Tag: MS-01

Following yesterday’s massive infusion of cash ($700,000) by the DCCC in Mississippi, the NRCC has mustered its response.

Brace yourselves:

  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.

May is going to be an exciting month for political junkies.  We’ve got a cornucopia of races to watch this month: two special elections, and a number of competitive House, Senate and Gubernatorial primaries.

Let’s take a look at the month ahead:

May 3: This Saturday, Louisiana voters will head to the polls in two congressional special elections:  

• LA-06: Democratic state Rep. Don Cazayoux will square off with “newspaper editor” Woody Jenkins to fill the open seat of ex-Rep. Richard Baker.  In this hotly contested race, Democrats have been blessed with the better candidate, stellar fundraising, and favorable polls.  However, the NRCC and their allies have dumped hundreds of thousands of dollars on ads painting Cazayoux as a serial tax raiser and a Barack Obama disciple.

  We’ll find out on Saturday night if any of these attacks have made an impact.  The most recent poll, though, shows Cazayoux with a nine point lead.  SSP will be liveblogging the results, so be sure to check with us then.  There will also be a special election to replace Bobby Jindal in LA-01, but this one should be a solid lock for the GOP.

May 6: While the eyes of the nation will be fixed on the Indiana and North Carolina presidential primaries, voters in these states will also be deciding a number of other hotly-contested primaries:

• IN-Gov (D): Indianapolis architect Jim Schellinger will square off with former U.S. Rep. Jill Long Thompson for the Democratic nod against Mitch Daniels.  Schellinger’s had a big fundraising edge, but the polls here have generally been tight, with an edge for Thompson.  This one could be close.
• IN-07 (D): Despite winning a March special election to fill the vacant seat created by his grandmother’s passing, Rep. Andre Carson faces a competitive primary for the Democratic slot on the November ballot.  His strongest rival is former state Health Commissioner Woody Myers, who has lent his campaign a substantial amount of money.  State Reps. David Orentlicher and Carolene Mays will also be on the ballot.
• NC-Gov: Democrats will decide a contentious primary between Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue and State Treasurer Richard Moore for the gubernatorial nomination.  Perdue has had the advantage in nearly all of SurveyUSA’s tracking polls here.

  Republicans will also decide a primary for this office between Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory and state Sen. Fred Smith (plus two also-rans).  In the most recent SUSA poll, Smith was only four points behind the front-runner McCrory.

• NC-Sen (D): State Senator Kay Hagan and businessman Jim Neal will face off for the Democratic nomination to challenge GOP Sen. Elizabeth Dole.  While this contest was effectively tied for a while, Hagan’s large fundraising edge on Neal has been enough to buy her a 20-point lead in the latest poll.
• NC-03 (R): For a while, it looked like this primary might have been as heated as Andy Harris’ successful overthrow of anti-war moderate GOP Rep. Wayne Gilchrest in Maryland.  But Onslow County Commissioner Joe McLaughlin’s campaign against Rep. Walter Jones hasn’t gotten a lot of fundraising traction.  It will still be worth watching to see just how tolerant GOP primary voters will be of Jones’ anti-war stance.
• NC-10 (R): While I don’t expect Air Force vet Lance Sigmon to topple the odious Patrick McHenry in the GOP primary, his campaign drew a fair bit of attention for his aggressive attacks on McHenry’s antics in Iraq (calling a security worker a “two-bit security guard”, and compromising troop safety by posting a video of an attack in the Green Zone).  Democrats have a strong candidate against McHenry for the November election — veteran and hero Daniel Johnson — so Sigmon’s showing might give us a good reading on how damaging McHenry’s behavior has been to his re-election chances in this R+15 district.

May 13: Another huge day for political watchers, with hot races in Mississippi and Nebraska.

• MS-01: The big event.  Democratic Prentiss County Chancery Clerk Travis Childers has waged a startlingly strong campaign for the open seat left behind earlier this year when Roger Wicker was appointed to the Senate.  Despite running in an R+10 district and being at a financial disadvantage, Childers edged GOP candidate and Southaven Mayor Greg Davis by a 49%-46% margin in the April 22 special primary election.  Davis and the NRCC have fought back hard, trying to tie Childers to Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama.  But the DCCC is playing to win, and they’ve invested a whopping $1.1 million in this race.  This one should be close.
• NE-Sen (D): Here’s something rare — a Democratic primary for a statewide office in Nebraska.  Businessman and former Republican Tony Raimondo will compete with former congressional candidate Scott Kleeb for the Democratic nod against the Republican front-runner, Mike Johanns.
• NE-02 (D): GOP Rep. Lee Terry had a surprisingly close re-election campaign in 2006, winning his district by less than 10 points against political neophyte Jim Esch.  Now, Esch is back for a rematch, but will first meet with Iraq War vet Richard Carter for the Democratic nomination.  Between Esch’s name recognition and Carter’s weak fundraising, Esch is in a good position to win here.

May 20: There are four primaries in Kentucky and Oregon worth keeping an eye on.

• KY-Sen (D): Former gubernatorial candidate and businessman Bruce Lunsford and businessman Greg Fischer will face off against a slew of also-rans for the Democratic nomination against GOP obstructionist-in-chief Mitch McConnell.  Lunsford has never been able to win a Democratic primary, but this might be his chance.  Polls have shown him with a large lead against Fischer, whose campaign has yet to catch fire.
• KY-02 (D): Democrats will go to the polls to decide between state Sen. David Boswell and Daviess County Judge-Executive Reid Haire for the Democratic nomination to contest this open seat left behind by the retiring Rep. Ron Lewis.  Boswell was seen as the early front-runner, but his fundraising has been extremely sluggish ($30K to Haire’s $200K in the first quarter).  Still, Boswell might have a chance based on name recognition alone.
• OR-Sen (D): Another big event, with state House Speaker Jeff Merkley and activist Steve Novick competing for the Democratic nomination against Gordon Smith.  Novick has kept this a competitive race, airing quirky ads and winning several key newspaper endorsements.
• OR-05: With the retirement of Rep. Darlene Hooley (D), there are tight primary contests on both sides to succeed her.  Democrats will pick between former Gov. Kitzhaber aide Steve Marks and state Sen. Kurt Schrader.  Marks has picked up the larger share of endorsements so far, while Schrader appears to be the DCCC’s preferred candidate. (Update: As Kari notes in the comments, my statement about endorsements here is a bit off the mark.  Schrader’s been no slouch in this department at all.  My mistake!)

  On the GOP side, voters will choose between ’06 nominee and businessman Mike Erickson and former Gov. candidate Kevin Mannix.

There you have it.  May will be a month chock full of races worth watching.  SSP will aim to liveblog as many of these races as we can when the results come in.

This is Griff from Childers For Congress HQ in Booneville. I wanted to let you all know how grateful we are for the generous support we've received from y'all. This thing has turned into a real streetfight.

The fact is that the Republicans seem to have this talent for creating quagmires. . .first Iraq, now Mississippi's 1st CD. Y'all know I can't help this: give the NRCC and the Davis campaign heartburn by donating some more. Add a penny for the internet or put “ssp” somewhere on the form!

Thanks again for all your help. Keep contributing, keep fighting. We can take this district back now!

I am as proud of the Swing State Project community today as I ever have been. Some time late Wednesday, we crashed past our fundraising goal of $2300 for Travis Childers. And as promised, I threw in my $250 matching contribution – though you guys were so generous yesterday that you busted right through my cap! All told, our take for the day was $667 – our biggest single day – for a grand total of $2585 from 57 contributors. I had set next Monday as our deadline, yet we’ve reached this point in little over two days. I am in awe at how deep SSP dug. Truly. You are mensches, all.

Though we’ve blown past our target, I do want to make one final ask. If you haven’t given yet, or if you’ve just dug up $5 out of your sock drawer you didn’t know you had, please consider making a donation. And here’s why:

Ladies and gentlemen, we present to you the greatest secret weapon yet developed in the War on Republicans, the Trent Thompson 72-Hour Program!

Over the last year, you’ve all gotten to know SSP Contributing Editor Trent Thompson. Trent, as you may be aware, hails from Alabama, and he’s the fellow who helped introduce us to Ron Sparks. While that race didn’t pan out, Trent has been active in helping out with another campaign – yep, Travis Childers’. MS-01 is not far from where Trent goes to school, and he’s volunteered there in his spare time. (He even dragged a carload of his buddies with him one weekend.)

Right now, Trent’s in the midst of exams. His last one is on May 9th. Three minutes after it ends, Trent will be hightailing it across the state line to hook up with the Childers campaign once more. He’ll spend every waking minute from then until election night knocking on doors, making phone calls, handing out lit, driving vans and – because he just can’t help it – charming the local women-folk.

Now, Trent is a skinny bastard, but he does need to eat something. He’ll also need plenty of Jolt Cola and some gas money. We’re hopeful that the Childers campaign will be able to reimburse him – after all, it’s not easy shelling out when you’re a college student. So if you give today, your money will (at least indirectly) be helping to pay the way for a damn fine political operative (and blogger, I might add) to kick some serious GOP ass for an extended long weekend. Okay, so it’s more than 72 hours – but that’s a good thing! Seriously, when it comes to crunch time, Trent Thompson is the kind of guy every campaign wants in their corner. Childers is lucky to have him, and we’re lucky we can help send him.

I promise that this is my very last nag for Travis Childers. We’ve all done our parts, and then some. But let’s do one final burst for Travis – and for Trent. Thank you!

Holy smokes.  This should make the chocolate milk come spurting out of Tom Cole’s nose.

The DCCC just made a huge independent expenditure in Mississippi today, to the tune of $702,642.

The expenditures include $350K on an ad buys hitting GOP candidate Greg Davis, and another $350K on a media buy supporting Democrat Travis Childers.  They’ve also thrown in a grand on phonebanking.

This is really huge.  The DCCC has raised the stakes quite considerably.  In total, they’ve now spent $1.1 million on the race to replace Roger Wicker.  (With $950K or so of that coming after the April 22nd special primary.)  Will the cash-strapped NRCC follow suit?

They probably can’t afford not to.

Special election: 5/13.

PS: We are only $40 short of our $2300 goal for Travis Childers.  Will a hero emerge and put us over the top?  Remember, DavidNYC has pledged to match the first $250 donated today with his own contribution.  Let’s do this thing!

Here’s the deal: We’re extremely close to our goal of raising $2300 for Travis Childers, as you can see by looking at the thermometer to the right. We know many of you have already dug deep to chip in. But if you haven’t given yet – or you’re thinking about giving again – here’s a big added incentive:

I will personally double the next $250 worth of contributions – but for one day only.

That means if you give $25, it’ll be worth $50 to Travis Childers; $50 and it’s a hundred. At the end of the day, I’ll look at our haul and match it in the appropriate amount. But this offer is good only for today, so give now! Childers needs you.

Previous posts:

Childers the Populist

What a Childers Win Means for Iraq

SSP Endorses Travis Childers

Introducing Travis Childers

The NRCC’s expenditures for the day:

LA-06: $115,000 on ad buys against Don Cazayoux and $9000 on a media production.

MS-01: $12,000 on a poll and $10,000 on direct mail against Travis Childers.

The DCCC:

LA-06: $97,000 on ad buys against Woody Jenkins; $31,000 on an ad buy in support of Don Cazayoux; $33,000 on direct mail against Woody Jenkins; $3500 on field organizing for Don Cazayoux.

The DCCC has now spent $912,000 on LA-06 to the NRCC’s $436,000.  Bear in mind, though, that the NRCC has had a lot of help from the likes of the Club For Growth and Freedom’s Watch in pounding Cazayoux.  

The NRCC’s total tab in MS-01 is nearing $600K, while the DCCC has spent just over $400K in Mississippi.

On another note, you guys continue to amaze me.  Today, we smashed through our daily goal of $200 and 40 total donors for Travis Childers.  In fact, we raised $378 today from 43 total donors.  We’re not far off from our ultimate goal: $2300 for Childers.  Let’s see if we can hit the $2000 mark by the end of tomorrow on the Childers bat.

Let’s do this thing!

The netroots have been pleading with national Democrats for years: If we want to revive the Democratic brand in areas that haven’t been receptive to us for some time, then we need to harken back to our roots and tap into the deep vein of economic populism that runs through this country’s proud history. Yet over the years, too many Dems – fearful of accusations of “class warfare” – have instead sought solace in DLC “third way” politics, alienating both their base and potential converts with a naked embrace of “free” trade, bankruptcy “reform,” and tax cuts for the very wealthiest.

A handful of standout elections in 2006, however, lend a lot of credence to the blogosphere’s view of things. In particular, Jon Tester and Jim Webb won impressive victories in red territory, in large part on the strength of their populist appeals. In a must-read op-ed that appeared in the WSJ shortly after election day, Webb offered a scathing assessment of the growing economic schism in this country, and declared that Congress’s first priority had to be working “to bring true fairness back to economic life.”

Travis Childers also understands that this is job number one. His platform is an unflinching defense of the needs of ordinary Americans. On the economy:

Our leaders should have been thinking of the economic problems we face today when they passed unfair trade deals that sent our jobs overseas, gave billions in subsidies to big oil companies, ignored the home mortgage crisis, and kept spending as the deficit and national debt hit all time highs.

The social safety net:

Travis will fight to protect Social Security , oppose privatization, and expand in-home care programs for seniors.

Healthcare:

Travis Childers will fight to improve the quality of healthcare, while lowering costs for working families.  He supports expanding the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP), which will provide affordable healthcare to tens of thousands of middle-income children in Mississippi.

And these aren’t just statements plastered up on an out-of-the-way website. Childers takes this kind of talk with him on the campaign trail:

“We need to quit depending on foreign oil,” said Childers, who is also Prentiss County’s chancery clerk. “We need to start depending on ourselves and explore alternative energy sources.”

…

“It seems like everyone in Washington is concerned about everything but working-class families,” he said. “I’m concerned about working-class families. I’m concerned about north Mississippians.”

Everywhere he goes:

“We need to strip away the subsidies from ExxonMobil and Big Oil,” Childers said to a question about high gasoline prices. “They’re not going to get a lot of sympathy from me.”

It’s regular folks who have his sympathy – and that’s why Travis Childers needs our help. But as with Iraq, a Childers victory can send a clear message: that running on a populist message works. At the same time, it will help drive a stake through the heart of stale, pernicious DLC-style politics. Childers can continue the line of victories that began with Tester and Webb and show Democrats that the way to bigger majorities this fall requires that we meaningfully address the concerns of average Americans.

As you saw up above at the beginning of this post, ActBlue has deployed a new fundraising thermometer to help us keep track of our goals. (The old-schoolers among us will remember the grand old days of the Dean bats.) And it shows a welcome sign: Because SSP readers dug deep, we hit our goal of $200 today. So let’s try for two more goals today: Let’s get to (at least) 40 total contributors, and let’s add on another $200.

This is money Travis Childers can really use – no strings attached, no costs in raising it, and no time wasted on the phone dialing for dollars. So let’s get him some of this good green!

The DCCC’s been keeping busy.

Saturday night:

LA-06: $8000 in field organizing for Don Cazayoux; $8800 in media production.

MS-01: $8000 for a media buy against Greg Davis and for Travis Childers; $3000 in media production.

And today:

LA-06: $4000 in field organizing for Don Cazayoux; $29,000 in direct mail against Woody Jenkins; and $1300 for media production.

MS-01: $17,000 for direct mail against Greg Davis.

Total spent to date by the DCCC in these races: $747,110 in LA-06 and $401,364 in MS-01 (with roughly $250K of that coming after the April 22nd special primary).

Will Bardwell has the audio clip on YouTube of a DCCC radio ad hitting Greg Davis for his support of Bush’s disastrous policies in Iraq and at home.  Obviously this ad is carefully targeted, but it’s reassuring to know that the big boys are delivering some well-placed punches here.

On our end, while the Swing State Project is striving to raise $2300 for Travis Childers by May 5th, we’re only $15 short of our daily goal of $200 (or $1500 total).  Will a hero emerge?  If you haven’t done so already, please consider making a donation today — anything you can manage will help a great deal.

Greg Davis is further showing the racist tent of the white suburbia Republican party. They are going back to their old tatics, scaring people. I have to wonder why they are a party, if they only way they feel they can ever win an election is not on the merits of their own positions or ideas, but on scaring people with misleading attacks on their opponents.

In this ad he slams Childers for not speaking out against Obama and not rejecting his nomination, pointing Obama’s preacher, and his bitter comments, trying to use the bitterness of the National Democratic Primary to hold on to seats. But it’s hard not to miss the underlying racism in it, and from Greg Davis, who accepted an award from White Leadership Council we can expect no less.

This ad makes me think two things. One, is that this could really back on Davis. It could fail to stoke up his conservative base completely, and it could, (and I see it going down this way), get the black vote stirred up this time and out to the polls. Last time Childers failed to win before the runoff because the black vote failed to come out, Davis won a county with a population that was almsot 50% black, and that normally leans Democratic.

It also makes me more frustrated over the negative nature of the Democratic primary. Hillary Clinton’s attacks are getting so vile and false that McCain is starting to repeat them to hurt Obama. She’s splintering our base into pieces, hurting our likely candidate with moderates, and at the same time ensuring that if she is the nominee many Obama supporters will not likely stomach voting for her, she would depress Democratic turnout. So she’s doing herself no favors, she’s not even looking ahead in the long run, and just trying to scrape through the primary no matter what the costs.

Here’s the ad as it was posted on Chris Cillizza’s “The Fix”, which is a really good blog, but I would only suggest checking it every month or so because he doesn’t post profolicly. http://blog.washingtonpost.com…

I, as a white, southern male, the most suspect group, found that the it was sly bit of racism, and a fear ad. An ad trying to tie the local candidate to some scary, offensive outta town guy trying to destroy your way of life, ad. My thought, though, is just how much people will buy into this one, trying to connect Childers to a retired Pastor living a thousand miles to the north of the district, a man he’s never even met, is suspect at best, and an accusation he easily defend. Mississippi has come a long way since 1959, when everyone from Memphis to Jackson called Faulkner “nigger lovin Willie”, for saying that we should gradually integrate, starting with the next generation, and when white men got away with murdering black teenagers for absolutely no reason. But Davis has shown as candidate, that’s there’s still a big place for it, especially in the wealthy white suburbs of Memphis.