Tag: Travis Childers

• PA-Sen: Democratic internal pollsters Garin-Hart-Yang, at the behest of the DSCC, took a look at the possible Pennsylvania Senate primary between Arlen Specter and Rep. Joe Sestak. There’s no information about the dates or the MoE, but it shows Specter beating Sestak 56-16 (with 16% undecided), not much different from R2K‘s 56-11 a few weeks ago. This falls against a backdrop of coalescing conventional wisdom that Specter has, after a rocky first week, settled down into reliable Dem-ness (although Campaign Diairies offers an effective rebuttal of that idea).

• The Corrections: Two things have already changed since yesterday’s digest: Suzanne Haik Terrell, suddenly rumored to be ready to primary David Vitter, backed down and endorsed Vitter. And in California, Dianne Feinstein walked back comments about running for Governor, saying it’s “very unlikely” and that she’s tired of being asked about it.

• Senate: PPP put together a handy scorecard of all the approval ratings for Senators they’ve polled so far this year. Amy Klobuchar is tops, at 62/25, followed by Tom Coburn and Kay Bailey Hutchison. The bottom 3? Jim Bunning, Mel Martinez, and Roland Burris (at 17/62). The only other Dems in net-negative territory are the Colorado 2, Mark Udall and Michael Bennet (and that’s from that widely-poo-pooed Colorado sample).

• FL-Sen: Rep. Kendrick Meek just got two endorsements as he and state Sen. Dan Gelber battle for supremacy in their shared south Florida stomping grounds: Broward County Mayor Stacey Ritter and West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel. (Of course, Gelber may shortly be in the AG’s race instead, so this all may be moot.)

• FL-16: Speaking of the Florida AG’s race, the DCCC has a top contender in mind for the 16th: state Sen. Dave Aronberg (who instead seems likely to square off with Gelber, and 2006 gov candidate Rod Smith, in the AG’s race). Aronberg’s seat is up in 2012, and wouldn’t have to give up his Senate seat to go for FL-16, although state law would require him to give it up to run for statewide office. The DCCC is talking to St. Lucie County Commissioner Chris Craft as a backup plan.

• MS-01: Nobody’s exactly sure what “national pundits” the rumors came from, but Rep. Travis Childers quickly quashed suggestions in a recent interview that he might jump to the GOP (and the deep minority) to have an easier go in the 2010 election. (What is this, the 90s?) “Absolutely not,” he said. “I’m a Southern Democrat – I vote what’s best for Mississippi.”

• MO-Sen: Law professor Tom Schweich has publicly floated running for the Missouri GOP Senate nomination. Schweich used to be John Danforth’s chief of staff and was Ambassador for counternarcotics in Afghanistan in the Bush administration. Interestingly, the main motivation for his run that he’s putting out there is the fear (nay, likelihood) that Roy Blunt would lose the general election and that he (as sort of a Danforth proxy) offers a more appealing figure.

• VA-Gov: Former DNC chair Terry McAuliffe, who’s been demonstrating a lot of momentum in the polls lately, got another big boost: he picked up the endorsement of the SEIU today.

• NM-Gov: New Mexico’s only current statewide Republican elected official, Land Commissioner Pat Lyons, was a rumored gubernatorial candidate, especially since he’s term-limited out of his current job. In an indication of how popular the GOP brand is in New Mexico right now, Lyons decided to pass on the open seat race, instead running for an open position on New Mexico’s Public Regulation Commission.

• FL-Gov: I hadn’t even considered, with Charlie Crist bolting from Tallahassee, that Jeb! Bush might seek a return engagement as governor. After a Draft Jeb website popped up, Bush politely declined, saying that he will instead “continue to play a constructive role in the future of the Republican Party.”

• OH-Auditor: David Pepper (D), a Hamilton Co. Commissioner (and former Cinci Councilor/Cinci mayoral candidate who lost by a hair in 2005) is going to run against Ohio Auditor Mary Taylor (R). This is a crucial office because it controls a seat on the Ohio Reapportionment Board (which draws state legislative seats) and the GOP will be making a serious run at the open Secretary of State position that Jennifer Brunner is vacating (which also determines a seat on the board). Taylor says that she will announce whether she’ll run for re-election or in the GOP primary against Rob Portman for Senate later this week. (J)

• NH-01: Manchester mayor Frank Guinta has been acting like a candidate for a long time, but finally had his official kickoff event yesterday. Guinta hit every note in the libertarian book, singing the praises of tea baggers, criticizing the stimulus package, and saying that EFCA is “blatantly against” New Hampshire’s “live free or die” mentality.

• IL-06: Lost in the IL-Sen shuffle is Rep. Peter Roskam, who had occasionally been mentioned as a candidate for that (or governor). Roskam says it’s “increasingly less likely” that he’ll run for higher office, and seek to stay put instead.

• NRCC: The NRCC has launched a new wave of radio ads against theoretically vulnerable Dems in nine districts, still harping on the stimulus package, trying to tie them to John Murtha and his “airport for no one” (riffing on the “bridge to nowhere,” I suppose). Targets were Vic Snyder (AR-02), Mark Schauer (MI-07), Travis Childers (MS-01), Carol Shea-Porter (NH-01), Harry Teague (NM-02), Mike Arcuri (NY-24), Larry Kissell (NC-08), Kurt Schrader (OR-05), and Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD-AL).

• Mayors: Yet more mayoral elections in the news. Today, it’s Omaha, where there’s a faceoff between Democrat Jim Suttle and Republican Hal Daub (a former mayor and former Representative) to replaced retiring Dem mayor Mike Fahey. A recent poll had Daub up 42-39, but there may be a Democratic trend at work in Omaha (as seen in Obama’s victory in NE-02).

Roll Call:

Southaven Mayor Greg Davis (R), who lost to Childers in both the special election and in the November general election rematch, said last week that he has no interest in challenging Childers again in 2010. And now Magnolia State Republican insiders have turned their attention to GOP state Sens. Alan Nunnelee and Merle Flowers.

Nunnelee, who chairs the state Senate Appropriations Committee, acknowledged his interest in the 1st district race on Monday but said he probably won’t make a decision on a Congressional bid until after the state budgeting process is complete. …

Flowers… said it is too early to talk about whether he’d challenge the Congressman in 2010. Nunnelee said that considering the close relationship that he and Flowers have, “I can’t see any scenario where Merle and I would run against each other” in a GOP primary.

A terribly divisive GOP primary for the MS-01 special last year left Nathan Lane Greg Davis badly wounded. Childers, however, won all three of his contests against Davis with increasing margins each time (3%, 8%, and 10%) and seems to be a capable politician and a good fit for his district. Even if the GOP recruits a strong candidate, Childers will have the edge – and considerable support from the DCCC.

May has been a busy month and it is more than half over.  I have a few important things to announce this week.

1. CHANGES IN THE CAMPAIGN ORGANIZATION — We are going to make several important changes to the campaign organization this week.  These moves will bring in some new people with important knowledge, experience and expertise to the campaign and will change the roles of some people already involved with the campaign.

Henry Guthrie of DuBois will be moving from the position of Vice Chairman to Chairman of the McCracken for Congress committee.  Henry and his wife Molly have been very involved with the campaign since we began in January and I have great confidence in his political knowledge and abilities.  I worked closely with Henry in 2007 when we were both candidates for office at the county level.

Victor M. Ordonez will continue in the position of Media & Policy Advisor.  Victor brings years of political experience working in campaigns.  His prior positions have included working for Rep. Joseph Sestak (PA-07) and helping to get Senator Robert Casey Jr. elected in 2006.

Keith Bierly is coming on board as a campaign advisor.  Keith brings a wealth of knowledge to the campaign serving 12 years as a District Justice and 16 years as Centre County Commissioner.  Keith will be working on specific areas of the campaign to coordinate the efforts of the entire committee and we’re pleased to have him take this official role with the campaign.

Tim Fannin from the accounting firm of Catalano, Case, Catalano and Fannin will be taking over as Treasurer.  Running for federal office with all the required FEC and IRS filings takes a great deal knowledge.  Tim is a highly experienced accountant in the Clearfield area who has served on many boards and organizations including the Clearfield County Industrial Development Authority and the Clearfield County Economic Development Corporation among others.   With the appointment of Tim Fannin as Treasurer we are moving Milt Weisman to the position of Assistant Treasurer where he will remain involved with the campaign.

Recognizing the key role that Centre County plays in the 5th Congressional District, it is important to name someone to the position of Centre County Coordinator.   I didn’t have to look far to find someone with the credentials I was looking for.  Tim Wilson shares a passion for many of the same issues I’m stressing in the race for US Congress.  Tim is interested in alternative fuels, environmental issues, fiscal responsibility, health care reform, farmland preservation, support for public education and many of the other issues the McCracken for Congress campaign is all about.  An additional benefit of having Tim on our committee is, while he is now living in Centre County, he is originally from Jefferson County and will be able to help the campaign in those areas of the district also.

We’ve also invited Andrea Smith of Glen Richey to take over the role of Secretary of the committee.  Andrea has worked for many years as a legal secretary in the Clearfield area and has supported and assisted me in my past campaigns for school director and county commissioner.

We’re excited to have these people on board with the campaign.  We also have a number of people from every county in the 5th district offer to work for the campaign.  The solid organization we are putting together will help us run strong in every county in the 5th district.

2: CONGRATULATIONS TO TRAVIS CHILDERS — This past Tuesday Democrat Travis Childers was elected to the US Congress in a special election to fill a vacant seat in the state of Mississippi.   This was the third Democratic victory so far in 2008 in special elections.  The 3 seats in Mississippi, Louisiana and Illinois (the seat of former Speaker Dennis Hastert) were all considered to be traditional Republican seats and have been captured by Democrats.  It will take a great deal of hard work but we can accomplish this same feat here in the 5th Congressional District in November.

3: ARMED FORCES AWARENESS DAY — On Saturday, I took part in the Armed Forces Awareness Day ceremony in Clearfield.  This is the 5th consecutive year that I’ve participated as a county commissioner in this moving ceremony.  It is so important that we take time to recognize the commitment of the men and women who are serving and who have served in our armed forces.  

The ceremony in Clearfield is always so special with emotional speeches, patriotic songs by the DuBois American Legion Band and special recognition of the veterans and active servicemen in attendance.  This year, there were several very special guests including 2 Gold Star Mothers and a Clearfield County veteran who is a survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

4: This coming week, Kelly, Amanda and I will be spending Saturday in Tioga County to attend the Blossburg Coal Festival and participate in the parade.  We also will be traveling later in the day to Wellsboro to meet with people who are interested in helping with the campaign.  If anyone from Tioga County would like to meet with us in Wellsboro, please email the campaign at mccrackenforcongress@verizon.net.

Mark B. McCracken

Your Candidate For Congress

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

Mark McCracken for Congress

ActBlue page

Sure, Tom Cole may be somber, but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t delusional:

“Clearly, we have got problems that are deep and serious in terms of how we are going to do in the fall elections,” Cole said.  “Having said that… we haven’t lost as a party because of the ideological agenda on the other side. The obvious challenge we face is we had somebody running as a Republican, pro-life, pro-gun, who wants to cut taxes, wants to control spending. That’s not particularly in step with where the Democratic majority is. So, that is going to create some opportunities for us. I think those issues clarify and reinforce [our agenda].”

Roy Blunt joins in on the insanity:

GOP Whip Roy Blunt downplayed the GOP’s problems, saying that “six months ago, Rudy Giuliani was the front runner in the Republican contest and Barack Obama did not have a chance.”

Blunt said that Democrats won in Mississippi and Louisiana by running “on what the GOP is for.”

“So we know now that the message works,” he said. “So we have to be sure that nationally, we connect the message with the Republican Party, rather than the other party.”

I understand the art of spin, but did these clowns not watch the election that just unfolded?  Sure, Childers embraced conservative social values that made him a good fit with his Northern Mississippi district.  But he also ran as an unabashed economic populist, and launched scathing attacks against Greg Davis for yukking it up with Dick Cheney.

On oil:

“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.”

On 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.

On the economy and corporate trade deals:

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.

On Iraq, Childers was the only candidate who favored withdrawal:

He was the only one of five candidates — three Republicans, two Democrats — at a campaign stop in Nesbit last week who said point-blank that U.S. troops don’t belong in Iraq. […]

Childers said he favors coming up with a plan to withdraw troops over 12 to 18 months and leave the Iraqis to fight among themselves, as they have for thousands of years.

He said he’s amazed more people on the campaign trail haven’t asked about a national debt of more than $9 trillion.

“We’re spending our money, folks, in Iraq. We need to be spending our money in America.

If all that is what morons like Tom Cole and Roy Blunt consider a “Republican platform”, then maybe their party isn’t doomed to the electoral dustbin after all.

However, we all know that that is pretty damn far from the truth.

Keep dreaming, GOP.

A lot of attention has been spent talking about the Memphis suburbs vs. the rest of the district without really laying things out using Census Bureau definitions and vote counts.  Well here’s how it comes out and the results are revealing.

The Census Bureau definition of the Memphis TN-MS-AR Metropolitan Statistical Area includes one county in Arkansas (Crittendon), four counties in Mississippi (DeSoto, Marshall, Tate, and Tunica) and three counties in Tennessee (Fayette, Shelby, and Tipton).  The vast majority of the area’s population is in Tennessee.  Only three of the Memphis area counties are in this district, Tunica is not.

“Memphis Area” counties voted much differently in the special election than the non-metropolitan counties in the district.  As a group, Davis won Metro counties by a little over 8,100 votes, 12,442 to 4,334.  DeSoto performed differently from the other Metro counties.  Davis won DeSoto by 10,173 to 2,069 bt won the other two counties combined by a whopping four votes, 2,269 to 2,265 (Marshal went Democratic, Tate went Republican).  Non-metro counties went to Travis Childers by 10,235 votes: 28,970 to 18,735.  Childers received 87% of his votes from the non-metro counties and 13% from the Metro Counties.  Davis, otoh, took just 60% of his votes from the non-Metro counties but 40% of his vote from the Memphis suburbs.  The labels of “Memphis” vs. “Country” are surprisingly accurate in this election.  

Before the April 22nd special primary, Democrat Travis Childers picked up the key endorsements of the Tupelo-based Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal and the Columbus Commercial Dispatch.  Add another key endorsement to the list for Childers — the Memphis Commercial Appeal:

The Commercial Appeal believes Prentiss County Chancery Clerk Travis W. Childers of Booneville is the best person to complete the U.S. House term, which expires in early January. […]

Childers, who labels himself a conservative Democrat, has stressed the importance of voting against trade deals that cost American jobs. He is a strong supporter of public education, saying it’s time for the nation, as a whole, to provide schools with the materials and support they need. That is important in a district where only 65 percent of teens graduate from high school and only 10 percent of the population has a college degree.

As for Iraq, Childers believes it is time to bring the troops home “honorably, safely and soon,” while providing them with material support until that happens. He recently told this newspaper’s editorial board that it is time to bring the troops home and spend the money we are sending to Iraq on projects in the United States.

Why not Greg Davis?  Because he’s an unapologetic agent of the Bush Administration’s disastrous policies at home and abroad:

Over the years, however, this editorial board always has looked favorably at candidates who have shown a degree of political independence. Davis has given no indication that he’ll stray far from the Bush administration’s stand on important issues, including the war in Iraq. That fact should not be lost on 1st District voters, especially when opinion polls are showing that the majority of citizens believe the country is headed in the wrong direction.

Well said.

With the clock ticking in Mississippi, the Trent Thompson 72-Hour Program is now in full effect.  I spoke with Trent earlier this afternoon, and he gave me the following updates:

• Trent’s been cris-crossing the district, from Tupelo to Booneville to the Southaven area delivering literature for canvassers, and he’s seen all of five Greg Davis signs — compared to “literally hundreds” for Travis Childers.  Childers is winning the sign wars even in areas closer to Davis’ home turf.
• Trent describes the atmosphere in Booneville, where the Childers campaign HQ is located, as a total “lovefest for Travis”.  Not surprising, given that Childers won 85% of the vote in the area (Prentiss County) on April 22nd.
• Dick Cheney’s comments on visiting south Memphis have rankled people in the Tupelo area.  Childers has been working that story into his recent stump speeches, saying that Memphis doesn’t need another congressman — Mississippi does.
• Childers is up with an ad on African-American radio hitting Davis on his campaign event with Cheney.  Childers will need strong turnout from the black community on Tuesday.

In keeping with the populist tone of his campaign, Childers recently wrapped up his “Fed Up While You Fill Up Tour” in Tupelo, where he sold gas for $1.25 a gallon with Rep. Gene Taylor.

The Davis campaign’s response was hilariously absurd:

Davis’ campaign manager Ted Prill denounced the statements as hypocrisy, saying Childers “has been supported almost solely by liberal Democrats in Washington who would allow Fidel Castro to (drill for oil) closer to our shorelines than we can.”

Special election: 5/13.

The Hill reports that Darth Cheney himself is about to land in Mississippi to scare some votes for slimeball GOP candidate Greg Davis:

Cheney appeared on “The Paul Gallow Show” to support Southaven Mayor Greg Davis (R).

Davis faces Prentiss County Chancery Clerk Travis Childers (D) on May 13 in a runoff election in the state’s 1st district, a seat formerly held by Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).

“This seat is a very important one,” Cheney said. “It’s been in conservative hands for a long time, and we’d hate to see the liberals gain control.”

The vice president said holding the seat is crucial because it could tip the scales in close votes on Capitol Hill.

Cheney will be on the ground in Mississippi on Monday for a fundraiser and a GOTV rally with Davis.

It’s time to step up to the battle, folks.  We can’t let the forces of darkness cling on to this one.  To that end, the DCCC has set up a virtual phonebanking center for Travis Childers.  Getting started is as easy as cherry pie.  You’ve donated, you’ve followed the news, you’ve tracked the expenditures, and if your name is Trent Thompson, you’ve canvassed on the ground.  Now’s your chance to help hustle out the vote for Travis Childers.

A win here would utterly crush the spirit of the House GOP caucus and signify and loud and clear appetite for change in Washington.  Let’s do this thing!

Also, be sure to check back with SSP on election day on Tuesday.  We’ll be posting updates and liveblogging the election that evening.

Special election: 5/13.

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!