland

Experience in Current Job: N/A

Previous Government Experience: Deputy Policy Director of Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign, legislative assistant to U. S. Representative Tom Foley (D-WA) and U. S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

Key Interest Group Ratings: N/A.

Did You Know: Kroger was a well-respected prosecutor, having won cases against defendants ranging from Mafia kingpins to Enron executives before moving to Portland to become a professor at the Lewis and Clark Law School.

Secretary of State (D Open)

Democrat: Kate Brown

Birthdate: 06/21/1960

Hometown: Portland

Experience in Current Job: 12 Years.

Previous Government Experience: Senator, Oregon State Senate, 1996-present

Representative, Oregon State House of Representatives, 1991-1996.

Key Interest Group Ratings:

NARAL-100%.

ACLU-56%.

NRA-F.

AFL-CIO-89%.

Did You Know: Kate Brown was born in Torrejon de Ardoth, Spain and grew up in Minnesota.  Before running for elective office, she was an attorney, practicing Family and Juvenile law.

Republican: Rick Dancer

Birthdate: N/A

Hometown: Eugene

Experience in Current Job: N/A

Previous Government Experience: N/A

Key Interest Group Ratings: N/A

Did You Know: Dancer’s last job was an the anchor for Eugene’s ABC affiliate, KEZI.

State Treasurer (D Open)

Democrat: Ben Westlund

Birthdate: 09/03/1949

Hometown: Bend

Experience in Current Job: 6 Years.

Previous Government Experience:

Senator, Oregon State Senate, 2002-present

Representative, Oregon State House, 1997-2002.

Key Interest Group Ratings:

NARAL-100%.

ACLU-50%.

NRA-A+ (While still a Republican)

AFL-CIO-100%.

Did You Know: In response to a number of his positions, not least of which was his fight for GLBT rights and universal health care, opposed by the Republican Party, Westlund switched from Republican to Independent in 2006 and then from Independent to Democrat last year.

Republican: Allen Alley

Birthdate: N/A.

Hometown: Lake Oswego

Experience in Current Job: N/A

Previous Government Experience: Former Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Kulongoski (D) for about a year.

Key Interest Group Ratings: N/A.

Did You Know: Alley was the co-founder and former CEO of Pixelworks, a “Semiconductor company which designs, develops and markets highly integrated system-on-a-chip solutions for broadband communications.”

Let me know what you think.

Former Gov. Jesse Ventura, reportedly eyeballing an independent run against GOP Sen. Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken, is expected to announce his decision tonight on Larry King Live. Do you think he’ll pull the trigger?

Register your opinion in the poll below the fold.

A wise man once said: “You can’t stop the Mumpower! You can only hope to contain it.”

Consider him contained:

Republican Congressional candidate Carl Mumpower has suspended his campaign to unseat incumbent Heath Shuler, saying he’ll eliminate about 80 percent of formal campaigning until at least half of the Republican leaders in the 15 counties in the 11th Congressional District commit to core party principles.

“I’m not going to be doing any fundraising or advertising-there won’t be any active campaigning for the Republican Party,” Mumpower said this morning. “I’ll put things on hold until I get party officials to commit to the principles and to the process of holding elected officials accountable.”

Needless to say, the NRCC, who once spoke glowingly about Mumpower, is now incredibly embarrassed to have handed over this district to him.

SSP rates this race as “Safe Democratic“.

This is it — our final 2Q teaser round-up before the main event. Tomorrow night at midnight is the deadline for candidates to file their fundraising reports with the FEC, and we’ll round-up all the interesting numbers in our epic quarterly chart. Also on tap for this week are SSP’s 2Q Cash Power Rankings for all the most competitive House and Senate races as well as our updated race ratings. Stay tuned.

MN-03:

     Ashwin Madia (D): ~$650K raised (rumored) $693K raised; $738K CoH (press release)

If true, that’s an absolutely stunning haul for Madia. When we get confirmation, we’ll post it.

UPDATE: I just received the press release, and Madia had a stunningly successful quarter with nearly 700K raised. I’ve updated the link above to direct to the actual filing.

PA-04:

     Jason Altmire (D-inc): $456K raised; $1.57M CoH

     Melissa Hart (R): $299K raised; $625K CoH

PA-10:

     Chris Carney (D-inc): $360K raised; $1.15M CoH

     Chris Hackett (R): $368K raised + $250K loan; $267K CoH

PA-11:

     Lou Barletta (R): >$330K raised; $320K CoH

NE-02:

     Lee Terry (R-inc): $249K raised; $617K CoH

     Jim Esch (D): >$204K raised

DE-AL:

     Jerry “Possum” Northington (D): $19K raised; $10K CoH

FL-15:

     Paul Rancatore (D): $6K raised; $5K CoH

TX-10:

     Larry Joe Doherty (D): $247K raised; $260K CoH (press release)

OR-Sen:

     Jeff Merkley (D): $1.42M raised; $560K CoH (press release)

CO-Sen:

     Mark Udall (D): $2.04M raised; $3.96M CoH

OH-16:

     Mary Jo Kilroy: $370K raised; $1.16M CoH

2Q Fundraising Results Thread | …Stood Still | How I Learned To Stop Worrying… | I Know What You Raised… | …vs. the Saucermen From Mars | Attack of the 50’… | …Glorious 2Q Reports of Raising | The Incredibly Strange Creatures… | Honey, I Shrunk the…

Richard Carter, February 24, 2008:

Well, now that Lee [Terry] has endorsed McCain, we can assume Lee wants us there for another 100 years. Lee has said “Stay the Course” more times than I can count. It is in the best interest of our troops and our nation to get our troops home, and Lee cannot be trusted to act in those best interests.

Richard Carter, July 12, 2008:

Former Democratic Congressional candidate Richard Carter endorsed Republican incumbent Lee Terry Saturday in the 2nd District race.

The move by Carter bypasses Democratic nominee Jim Esch, who defeated Carter in the May primary. Esch ran in 2006 and lost to Terry, who’s seeking his sixth term.

“I am a Democrat, but first I am an American,” Carter said. The United States faces serious problems, he continued, and “we need someone in Congress who has a real plan to deal with them.”

And this is the same guy who endorsed the “Responsible Plan“? What a dick.