2008 – Page 10 – Swing State Project

PA 05 – McCracken for Congress – Progress Report – 3/10/2008

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

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

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

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

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

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

MEDIA COVERAGE:

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

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

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

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

Kelly and Amanda with our campaign sweatshirts.

Mark B. McCracken

Your Candidate For Congress

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

Mark McCracken for Congress

ActBlue page

PA-05 – McCracken for Congress – Progress Report – 3/6/2008

This week, I came across the saying “Before you try to tell someone how much know, show them how much you care.” I think that sums up what every political candidate should do when trying to connect with voters.

Early last week, I spoke with a family in DuBois about my campaign and what they felt was the biggest problem they are facing. Without hesitation, the mother said “Mark, the rising cost of gas and heating oil is making it tough on my family.”. Another person told me when we talked about the stimulus checks that Washington will be sending out “I hope I get mine soon, I need another tank of oil to get through the cold months.”.

When you hear these two stories, do you think Washington cares and understands? Members of Congress touted when the stimulus package was passed “we’re giving back money to the people so they can go out and buy something”. The reality is that many people will use the funds to pay off existing debt or buy basic necessities. And, if everyone in Washington would be honest, the stimulus package was the incumbent members of Congress sending you a check in an election year so you’ll remember them in November.

ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL:

I am encouraged to hear from people that they are concerned about the issues I’m talking about. People are telling me they are tired of the federal government spending beyond its means and running up debt that our children and grandchildren will have to pay for. Regardless of political affiliation, citizens in the 5th district want fiscal responsibility. I am also hearing that people want a congressman who knows north central Pennsylvania and will deal with the problems of the region.

$350,000 SPENT IN 29 DAYS!!!!

The Centre Daily Times reported today that one of the Republican candidates has spent $350,000 in just 29 days of the campaign. That amounts to $12,068.96 dollars per day. Let’s put this into perspective, a person working at the current federal minimum wage of $5.85 per hour x 40 hours a week x 52 weeks in a year = $12,168 before taxes. Is this the type of person you want for your next congressman?

ENDORSEMENTS:

Our campaign was proud to announce the following endorsements during this past week: Keith Bierly former 4 term Centre County Commissioner, Mike Savage Rush Township Supervisor (Centre County), Jeff Pisarcik current second term Jefferson County Commissioner and Raymond Snyder former Mifflin County Commissioner.

FUNDRAISING:

The McCracken for Congress committee is planning a fundraising dinner in DuBois on Wednesday, March 19th. If you are interested in attending and have not received an invitation, provide your mailing address via email to mccrackenforcongress@verizon.net. Also, please tell your friends about our campaign and encourage them to visit our webpage http://www.mccrackenforcongres… where they can find a link to contribute to the campaign online via ActBlue.

QUESTIONS:

We welcome all questions from the progressive blogosphere. We feel we are in tune with the expectations of what kind of Congressman we need. Mark has the experience and desire to answer questions from 5th District residents and interested parties.

A FINAL WORD OF THANKS:

I want to thank everyone who sent along condolences on the passing of my father Blair McCracken. He was a lifelong, working man’s Democrat who fought for his country in World War II and was always a big part of my political campaigns. When I spoke with him in January and asked his advice about running for Congress, he paused for a few seconds, pointed his finger at me and said “whatever you do, if you get to Washington, don’t let them change you.”. That was the last advice he gave me and I won’t forget it.

Mark B. McCracken

Your Candidate For Congress

OR-5 (open): Repub candidate declares

OR-5 is one of the most vulnerable Democratic-held seats this cycle, as the current Democratic incumbent Darlene Hooley has decided to resign. Rep. Hooley won this swing-district, which actually has a Republican registration plurality, by typically about 10% based on her moderate voting record, and as an open seat it is being hotly contested in the Republican primary.

For more background, see my previous diary on this topic: http://www.dailykos.com/…

Today, the strongest and most well-known Republican candidate, Kevin Mannix, made his official declaration, setting off what will likely be a bloody primary on the Repubilcan side.

Update: The MSM is finally starting to report this: blog.oregonlive.com/politics/2008/03/mannix_makes_it_official_hes_r.html

as is the most prominent Oregon political blog:

www.blueoregon.com/2008/03/the-trouble-wit.html

www.blueoregon.com/2008/03/mannix-running.html

Presently, the only site mentioning this is a right-wing blog that I won’t link, especially as they don’t provide any substantive information or links, but Kevin Mannix had already announced his intention to announce “something” this morning, and it was widely anticipated that he would run, so this hardly breaking news.

However, it is worth knowing that Kevin Mannix previously represented parts of this rural/suburban/urban mixed district as a state legislator, and has run (and lost) for statewide office FOUR times previously (AGx2, Governorx2), so he has wide name recognition and conservative credentials, especially as the former head of the Oregon GOP. He will be a very strong candidate in the primary and general election.

The other declared Republican candidate, Mike Erickson, is an independently wealthy businessman who mainly self-financed a losing effort against Darlene Hooley last time, losing 54-43 in 2006. He is generally considered a fairly bland candidate without prior experience in government or elected office who has not articulated specific policy positions. This is in strong contrast to Kevin Mannix, who has made a small fortune in the past few years by pushing multiple ballot measures onto the ballot, and has a vast electoral experience of staking out conservative stances on issues.

One tidbit from the right-wing website was that Mannix apparently has a 37% edge in a head-to-head poll against Erickson, so he’s going to have to pile in a ton of his cash to make that up.

Personally, I think this contest will be a tough hold for the Democrats this fall, but it is possible. The most prominent Democrat candidate (of two), Kurt Schrader, is a pretty good candidate as a State Senator who has a good background on rural and suburban issues, and though he is more conservative than I would like, he may be a wash for Darlene votewise. For the sake of completeness, another Democrat, Steve Marks, former chief-of-staff to popular former Democratic governor John Kitzhaber, has also recently declared for this seat. He is suspected to be more progressive than Schrader, but with a far lower name recognition and a lack of an established constituency.

http://www.blueoregon.com/…

Finally, I’d like to see how the left-wing perspective on a contested primary here for the Republicans compares with what we feel about the contested primary for the Democratic presidential nomination, i.e. can a contested primary be “bad” for them in this district, but “good” for the Democrats? or are they both “bad” or “good”?

Cross-posted at dailykos:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/…

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Senate Cattle Call

It’s been a while – I think it’s time for another one of these, especially with the entry of Mark Begich into the AK-Sen. So you know what to do: Rank the senate races (as far down the list as you wish to go) in order of likelihood of flipping. Have at it!

OR-5: Dem candidate declares

OR-5 is one of the few Democratic House vacancies this cycle that will be closely contested by Republicans, as the Democratic incumbent who is retiring, Darlene Hooley, has typically won about 55-45 or tighter since she first won the seat in 1996.

With Darlene’s abrupt announcement of her retirement this month and the primary on May 20, the clock has been ticking on who will be the Democratic candidate to declare for the race, until now: State Sen. Kurt Schrader.

Sen. Schrader is a veterinarian and farmer who lives in an exurb of Portland, Canby, and who has been active in county in state politics for decades, having served on numerous county commissions and farm boards prior to becoming a state legislator in 1996. Notably, his wife is also prominent in politics as a county commissioner and it was uncertain until today which one would run for this seat.

391 House races filled 400 here we come.

Candidate filing is sailing along with lots of states now having completed candidate filings. And other than an unfortunate performance by the Texas Democratic Party we are humming along. My last update was only five days ago so yep the candidate declarations are pouring out.

Below the fold for details and once again go and take a look at the 2008 Race Tracker Wiki.

***I have included Cook PVI numbers where possible after blogger requests to do so!***

Lots of House races now have Democratic candidates that have bobbed up in the last week:

CA-19 – R+10,

LA-04 – R+7,

NE-01 – R+11,

NV-02 – R+8.2,

SC-02 – R+9,

So 391 races filled! This of course includes 233 districts held by Democratic Congresscritters.

But we also have 158 GOP held districts with confirmed Democratic opponents.

So here is where we are at (GOP Districts):

Districts with confirmed candidates – 158

Districts with unconfirmed candidates – 1

Districts with rumoured candidates – 14

Districts without any candidates – 22

Filing closed – No Democratic candidate – 7

The GOP held districts with confirmed Democratic challengers are as follows:

AL-01 – R+12,

AL-03 – R+4,

AL-04 – R+16,

AK-AL – R+14,

AZ-01 – R+2,

AZ-02 – R+9,

AZ-03 – R+6,

AZ-06 – R+12,

AR-03 – R+11,

CA-03 – R+7,

CA-04 – R+11,

CA-19 – R+10,

CA-21 – R+13,

CA-24 – R+5,

CA-25 – R+7,

CA-26 – R+4,

CA-40 – R+8,

CA-41 – R+9,

CA-42 – R+10,

CA-44 – R+6,

CA-45 – R+3,

CA-46 – R+6,

CA-48 – R+8,

CA-49 – R+10,

CA-50 – R+5,

CA-52 – R+9,

CO-04 – R+9,

CO-06 – R+10,

CT-04 – D+5,

DE-AL – D+7,

FL-01 – R+19,

FL-04 – R+16,

FL-05 – R+5,

FL-07 – R+3,

FL-08 – R+3,

FL-09 – R+4,

FL-10 – D+1,

FL-12 – R+5,

FL-13 – R+4,

FL-14 – R+10,

FL-15 – R+4,

FL-18 – R+4,

FL-21 – R+6,

FL-24 – R+3,

FL-25 – R+4,

GA-01 – R+?,

GA-09 – R+?,

GA-10 – R+?,

ID-01 – R+19,

IL-06 – R+2.9,

IL-10 – D+4,

IL-11 – R+1.1,

IL-13 – R+5,

IL-14 – R+5,

IL-15 – R+6,

IL-16 – R+4,

IL-19 – R+8,

IN-03 – R+16,

IN-04 – R+17,

IN-05 – R+20,

IN-06 – R+11,

IA-04 – D+0,

IA-05 – R+8,

KS-01 – R+20,

KS-04 – R+12,

KY-01 – R+10,

KY-02 – R+12.9,

KY-04 – R+11.7,

LA-01 – R+18,

LA-04 – R+7,

LA-06 – R+7,

MD-01 – R+10,

MD-06 – R+13,

MI-02 – R+9,

MI-04 – R+3,

MI-07 – R+2,

MI-09 – R+0,

MI-11 – R+1.2,

MN-02 – R+2.7,

MN-03 – R+0.5,

MN-06 – R+5,

MO-02 – R+9,

MO-06 – R+5,

MO-07 – R+14,

MO-09 – R+7,

MS-01 – R+10,

MS-03 – R+14,

MT-AL – R+11,

NE-01 – R+11,

NE-02 – R+9,

NV-02 – R+8.2,

NV-03 – D+1,

NJ-03 – D+3.3,

NJ-04 – R+0.9,

NJ-05 – R+4,

NJ-07 – R+1,

NJ-11 – R+6,

NM-01 – D+2,

NM-02 – R+6,

NY-13 – D+1,

NY-23 – R+0.2,

NY-25 – D+3,

NY-26 – R+3,

NY-29 – R+5,

NC-03 – R+15,

NC-05 – R+15,

NC-06 – R+17,

NC-08 – R+3,

NC-09 – R+12,

NC-10 – R+15,

OH-01 – R+1,

OH-02 – R+13,

OH-03 – R+3,

OH-04 – R+14,

OH-05 – R+10,

OH-07 – R+6,

OH-08 – R+12,

OH-12 – R+0.7,

OH-14 – R+2,

OH-15 – R+1,

OH-16 – R+4,

OK-05 – R+12,

PA-03 – R+2,

PA-05 – R+10,

PA-06 – D+2.2,

PA-09 – R+15,

PA-15 – D+2,

PA-16 – R+11,

PA-18 – R+2,

PA-19 – R+12,

SC-01 – R+10,

SC-02 – R+9,

TX-03 – R+17,

TX-04 – R+17,

TX-06 – R+15,

TX-07 – R+16,

TX-08 – R+20,

TX-10 – R+13,

TX-12 – R+14,

TX-13 – R+18,

TX-19 – R+25,

TX-24 – R+15,

TX-26 – R+12,

TX-31 – R+15,

TX-32 – R+11,

VA-02 – R+5.9,

VA-04 – R+5,

VA-05 – R+6,

VA-06 – R+11,

VA-07 – R+11,

VA-10 – R+5,

VA-11 – R+1,

WA-04 – R+13,

WA-08 – D+2,

WV-02 – R+5,

WI-01 – R+2,

WI-06 – R+5,

WY-AL – R+19,

The following GOP held districts have a candidate that is expected to run but is yet to confirm:

AL-02 – R+13,

The following GOP held districts have rumoured candidates – please note that some of these “rumours” are extremely tenuous!

FL-06 – R+8,

GA-03 – R+?,

GA-06 – R+?,

GA-07 – R+?,

GA-11 – R+?,

IL-18 – R+5.5,

NE-03 – R+23.6,

NJ-02 – D+4.0,

NY-03 – D+2.1,

OK-03 – R+18,

OK-04 – R+13,

SC-04 – R+15,

TN-07 – R+12,

UT-03 – R+22,

The following districts have not a single rumoured candidate:

AL-06 – R+25,

CA-02 – R+13,

CA-22 – R+16,

CO-05 – R+15.7,

ID-02 – R+19,

LA-05 – R+10,

LA-07 – R+7,

MI-03 – R+9,

MI-06 – R+2.3,

MI-08 – R+1.9,

MI-10 – R+4,

MO-08 – R+11,

OK-01 – R+13,

OR-02 – R+11,

SC-03 – R+14,

TN-01 – R+14,

TN-02 – R+11,

TN-03 – R+8,

UT-01 – R+26,

VA-01 – R+9,

WA-05 – R+7.1,

WI-05 – R+12,

And last but not least the list I did not want to have to include.

The following Republicans will not have a Democratic opponent in 2008:

KY-05 – R+8

TX-01 – R+17,

TX-02 – R+12,

TX-05 – R+16,

TX-11 – R+25,

TX-14 – R+14,

TX-21 – R+13,

Finally due praise to those states where we already have a full slate of house candidates – Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming.

It is also interesting to note that we have only one race left to fill in Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. Thats 27 states with a full slate, and 13 states with one race to fill! That is more than 80% of the states with a full or nearly full slate of candidates 8 1/2 months before election day, an impressive feat indeed!

Please note that in some races others at the racetracker site have confirmed candidates that I haven’t. This is because to satisfy me a confirmed candidate has either filed with the FEC, The Sec of State or has an active campaign website, or even if they come and blog and say yep I am running. Others are not so rigorous.

It is also great to see candidates in AZ-06, CA-42, FL-12, LA-06, MS-03, VA-04, VA-06 and WI-06; 8 of 10 districts we did not contest in 2006! Of the other 2 TX-11 will again go uncontested whilst AL-06 does not currently have a Democratic candidate.

We were on track to beat the 425 races we contested in 2006 but with the Texas unfilled races it now seems unlikely.

*** Tips, rumours and what not in the comments please.***

Coattails, Coattails.

These days, many of us in the blogosphere are turning our attention to the coattail effect in this year’s election. I’ll leave all the presidential speculation to every other blog out there, but I wanted to open up the floor to discuss the effect of gubernatorial and senatorial candidates on congressional and state-legislature races. Who hurts? Who helps? I can’t help but speculate that some down-ballot candidates in Minnesota are waiting with bated breath to see how much of a liability Al Franken turns out to be. And I definitely foresee Mark Warner helping down-ticket Dems in Virginia win new seats in the U.S. House and in state and local offices. Got any other observations and insights? I yield the floor!

386 races filled 400 here we come!

Candidate filing is sailing along with lots of states now having completed candidate filings. And other than a truly woeful performance by the Texas Democratic Party we are humming along. My last update was only five days ago so yep the candidate declarations are pouring out.

Below the fold for details and once again go and take a look at the 2008 Race Tracker Wiki.

***I have included Cook PVI numbers where possible after blogger requests to do so!***

Lots of House races now have Democratic candidates that have bobbed up in the last few weeks:

FL-18 – R+4,

IN-05 – R+20,

MT-AL – R+11,

PA-19 – R+12,

VA-04 – R+5,

So 386 races filled! This of course includes 233 districts held by Democratic Congresscritters.

But we also have 153 GOP held districts with confirmed Democratic opponents.

So here is where we are at (GOP Districts):

Districts with confirmed candidates – 153

Districts with unconfirmed candidates – 0

Districts with rumoured candidates – 18

Districts without any candidates – 24

Filing closed – No Democratic candidate – 7

The GOP held districts with confirmed Democratic challengers are as follows:

AL-01 – R+12,

AL-03 – R+4,

AL-04 – R+16,

AK-AL – R+14,

AZ-01 – R+2,

AZ-02 – R+9,

AZ-03 – R+6,

AZ-06 – R+12,

AR-03 – R+11,

CA-03 – R+7,

CA-04 – R+11,

CA-21 – R+13,

CA-24 – R+5,

CA-25 – R+7,

CA-26 – R+4,

CA-40 – R+8,

CA-41 – R+9,

CA-42 – R+10,

CA-44 – R+6,

CA-45 – R+3,

CA-46 – R+6,

CA-48 – R+8,

CA-49 – R+10,

CA-50 – R+5,

CA-52 – R+9,

CO-04 – R+9,

CO-06 – R+10,

CT-04 – D+5,

DE-AL – D+7,

FL-01 – R+19,

FL-04 – R+16,

FL-05 – R+5,

FL-07 – R+3,

FL-08 – R+3,

FL-09 – R+4,

FL-10 – D+1,

FL-12 – R+5,

FL-13 – R+4,

FL-14 – R+10,

FL-15 – R+4,

FL-18 – R+4,

FL-21 – R+6,

FL-24 – R+3,

FL-25 – R+4,

GA-01 – R+?,

GA-09 – R+?,

GA-10 – R+?,

ID-01 – R+19,

IL-06 – R+2.9,

IL-10 – D+4,

IL-11 – R+1.1,

IL-13 – R+5,

IL-14 – R+5,

IL-15 – R+6,

IL-16 – R+4,

IL-19 – R+8,

IN-03 – R+16,

IN-04 – R+17,

IN-05 – R+20,

IN-06 – R+11,

IA-04 – D+0,

IA-05 – R+8,

KS-01 – R+20,

KS-04 – R+12,

KY-01 – R+10,

KY-02 – R+12.9,

KY-04 – R+11.7,

LA-01 – R+18,

LA-06 – R+7,

MD-01 – R+10,

MD-06 – R+13,

MI-02 – R+9,

MI-04 – R+3,

MI-07 – R+2,

MI-09 – R+0,

MI-11 – R+1.2,

MN-02 – R+2.7,

MN-03 – R+0.5,

MN-06 – R+5,

MO-02 – R+9,

MO-06 – R+5,

MO-07 – R+14,

MO-09 – R+7,

MS-01 – R+10,

MS-03 – R+14,

MT-AL – R+11,

NE-02 – R+9,

NV-03 – D+1,

NJ-03 – D+3.3,

NJ-04 – R+0.9,

NJ-05 – R+4,

NJ-07 – R+1,

NJ-11 – R+6,

NM-01 – D+2,

NM-02 – R+6,

NY-13 – D+1,

NY-23 – R+0.2,

NY-25 – D+3,

NY-26 – R+3,

NY-29 – R+5,

NC-03 – R+15,

NC-05 – R+15,

NC-06 – R+17,

NC-08 – R+3,

NC-09 – R+12,

NC-10 – R+15,

OH-01 – R+1,

OH-02 – R+13,

OH-03 – R+3,

OH-04 – R+14,

OH-05 – R+10,

OH-07 – R+6,

OH-08 – R+12,

OH-12 – R+0.7,

OH-14 – R+2,

OH-15 – R+1,

OH-16 – R+4,

OK-05 – R+12,

PA-03 – R+2,

PA-05 – R+10,

PA-06 – D+2.2,

PA-09 – R+15,

PA-15 – D+2,

PA-16 – R+11,

PA-18 – R+2,

PA-19 – R+12,

SC-01 – R+10,

TX-03 – R+17,

TX-04 – R+17,

TX-06 – R+15,

TX-07 – R+16,

TX-08 – R+20,

TX-10 – R+13,

TX-12 – R+14,

TX-13 – R+18,

TX-19 – R+25,

TX-24 – R+15,

TX-26 – R+12,

TX-31 – R+15,

TX-32 – R+11,

VA-02 – R+5.9,

VA-04 – R+5,

VA-05 – R+6,

VA-06 – R+11,

VA-07 – R+11,

VA-10 – R+5,

VA-11 – R+1,

WA-04 – R+13,

WA-08 – D+2,

WV-02 – R+5,

WI-01 – R+2,

WI-06 – R+5,

WY-AL – R+19,

The following GOP held districts have a candidate that is expected to run but is yet to confirm:

None at this stage.

The following GOP held districts have rumoured candidates – please note that some of these “rumours” are extremely tenuous!

AL-02 – R+13,

FL-06 – R+8,

GA-03 – R+?,

GA-06 – R+?,

GA-07 – R+?,

GA-11 – R+?,

IL-18 – R+5.5,

LA-04 – R+7,

NE-03 – R+23.6,

NV-02 – R+8.2,

NJ-02 – D+4.0,

NY-03 – D+2.1,

OK-03 – R+18,

OK-04 – R+13,

SC-02 – R+9,

SC-04 – R+15,

TN-07 – R+12,

UT-03 – R+22,

The following districts have not a single rumoured candidate:

AL-06 – R+25,

CA-02 – R+13,

CA-19 – R+10,

CA-22 – R+16,

CO-05 – R+15.7,

ID-02 – R+19,

LA-05 – R+10,

LA-07 – R+7,

MI-03 – R+9,

MI-06 – R+2.3,

MI-08 – R+1.9,

MI-10 – R+4,

MO-08 – R+11,

NE-01 – R+11,

OK-01 – R+13,

OR-02 – R+11,

SC-03 – R+14,

TN-01 – R+14,

TN-02 – R+11,

TN-03 – R+8,

UT-01 – R+26,

VA-01 – R+9,

WA-05 – R+7.1,

WI-05 – R+12,

Finally due praise to those states where we already have a full slate of house candidates – Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming.

It is also interesting to note that we have only one race left to fill in Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. Thats 26 states with a full slate, and 13 states with one race to fill! That is more than 3/4 of the states with a full or nearly full slate of candidates 8 1/2 months before election day, an impressive feat indeed!

We were on track to beat the 425 races we contested in 2006 but with the Texas debacle it now seems unlikely.

*** Tips, rumours and what not in the comments please.***

Heather Ryan Video Diary #1

Here in the First District of Kentucky we have an awesome candidate to unseat Exxon Ed Whitfield. Whitfield is a McConnell clone who can’t wait to vote his stock options, and rubber-stamp every failed policy of McConnell and Bush. He doesn’t own a home in our district, and is essentially a carpet-bagger.

Heather wants to earn your support in her run against Exxon Ed Whitfield. The defeat of Whitfield would be a huge blow to the McConnell machine here in Kentucky. That is not the only good thing about supporting this race however.

Heather is an awesome grassroots Democrat that supports the ideals of our party. She will have the strength and courage to stand up with something our party seems to be lacking in Congress, a backbone!! She will fight for Democratic ideals and won’t run from them.

But why not meet Heather, and listen to what she has to say in her own words? Here is the first installment of her video diary:

Please help us in this race. I know Heather personally and have seen her dedication to her family, our country, our party, and the people of the First District of Kentucky first hand. As the fiasco with Andrew Horne has shown us all, we simply can’t depend on our national party to fight for Kentucky. We can win this seat with help, and we are already in the General election against Ed Whitfield this fall.

Please go to Heather’s site and sign up for email updates to watch this race. While there, read up on Heather and the issues she cares about:

http://www.ryanforkentucky.com…

While there, please consider supporting fellow grassroots Democrats in Kentucky that are determined to fight against Mitch McConnell and his well-oiled, well-funded machine. We are a mouse fighting a gorilla and need your support!!! You will not be disappointed in your investment in this race. We will put it to work immediately to fight the McConnell machine. We are grassroots Democrats just like yourself. Please, invest in us here:

http://www.actblue.com/page/ry…

We can and will win this race with the help of grassroots Democrats everywhere!!!

I will be keeping you updated on the newest installments of her video diary, as well as keeping you up on the hypocrisy of Ed Whitfield in the coming days. Please, join our campaign of grassroots Democrats fighting against established Repug money!!

Heather Ryan: We Need a National Emergency Plan

We all remember the chaos of Hurricane Katrina. We all remember watching our fellow citizens that desperately needed a competent response to this disaster as they were left behind. This was a huge disaster, but the fact of the matter is that it could have been handled better. The fact of the matter is that it was a disgrace that it wasn’t.

Just look at this quote from Wikipedia:

Within the United States and as delineated in the National Response Plan, disaster response and planning is first and foremost a local government responsibility. When local government exhausts its resources, it then requests specific additional resources from the county level. The request process proceeds similarly from the county to the state to the federal government as additional resource needs are identified. Many of the problems that arose developed from inadequate planning and back-up communications systems at various levels.

This way of doing things in regards to disasters was proven a complete and total failure. What if we are hit again soon with a disaster on the scale of Hurricane Katrina? Have our leaders done anything to change a fundamentally flawed system that leaves our citizens such as the ones in New Orleans behind? Are they even trying?

One candidate in Kentucky’s First District is speaking on this. Heather Ryan, Democratic candidate for Congress is calling for a National Emergency Plan:

National Preparedness: Where would you go if there was a national, state or local emergency? What would you do if severe weather hit your area? What if you lived in a mobile home or had no transportation to get to higher ground? These are serious issues that the Republican party has had 7 years to think about and plan around since the War on Terror began.

When Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast, thousands of low income people were without a plan and were abandoned by the Bush administration. When tornadoes hit Kentucky and the south on February 5th, 2008 my family and I found ourselves in the same situation. A low income family, living in a mobile home park with nowhere to go. The people who died in those storms were largely like us, they knew they were in danger but they had no plan. WE NEED A NATIONAL EMERGENCY PLAN!

Every life in our nation is precious and deserves protection against the elements and terrorist threats; not just the lives of the Republican Party’s rich donors deserve to have shelter in times of crisis. As your congressional representative, I will immediately begin work on a national emergency plan. Unlike the Republicans, who want you to be afraid, I do not believe that Fear Mongering is a plan, instead it is a tool for their re-election campaigns. I will be part of the solution – not the problem!

http://www.ryanforkentucky.com…

Mrs. Ryan is exactly right on this issue. We need more people in Congress that are in touch with the problems that face Americans on Main St., not just Wall St. We need to elect leaders like Heather to the Congress who will make sure that we develop a national emergency plan that doesn’t leave citizens and states behind when tragedy strikes.

Heather Ryan is an awesome, grassroots Democrat that is already running in the fall against Exxon Ed Whitfield in Kentucky’s First. An investment in her is an investment in increasing our Congressional majority for the next President. Won’t you make an investment in grassroots Democrats who want to fight for our party? Please, help us by going here and investing in fighting Democrats:

http://actblue.com/page/ryanfo…

We are already facing over a million dollars of special interest money in one of the poorest Congressional Districts in America. Won’t you chip in to help grassroots Democrats pull an upset in Kentucky?

Heather Ryan for Kentucky!!