Month: September 2008

Here is Part 3, the last part of my analysis of this fall’s elections in California, which will cover the races for the U.S. House, State Senate, and State Assembly seats in Southern California, and summarize which races we need to win.

Here is Part 1, which covered the presidential race and the 12 ballot measures: http://www.swingstateproject.c…

Here is Part 2, which covered the U.S. House, State Senate, and State Assembly races in Northern and Central California: http://www.swingstateproject.c…

Cross-posted at Calitics: http://calitics.com/showDiary….

Incumbents are in boldface. In the case of open seats, the party of the retiring incumbent is listed first without boldface.

U.S. HOUSE (Composition: 34 Democrats, 19 Republicans)

CA-22 (Bakersfield): McCarthy (R) – unopposed

CA-23 (Southern Central Coast): Capps (D)

CA-24 (Inner Santa Barbara/Ventura): Gallegly (R)

CA-25 (Palmdale, Big Empty): McKeon (R)

CA-27 (Western San Fernando Valley): Sherman (D)

CA-28 (Eastern San Fernando Valley): Berman (D) – unopposed

CA-29 (Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena): Schiff (D)

CA-30 (Malibu, Beverly Hills): Waxman (D) – only faces a write-in candidate

CA-31 (Hollywood): Becerra (D) – unopposed

CA-32 (Covina, Baldwin Park): Solis (D) – unopposed

CA-33 (Culver City): Watson (D)

CA-34 (Downtown L.A.): Roybal-Allard (D)

CA-35 (South Central): Waters (D)

CA-36 (Beach Cities): Harman (D)

CA-37 (South Central, Long Beach): Richardson (D) – opposed only by minor party candidates

CA-38 (Southeastern L.A. suburbs): Napolitano (D) – opposed only by a Libertarian

CA-39 (Southeastern L.A. County): Linda Sánchez (D)

CA-40 (Northern Orange County): Royce (R)

CA-43 (Ontario, San Bernardino): Baca (D)

CA-47 (Anaheim, Santa Ana): Loretta Sanchez (D)

CA-48 (Central Orange County, including Irvine): Campbell (R)

CA-49 (Temecula, Oceanside): Issa (R)

CA-51 (Imperial County, southern SD suburbs): Filner (D)

CA-53 (San Diego): Davis (D)

Races to watch:

CA-26 (Northeastern L.A. suburbs): David Dreier (R) vs. Russ Warner (D), Ted Brown (L)

Registration: R+7.73%

Profile: This is my home turf, in the northeastern L.A. suburbs. It was drawn to be red, but has been purpling recently, with a Cook PVI of only R+4. Warner is a tough challenger, though he’s at a huge cash disadvantage, 40:1 last I checked.

09/19/2008 Outlook: Likely Dreier

CA-41 (Most of San Bernardino County): Jerry Lewis (R) vs. Tim Prince (D)

Registration: R+11.96%

Profile: While it’s unlikely this district will flip, it will be interesting to see how Prince’s challenges on Lewis’s dealings with earmarks will go. I noticed this district now has a 3-star rating on DC Political Report, meaning this race will be mildly entertaining.

09/19/2008 Outlook: Strong Lewis

CA-42 (Chino, Brea): Gary Miller (R) vs. Edwin Chau (D)

Registration: R+18.28%

Profile: Here is another solidly Republican district with a Republican incumbent that could get into hot water over corruption, in this case steering funds toward an OC tollway ( http://downwithtyranny.blogspo… ), and this race has a 3-star rating on DC Political also.

09/19/2008 Outlook: Strong Miller

CA-44 (Riverside, Corona, San Clemente): Ken Calvert (R) vs. Bill Hedrick (D)

Registration: R+10.89%

Profile: I’m beginning to sound like a broken record, but here we go again: strong GOP district, GOP incumbent possibly in trouble over earmarks ( http://www.politickerca.com/al… ). Hedrick’s only real problem is money.

09/19/2008 Outlook: Strong Calvert

CA-45 (Most of Riverside County): Mary Bono Mack (R) vs. Julie Bornstein (D)

Registration: R+5.80%

Profile: While Bono Mack has seen this challenge coming, significantly outraising Bornstein, we still have a shot here from increased Latino turnout in the Coachella Valley and the highly contested AD-80 race, since that district partially overlaps this one.

9/19/2008 Outlook: Strong Bono Mack

CA-46 (Costa Mesa, Palos Verdes, Avalon): Dana Rohrabacher (R) vs. Debbie Cook (D), Ernst Gasteiger (L), Tom Lash (G)

Registration: R+13.65%

Profile: Here we are in yet another strongly Republican district, only here we have a strong Democratic challenger in Huntington Beach mayor Debbie Cook. Some pundits are finally getting around to looking at this race, with Charlie Cook now rating it “Likely Republican” ( http://www.dailykos.com/story/… ), ( http://www.politickerca.com/al… ) and DC Political giving it a 4-star rating, meaning there is going to be considerable entertainment in this race. Here are a couple of totally awesome interviews with Mayor Cook, at Open Left ( http://openleft.com/showDiary…. ) and TPM ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v… ).

09/19/2008 Outlook: Likely Rohrabacher

CA-50 (Northern San Diego suburbs): Brian Bilbray (R) vs. Nick Leibham (D), Wayne Dunlap (L)

Registration: R+11.23%

Profile: Here’s the old seat of the corrupt Uncle Duke, now held by his protégé Bilbray. The DCCC has targeted this race ( http://www.dccc.org/page/conte… ), and Leibham has been visible. If he can strongly articulate an agenda, then we will have ourselves a race here.

09/19/2008 Outlook: Likely Bilbray

CA-52 (Eastern San Diego suburbs): Duncan D. Hunter (R) vs. Mike Lumpkin (D), Michael Benoit (L) – vacated by Duncan Hunter (R)

Registration: R+13.39%

Profile: Lumpkin is a great challenger from what I heard ( http://www.calitics.com/showDi… ), though we still have a battle on our hands, since most voters that pulled the lever for Hunter in the primary thought they were voting for his retiring father and Lumpkin will need more cash here.

09/19/2008 Outlook: Strong Hunter

STATE SENATE (District size: ~846,791) (Composition: 25 Democrats, 15 Republicans)

Safe:

SD-17 (High Desert): George Runner (R)

SD-21 (Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena): Carol Liu (D) – vacated by Jack Scott (D)

SD-23 (West Side L.A., Oxnard): Fran Pavley (D) – vacated by Sheila Kuehl (D)

SD-25 (South Central, Palos Verdes): Roderick Wright (D) – vacated by Edward Vincent (D)

SD-27 (Long Beach, Avalon): Alan Lowenthal (D)

SD-29 (Eastern L.A. suburbs): Bob Huff (R) – vacated by Bob Margett (R)

SD-31 (Inland Empire, Riverside): Robert Dutton (R)

SD-33 (Most of inland Orange County): Mimi Walters (R) – vacated by Dick Ackerman (R)

SD-35 (Coastal Orange County): Tom Harman (R)

SD-37 (Most of Riverside County): John Benoit (R) – vacated by Jim Battin (R)

SD-39 (San Diego): Christine Kehoe (D)

District to watch:

SD-19 (Southern Central Coast, western L.A. suburbs): Tony Strickland (R) vs. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D) – vacated by Tom McClintock (R)

Registration: R+1.96%

Profile: Here is McClintock’s district, which we have a very good chance of picking up, with Ventura County recently obtaining a Democratic advantage in registration and with Jackson maintaining high visibility throughout the district ( http://tinyurl.com/6ehde6 ).

09/19/2008 Outlook: Toss-up

STATE ASSEMBLY (District size: ~423,388) (Composition: 48 Democrats, 32 Republicans)

Safe:

AD-35 (Santa Barbara, Oxnard): Pedro Nava (D)

AD-38 (Santa Clarita): Cameron Smyth (R)

AD-39 (San Fernando): Felipe Fuentes (D)

AD-40 (San Fernando Valley, including Van Nuys): Bob Blumenfield (D) – vacated by Lloyd Levine (D)

AD-41 (Oxnard, Malibu, Santa Monica): Julia Brownley (D)

AD-42 (Beverly Hills, West Hollywood): Michael Feuer (D)

AD-43 (Burbank, Glendale): Paul Krekorian (D)

AD-44 (Pasadena): Anthony Portantino (D)

AD-45 (East L.A.): Kevin de León (D)

AD-46 (East L.A., Huntington Park): John Pérez (D) – vacated by Fabian Núñez (D)

AD-47 (Culver City): Karen Bass (D)

AD-48 (Part of South Central L.A.): Mike Davis (D)

AD-49 (Inner Northeastern suburbs of L.A.): Mike Eng (D)

AD-50 (Bellflower): Hector De La Torre (D) – unopposed

AD-51 (Inglewood, Hawthorne): Curren Price (D)

AD-52 (Compton): Isadore Hall (D) – vacated by Mervyn Dymally (D)

AD-53 (Beach Cities): Ted Lieu (D)

AD-54 (Palos Verdes, Long Beach, Avalon): Bonnie Lowenthal (D) – vacated by Betty Karnette (D)

AD-55 (Carson, Long Beach): Warren Furutani (D)

AD-56 (Norwalk, Buena Park): Tony Mendoza (D)

AD-57 (Covina, Baldwin Park): Ed Hernandez (D)

AD-58 (Inner Eastern suburbs of L.A.): Charles Calderon (D)

AD-59 (Parts of L.A. and San Bernardino Counties): Anthony Adams (R)

AD-60 (Western Inland Empire): Curt Hagman (R) – vacated by Bob Huff (R)

AD-61 (Pomona, Ontario): Norma Torres (D) – vacated by Nell Soto (D)

AD-62 (San Bernardino, Fontana): Wilmer Carter (D) – unopposed

AD-63 (Northern and Eastern Inland Empire): Bill Emmerson (R)

AD-64 (Riverside, Palm Desert): Brian Nestande (R) – unopposed – vacated by John Benoit (R)

AD-65 (Yucca Valley, Big Bear): Paul Cook (R)

AD-66 (Temecula, Riverside): Kevin Jeffries (R)

AD-67 (Huntington Beach): Jim Silva (R)

AD-68 (Garden Grove, Costa Mesa): Van Tran (R)

AD-69 (Anaheim, Santa Ana): Jose Solorio (D)

AD-70 (Central Orange County): Chuck DeVore (R)

AD-71 (Corona, part of inland Orange County): Jeff Miller (R) – unopposed – vacated by Todd Spitzer (R)

AD-72 (Inland Northern Orange County): Michael Duvall (R)

AD-73 (San Clemente, Oceanside): Diane Harkey (R) – vacated by Mimi Walters (R)

AD-74 (Coastal Northern San Diego suburbs): Martin Garrick (R)

AD-75 (Inner Northern San Diego suburbs): Nathan Fletcher (R) – vacated by George Plescia (R)

AD-76 (Northern San Diego City): Lori Saldaña (D)

AD-77 (Most of inland San Diego County): Joel Anderson (R)

AD-79 (Southern San Diego City, Imperial Beach): Mary Salas (D)

Districts to watch:

AD-36 (Lancaster, Palmdale): Steve Knight (R) vs. Linda Jones (D) – vacated by Sharon Runner (R)

Registration: R+2.85%

Profile: While this is not a likely pickup, Jones may make this a race due to the shrinking Republican registration advantage.

9/19/2008 Outlook: Lean Knight

AD-37 (Most of Ventura, small part of L.A.): Audra Strickland (R) vs. Ferial Masry (D)

Registration: R+7.25%

Profile: This district partly overlaps SD-19 and in fact Audra Strickland is Tony Strickland’s wife (and they aren’t related to the governor of Ohio). If Hannah-Beth Jackson does well here, her GOTV efforts could spill over into this race.

9/19/2008 Outlook: Strong Strickland

AD-78 (Inner eastern suburbs of San Diego): John McCann (R) vs. Martin Block (D) – vacated by Shirley Horton (R)

Registration: D+10.48%

Profile: Block has the advantage in this race thanks to the D’s advantage in party registration.

09/19/2008 Outlook: Lean Block

AD-80 (Imperial County, eastern Riverside County): Gary Jeandron (R) vs. Manuel Perez (D) – vacated by Bonnie Garcia (R)

Registration: D+11.22%

Profile: Perez is doing very well here, and a recent poll gave him a double-digit lead. Hopefully his good performance here will spill over into CA-45, which partly overlaps this district.

09/19/2008 Outlook: Lean Perez

That’s it for all the California races. Now I will cover what we need to zero in on to win this fall, and also include how we should vote.

Ballot measures

High Priority

#1: Prop 1A: YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!

#2: Prop 6: NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!

#3: Prop 4: NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!

#4: Prop 8: NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!

#5: Prop 7: No

#6: Prop 10: No

Medium Priority

#7: Prop 2: Yes

#8: Prop 5: Undecided

#9: Prop 11: Leaning No

#10: Prop 9: No

Low Priority

#11: Prop 3: Yes

#12: Prop 12: Yes

Our priorities in the House

#1: CA-04

#2: CA-46

#3: CA-26

#4: CA-45

#5: CA-50

#6: CA-52

#7: CA-44

#8: CA-42

#9: CA-41

Our priorities in the Assembly

#1: AD-15

#2: AD-80

#3: AD-78

#4: AD-10

#5: AD-26

#6: AD-36

#7: AD-37

#8: AD-30

To summarize, if we keep CA-11 and win CA-04, we will have 35 Democrats and 18 Republicans in our House delegation. If we win SD-19, we will have 26 Democrats and 14 Republicans. If we win all the toss-up/Dem-leaning Assembly races, we will have 53 Democrats and 27 Republicans, just one short of 2/3. We’d need at least one of the 36th or 37th districts to get us there.

The Staten Island Advance:

Mayor Michael Bloomberg today endorsed City Councilman Michael McMahon in his bid to replace Rep Vito Fossella (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) in the House of Representatives.

“Staten Island and Southern Brooklyn need a strong voice in Congress to get results in transportation, health care and the economy,” Bloomberg said. “During the last seven years, Mike and I have worked together to deliver just those kind of results: Increasing ferry service, developing a workable solid waste plan after decades of stagnation, holding the line on government spending, and saving surpluses for tougher times like the ones we’re in now.

“I am proud to endorse Mike McMahon for Congress, and urge all of the voters of Staten Island and Southern Brooklyn to send him to Washington this November.”

Take it to the bank. SSP currently rates this race as Likely Democratic.

(H/T: NY-13 Blog)

Selzer & Co for the Indianapolis Star (9/14-16, likely voters, 4/20-23 in parens):

Jill Long Thompson (D): 42 (43)

Mitch Daniels (R-inc): 46 (44)

(MoE: ±4%)

Hot diggity dog! A close race? Could it really be?

Well, not if you ask Rasmussen (9/17-18, likely voters):

Jill Long Thompson (D): 40

Mitch Daniels (R-inc): 56

(MoE: ±4.5%)

Yeah, not so much.

Interestingly, both polls show an incredibly tight Presidential race: Selzer has Obama up 47-44, while Rasmussen has McCain leading 49-47. Is it time for John McCain to start taking the voters of Indiana seriously instead of giving them a perpetual brush off?

UPDATE: Mitchie D has his own internal (9/11-16, likely voters): 52-31.

(H/T: Blue Indiana)

Grove Insight for the DCCC (9/9-12, likely voters):

Andy Harris (R): 36

Frank Kratovil (D): 36

Undecided: 25

(MoE: ±4.9%)

When we last checked into this race, Andy Harris posted a 44-28 lead in his own poll from July, and Kratovil was trailing by 43-34 in an internal poll of his own from April.

It looks like that endorsement from sitting GOP Rep. Wayne Gilchrest is beginning to pay off:

The economy, access to affordable health care and cutting taxes are the three top issues according to Maryland voters. And when asked whether Congressman Gilchrest’s endorsement makes respondents more or less likely to vote for Frank Kratovil, one in four independent voters and one in three voters over the age of 60 said Gilchrest’s endorsement makes them more likely to vote for Frank Kratovil.

Grove Insight for EMILY’s List (9/8-10, likely voters):

Betsy Markey (D): 47

Marilyn Musgrave (R-inc): 38

(MoE: ±4.9%)

This is the third poll we’ve seen showing Musgrave behind; an internal Markey poll from May had Musgrave trailing by seven, and a recent SurveyUSA poll confirmed that spread. In fact, the only poll we’ve seen of this race with Musgrave ahead was an internal poll conducted for her campaign in March that pegged her lead at five points.

One thing worth noting about the poll, though: It was conducted before a recent kerfluffle over highly charged ads by Musgrave alleging ethics violations by Markey during her time spent as an aide to Sen. Ken Salazar. There’s also this:

However, the partisan edge among self-identified Republicans in the poll is smaller than the party’s advantage in voter registration numbers and historic turnout trends, suggesting GOP voters might be under-represented in the poll. The Republican identification edge over Democrats was 9 points in the poll, compared to 13 points in current registration numbers in the 4th Congressional District and 17 points in the 2004 and 2006 election turnout numbers.

SSP currently rates this race as a Tossup.

I tell you, I’m just dumbfounded:

A senior federal official, fearful of incurring a congressman’s wrath, sent subordinates on a mad dash earlier this year to retrieve a certified letter demanding payment of $5,773 for starting a fire that burned 20 acres of a national forest.

Mark Rey, undersecretary of agriculture for natural resources, said he didn’t want U.S. Rep. Henry Brown to receive the March 12 letter before he testified before a U.S. House committee on which the South Carolina Republican sits.

“I’d just as soon have him not take a chunk of hide out of me,” Rey said Wednesday.

Wow. Just wow. What kind of fucking banana republic bullshit is this? This is the sort of thing that must warm Dick Cheney’s corpse of a heart: A federal official responsible for enforcing the law lets a powerful congressman off the hook to avoid getting grilled in a congressional hearing. In his own words:

Rey defended his decision to intercept the letter as “a reasonable precaution” to prevent Brown from “stewing on it while he’s sitting up there on the dais” of the U.S. House Natural Resources subcommittee, which oversees management of national parks and forests.

What. The. Fuck. It’s now reasonable to ignore the law to save your own hide? I guess that’s been the Cheney Doctrine for the past eight years, so it should be little surprise that an incompetent, amoral bureaucrat would follow that path. What’s more, Brown didn’t just get his penalty reduced, he got the law changed:

As a result of Brown’s case, the Forest Service in June rewrote a criminal code to make it more difficult to prosecute people who negligently set fires on federal land – about 80 fires a year in the South alone.

“It will be much harder for us to go after people who allow fires to escape from their property onto the national forests,” said Jack Gregory, who was the Forest Service’s top law enforcement agent in the 13 Southern states at the time of Brown’s 2004 fire.

Not a surprise for a guy who clearly believes he’s above the law:

“I was so taken aback that I’d be treated so impersonal – like I was some kind of crook,” Brown said Wednesday. “Those were criminal charges that were filed against me. I felt like I was the victim.” …

Brown then went on a personal crusade in which he complained about his penalty in numerous e-mails, letters and phone exchanges with U.S. Forest Service employees in Washington, South Carolina, New Mexico and elsewhere.

Unsurprisingly, a whistleblower complaint charging Brown with obstruction of justice was dropped. We can only hope that Brown’s opponent this year, Linda Ketner, can make an issue of his special privileges and law-breaking ways, because in Dick Cheney’s world, there’s just no accountability.

(Thanks to vicupstate for the great find.)

The Swing State Project is moving its rating of the race for Pennsylvania’s 11th District from “Lean Democratic” to “Tossup“.

A number of factors contribute to our decision here, not the least of which were three consecutive polls showing Democratic incumbent Paul Kanjorski trailing Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta. The DCCC released a poll of their own showing Kanjorski leading, but only with 48% of the vote — under the 50% bubble of vulnerability for an incumbent.

Barletta challenged Kanjorski in 2002 — not a great year for Democrats — and lost by a 56-42 margin. While it’s easy to dismiss Barletta out of hand because of that loss, it’s clear that in the interim years, Barletta has built a stronger profile, while Kanjorski has mired himself in controversy and gaffes. First there was the $10 million in earmarks that Kanjorski delivered to a failed anthracite technology company that was run by his relatives, then some inartful comments about the Iraq War that the GOP seized upon, and most recently, a disastrously bumbling interview with CBS on the subject of a controversial $5.6 million earmark to build a parking garage for a vacant office building (the “Kanjorski Center”) in his hometown of Nanticoke.

For his part, Barletta built a profile as a populist, anti-immigration crusader as mayor of Hazleton — an issue with some currency in this culturally conservative, working-class district. He has continued a populist theme on the campaign trail, hammering Kanjorski for spending campaign cash on limousine services “while hardworking district residents suffer.”

Money is the least of Kanjorski’s problems. He held a $2.2 million to $322K cash-on-hand advantage over Barletta, and has been saturating the airwaves since the early summer with ads. The DCCC and the National Association of Realtors continue to spend heavily in his defense, as well — but we can take this as an indication of something seriously wrong for an incumbent with such a wide financial advantage.

The word that’s been most often used to describe Kanjorski’s campaign skills is “rusty”. Well, we’re not really seeing the rust shaking off. This is one of the few districts where a Republican is beating the change drum and seeing some measure of success.

Here at Whitfield Trucking, business was getting slow. We couldn’t understand why so many Kentuckians who were suffering with high gas prices would object so much to us driving an empty tractor-trailer around the First Congressional District of Kentucky. Do they not own hundreds of thousands of dollars in Exxon and Chevron stock like we do? Why would they object to us getting rich off their pain?

Well, to figure out how to turn our business fortunes around, our CEO Exxon Ed Whitfield decided to meet with the wisest business mind he knew:

He told us we should not be driving an empty tractor-trailer around. He said that we simply must start delivering for the citizens of this district.

Luckily for us, he pointed out that Whitfield Trucking HAS delivered much more than our empty tractor-trailer would suggest. We hadn’t realized it, but our little company has delivered plenty. We have delivered a myriad of failed policies, lovingly rubber-stamped for President Bush that has

made us rich while our district has fallen further behind and our economy has crashed into the ditch. Just look at what all we have delivered in our once empty tractor-trailer. First we delivered for President Bush, and the Credit Card Companies:

Voted YES on Bankruptcy Overhaul requiring partial debt repayment.

Vote to pass a bill that would make it easier for courts to change debtors from Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which allows most debts to be dismissed, to Chapter 13, which requires a repayment plan.

Reference: Bill sponsored by Gekas, R-PA; Bill HR 333 ; vote number 2001-25 on Mar 1, 2001

http://www.ontheissues.org/Hou…

Then, we delivered the Bush Administration Energy Policy written by Dick Cheney, and the Energy Companies, which has led to record prices for our fellow Americans:

Voted YES on passage of the Bush Administration national energy policy.

Vote to pass a bill that would put into practice a comprehensive national policy for energy conservation, research and development. The bill would authorize o $25.7 billion tax break over a 10-year period. The tax breaks would include $11.9 billion to promote oil and gas production, $2.5 billion for “clean coal” programs, $2.2 billion in incentives for alternative motor vehicles, and $1.8 billion for the electric power industry and other businesses. A natural gas pipeline from Alaska would be authorized an $18 billion loan guarantee. It would add to the requirement that gasoline sold in the United States contain a specified volume of ethanol. Makers of the gasoline additive MTBE would be protected from liability. They would be required though to cease production of the additive by 2015. Reliability standards would be imposed for electricity transmissions networks, through this bill. The bill would also ease the restrictions on utility ownership and mergers.

Reference: Energy Policy Act of 2004; Bill HR 4503 ; vote number 2004-241 on Jun 15, 2004

http://www.ontheissues.org/Hou…

Then, we delivered for the People’s Republic of Communist China:

Voted NO on deterring foreign arms transfers to China.

To authorize measures to deter arms transfers by foreign countries to the People’s Republic of China, A YES vote would grant the President the ability to place sanctions on any individual or country that violates the arms embargo, including:

Denial of participation in cooperative research and development

Prohibition of ownership and control of any business registered as a manufacturer or exporter of defense articles or services

Removal of all licenses relative to dual-use goods or technology

Prohibition of participation of any foreign military sales

Reference: East Asia Security Act; Bill HR 3100 ; vote number 2005-374 on Jul 14, 2005

http://www.ontheissues.org/Hou…

Then, we delivered for the beloved lobbyists that fund our campaigns:

Voted NO on requiring lobbyist disclosure of bundled donations.

Amends the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to require a registered lobbyist who bundles contributions totaling over $5,000 to one covered recipient in one quarter to:

file a quarterly report with Congress; and

notify the recipient.

“Covered recipient” includes federal candidates, political party committees, or leadership PACs [but not regular PACs].  

Reference: Honest Leadership and Open Government Act; Bill H R 2316 ; vote number 2007-423 on May 24, 2007

http://www.ontheissues.org/Hou…

Then, we delivered for President Bush, our hero in helping him to shred the worthless piece of paper known as the Constitution:

Voted NO on requiring FISA warrants for wiretaps in US, but not abroad.

Reference: RESTORE Act; Bill H.R.3773 ; vote number 08-HR3773 on Mar 14, 2008

Voted NO on Veto override: Congressional oversight of CIA interrogations.

Bill Veto override on H.R. 2082 ; vote number 08-HR2082 on Mar 11, 2008

Voted YES on allowing electronic surveillance without a warrant.

Reference: Update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978; Bill H.R.5825 ; vote number 2006-502 on Sep 28, 2006

Voted YES on continuing intelligence gathering without civil oversight.

Reference: Intelligence Authorization Act; Bill HR 5020 resolution H RES 774 ; vote number 2006-108 on Apr 26, 2006

http://www.ontheissues.org/Hou…

As you can see, our tractor-trailer is far from empty. It is filled with all the wonderful offerings of a failed President, rubber-stamped by a failed Congressman. We are hoping to keep this work going, so Congressman Whitfield’s failed staff can continue making over twice the median income of working families in this district working for him. It is the least we can do for the voters of this district, quite literally. Please support Exxon Ed Whitfield and keep the dream of Whitfield Trucking alive, so we can continue to get rich.

Please support Heather Ryan in Kentucky’s First, and close the doors on Whitfield Trucking for good!!:

Anyone donating $30 or more recieves a free Ryan for Congress T-Shirt!!

Research 2000 for The Great Orange Satan (9/15-17, likely voters, 7/14-16 in parens):

Mark Begich (D): 50 (47)

Ted Stevens (R-inc): 44 (45)

(MoE: ±4%)

I never underestimate the ability of Republicans to rally around their own — especially in Alaska — but things are still looking good for Begich. How about the House race?

Ethan Berkowitz (D): 53 (51)

Don Young (R-inc): 39 (40)

(MoE: ±4%)

Looking even better. Kos also tested Berkowitz against Sean Parnell, and found that Berko held a 48-43 lead — a sharp contrast with other recent polls that indicated that Parnell would have an edge in a general election match-up.

But still, I want to extend a warm thank you to Sean Parnell and the Club for Growth for gingerly snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. A job well done, you nuts.

Bonus finding: In the Presidential race, McCain has a 55-38 lead over Obama.