Our next stop on the SSP Recruitment Express: Florida. Who would you like to see challenge Republican Sen. Mel Martinez and Gov. Charlie Crist in 2010? Or better yet, will Crist face a notable challenger at all?
Martinez surely won’t get off so lucky — his approval ratings are in the dumps, and Democrats are surely salivating over his seat. Who will be up to the challenge?
Our daily series of 2010 threads continues, and today the SSP Recruitment Express is running at full steam through the Golden State.
Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is term-limited, meaning that many, many Democrats are salivating over the opportunity to take back the Governor’s mansion in California. There are a lot of potential names out there for Democrats (including Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, who has already announced his candidacy), but who would you like to see reach for the ring? And for the Republicans, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner seems to be their likeliest candidate, but will more names join the fray? (Paging Tom McClintock…)
On the Senate side, will Schwarzenegger actually challenge Barbara Boxer? It seems a bit unlikely to me at this point, but I guess you never know. If not, will any Republicans of note step forward (and I’m not sure if this guy really counts)?
And here’s an interesting wrinkle. One of the rumored candidates for the gubernatorial election is none other than Diane Feinstein. Assuming she ran and won, she would be in the rare position of appointing her own replacement in the Senate. If such a scenario actually happens, whom would you like to see Feinstein appoint? There are a lot of choices on California’s bench out there.
Continuing our totally excellent series of threads on recruitment possibilities for senatorial and gubernatorial contests in 2010, we now turn our attention to Arizona, where things could get very interesting.
Popular incumbent Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano is term-limited, and she seems to be everyone’s first choice to run for the Senate seat of John McCain, which will also be up in 2010. It remains to be seen whether McCain will run for another term (I bet not, but you never know), but Napolitano’s name has already been floated as a potential Attorney General pick in the Obama Administration, which would take the most obvious choice off the table.
Supposing that Napolitano can’t or won’t make a Senate run in 2010, who might the Democrats run in her place? Who would step up for the Republicans if McCain calls it quits? And, for that matter, who should run for the Governor’s office in the Copper State?
During each weekday this month, we’ll be posting a new open thread for every state featuring a senatorial or gubernatorial contest, and asking for your thoughts on who should run.
Alaska will feature two statewide contests of note — the gubernatorial race featuring Sarah Palin, and the Senate contest featuring incumbent Republican Lisa Murkowski.
So whom do you like for challengers to these seats? As David said the first time we did this, don’t be afraid to think creatively:
Don’t limit yourself to politicians. Businesspeople, community leaders, activists – even athletes or celebrities (think Heath Shuler or Al Franken) – are all fair game. Even seemingly outlandish suggestions are welcome. Would you have ever predicted that the guitarist from Orleans would now be a Congressman-elect?
Have at it. Alabama to come tomorrow.