Tag: NE-02

Richard Carter, February 24, 2008:

Well, now that Lee [Terry] has endorsed McCain, we can assume Lee wants us there for another 100 years. Lee has said “Stay the Course” more times than I can count. It is in the best interest of our troops and our nation to get our troops home, and Lee cannot be trusted to act in those best interests.

Richard Carter, July 12, 2008:

Former Democratic Congressional candidate Richard Carter endorsed Republican incumbent Lee Terry Saturday in the 2nd District race.

The move by Carter bypasses Democratic nominee Jim Esch, who defeated Carter in the May primary. Esch ran in 2006 and lost to Terry, who’s seeking his sixth term.

“I am a Democrat, but first I am an American,” Carter said. The United States faces serious problems, he continued, and “we need someone in Congress who has a real plan to deal with them.”

And this is the same guy who endorsed the “Responsible Plan“? What a dick.

Because it sure sounds that way to me. From Action 3 News Omaha:

Esch is hoping an Obama surge here will help him but Terry’s ready to fight, with help from an all new team, what Terry calls “The Obama-Terry voter.” Terry says they are, “people who want the right kind of change.”

Esch told me today he’d like to meet the Obama-Terry voters. According to Esch he, “can’t imagine what they look like.”

Note: Despite his apparent confusion, Lee Terry is not a superdelegate.

(H/T: Dave Sund)

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.

Crossposted at RichardCarter2008.com:

I am a Democratic candidate for United States Congress in Nebraska’s Second Congressional District.

The United States’ position in Iraq is absolutely untenable. We cannot afford the cost of the war in dollars or lives. We cannot continue to risk our national defense and our future military readiness in the pursuit of George Bush’s delusions. We must bring our troops home and allow the Iraqi people to assume their own sovereignty.

This war costs $8 billion a month, roughly $187,000 every minute of every day. This war has cost us the lives of 3,943 American Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines, and over 28,000 more wounded. This war has immeasurably cost our government its credibility both on the world stage, and in the hearts and minds of the American people.

Our huge commitment in Iraq has ruined our ability to effectively manage other situations. Our military is no longer prepared to deal with potential threats, such as Iran and North Korea. More dangerously, our national defense is in a state of total disrepair. Much of our military equipment has been overused; additionally, a vast majporty of our National Guard units are unprepared for combat. Because of this, we are not even able to defend our borders or to adequately respond to natural disasters.

I am not in favor of timetables for withdrawal, which prolong the situation–we should simply leave as quickly and safely as possible. George Bush and his Republican allies in Congress have tried to convince the American people that this is tantamount to defeat. This is incredibly disrespectful to the men and women who put their lives on the line in Iraq every day.

Our brave men and women have accomplished every mission they were given. Saddam has been deposed. There are no weapons of mass destruction. The Iraqi people have a constitution and a democratically elected government. At this point, there are no more military solutions in Iraq, only political solutions. Once we send a strong message that our presence in Iraq is neither permanent nor unconditional, it becomes much more likely that Iraqi political leaders will take the steps necessary to resolve their country’s political and security crisis. Only when we stop subsidizing the religious and ethnic strife in Iraq will the Iraqis have an incentive to work together for their own security and prosperity. We should bring our troops home now.

Help our campaign build momentum. Donate today.

Crossposted at RichardCarter2008.com:

As I talked about yesterday, over 40,000 voters across Nebraska came out to our first Democratic Presidential Caucus. Thousands of new voters were attracted to the process, and it has breathed new life into the Nebraska Democratic Party. But it is time for us to do more. We can not let this incredible moment pass us by.

It is time to keep the momentum in Nebraska!

I ask you now to join us in that effort. Our goal is to bring in 50 new donors into this campaign. 50 people who want to stand for change not just in blue states or swing states, but red states as well. 50 people who want to build that new American majority and change the direction this country is headed.

It is time to bring our brave men and women home from Iraq. It is time to treat our veterans with the respect they deserve, and strengthen our military to deal with the threats of the 21st Century. It is time to invest in industry and infrastructure, and promote innovation to create high-paying jobs here – where they belong. It is time to make sure parents are able to provide affordable healthcare and a quality education for themselves and their children. But we can’t do that without momentum, and we certainly can not do that with you.

There are plenty of cynics who say we can not win. A Democrat in Nebraska, no way! But we want to prove them wrong. The people of Nebraska’s Second Congressional District are ready to stand for change. All we need? A little momentum.

Thank you for your support.

Omaha World Herald reports:

Rep. Lee Terry apparently wants two more years in Congress.

The Omaha Republican will discuss his “re-election intentions” at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Omaha Police Union Hall.

Terry first ran for Congress in 1998, defeating Democrat Michael Scott by 32 percentage points. In his most recent re-election bid, in 2006, Terry won with 55 percent of the vote against Democrat Jim Esch.

Terry recently held a Washington fundraiser and said that was a good indicator of his political plans.

The 2nd Congressional District encompasses Douglas County and much of northern and eastern Sarpy County.

Congressman Terry did in fact announce his intentions for another term in Congress. He promised his supporters that this year he would be on his “A” game and suggested that last cycle his campaign was not prepared when he faced Democrat Jim Esch.

As I reported yesterday, Richard Carter, a  Captain in the Air Force Reserve and an economics professor, addressed the Sarpy County Democratic Caucus and announced his candidacy for United States Congress. He told the Sarpy County caucus goers:

“With all of the problems that we face, it would have been easy for us to throw our hands up in disgust, to become cynical, to withdraw from the political process. But all of us here today have refused to do that. We know there is too much at stake for us to sit on the sidelines. It is time for a new generation of leadership to step forward-and actually lead. Therefore, I, Richard Carter, declare my candidacy for the United States Congress.”

Congressman Terry plan to be on his “A” game and so do we. But we need your help. I don’t need to tell you how important this election this, so please click here to find out how to get involved.

If you can spare it, a contribution of $25 can go a long way in helping us get this campaign moving.

Also feel free to check out our brand new website and sign up for email updates! Thank you once again for your early support.

Today, Richard Carter, a Captain in the Air Force Reserve and an economics professor, addressed the Sarpy County Democratic Caucus and announced his candidacy for United States Congress:

“With all of the problems that we face, it would have been easy for us to throw our hands up in disgust, to become cynical, to withdraw from the political process. But all of us here today have refused to do that. We know there is too much at stake for us to sit on the sidelines. It is time for a new generation of leadership to step forward-and actually lead. Therefore, I, Richard Carter, declare my candidacy for the United States Congress.”

With Richard’s announcement comes the launch of our new website. Check it out at RichardCarter2008.com. You can find out how to get involved with the campaign and learn more about Richard and his positions on various issues.

We have also set up our ActBlue page for those that would like to donate to the Richard Carter Congressional campaign.

Thank you for your early support.

Omaha, Neb. – Richard N. Carter, a U.S. Air Force Reserve Captain with active duty combat experience in both Iraq and Afghanistan, will file Friday with the Federal Election Commission to form an exploratory committee. Carter, a Democrat, is considering a run for the U.S. House of Representatives in Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District.

   “Nebraskans know that this country needs significant change,” said Carter. “We are tired of the politics of division, fear, and intimidation. We are tired of politicians who march in lock-step with Washington party leadership in support of unpopular policies-policies which are not in the best interest of the American people.”

   “It’s time for a new generation of leadership to step forward and change the direction this country is headed. My experience as a combat officer in the United States Air Force and my graduate work in economics have prepared me to be that kind of leader for the people of the 2nd district.”

Carter is from Bellevue, Nebraska – where STRATCOM and Offutt Air Force Base are located. Jim Esch, who declined to run again in 2006, carried the city of Omaha, but was badly beaten in western Douglas County, Bellevue, Papillion, and La Vista. Of the 17,000 vote margin of victory, half of the margin came from heavily Republican Sarpy County.

As Richard came around to local party meetings over the last week, I had a chance to speak to him on the issues. He will represent this district well, and he is not afraid to take a stand on issues. We can always use more people like him in Congress.

Website: RichardCarter2008.com

Here we go again!

My only question is when will Congressman Terry run out of excuses to vote against this bill.  It’s one excuse after another:

From the Omaha World Herald Monday:

“Once again, illegal immigration is helping tie Congress in knots.

The subject has been injected into some seemingly unlikely discussions this year, including debate over a new farm bill.Now it has become a major hang-up delaying renewal of the popular State Children’s Health Insurance Program, which Republicans and Democrats alike largely support…

Many Republicans who support Bush’s threatened veto…say the renewal legislation would give health benefits to illegal immigrants…the bill’s defenders disagree…

Against that backdrop, federal officials say they have no idea whether illegal immigrants have used the 10-year-old program because it hasn’t required proof of citizenship.At the same time, they say they have no anecdotal reports that participation by illegal immigrants is a problem.

That has prompted some Democrats and children’s advocates to accuse the bill’s Republican foes of using the immigration issue as political cover.

They contend that without playing the immigration card, it’s hard for GOP congressmen to side with Bush and oppose a kids’ health care bill…

“I feel they are sounding an alarm when I have yet to see any evidence there are a significant number of undocumented immigrants obtaining benefits,” said Tiffany Siebert of Voices for Children in Nebraska.”

So with no reports of wide spread use by illegal immigrants our own Congressman is making much ago about nothing.  (again!)

As quoted in the story:

…Terry said the bill would have led to “taxpayer-funded health care to illegal immigrants.”

He is running out of reasons to be against what is an effective, affordable, and popular piece of legislation that will help millions of children in this country.

First it was that this bill would give Healthcare to people as old as 25 years old.  Which was debunked because the provision is for full time college students not everybody.

That was lie #1!

Then it was that those who make $80,000 a year will get coverage under this bill which was a flat out distortion of the truth.  The real issue was that the state of New York requested to have funds to cover that level do to cost of living with in the state.  It was denied and the state government is planning on covering the fees itself.

That was lie #2!

This next one wasn’t a lie, but an over reaction on Congressman Terry’s part.  His claim was that the bill would take kids who would already have insurance and put them on SCHIP.  True, but it is inevitable part of any program such as SCHIP.  But as countless experts will tell you, the amount of kids that wouldn’t have coverage regardless is worth the few what would.

That was over reaction #1!

Now we find ourselves listening to the boy Congressman who can not figure out a reason to be against his bill.  I guess that’s what happens when you are an out of touch, and pampered by my tax dollars.  (which pay for the healthcare you deny to so many children)

As the article notes, there is no reason to believe that illegal immigration is a major issue with the SCHIP legislation.  They are making something out of nothing.

Republican Senator Chuck Grassley put it best:

“There’s absolutely nothing in this bill that would make coverage more easily available for illegal immigrants,” Grassley said. “Those who say otherwise believe what they want to believe, not the facts.”

TerryWatch.com

Yep here we go again. With the dust not yet settled on the last challenge in FL-13 (Good luck Christine) we take a look forward to 2008.

Wander below the fold for the good oil.

Well well well. It seems so soon since we were celebrating the Midterm results and our record of contesting 425 Districts. That’s because it is so soon (LOL). Odd thing to do here in Australia watch the midterms but I took the day off work and had a merry old time watching it all unfold on the net and on cable he he he.

Nonetheless time for the 50 State Page to crank up for 2008 courtesy of the redoubtable Barry Welsh. This cycle we have some help however from the magnificent 2008 Race Tracker wiki. Go and take a look at them both right now and whilst you are there throw Barry some cash. He will be running again and is rightly a netroots champion.

Now for the good oil;
248 races with confirmed candidates. 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.

The 248 includes all 233 Democratic incumbents (yeh yeh I know some will not run but I am assuming we will find candidates in those districts, and all Dem incumbents are also listed as Running But Unconfirmed).

There are also 15 Republican held districts where we have confirmed candidates as follows:
FL-01,
FL-09,
FL-21,
IL-14,
IA-04,
MI-07,
MO-09,
NE-02,
NJ-11,
NC-08,
NC-09,
OH-07,
OH-16,
PA-03,
TX-04.

But wait there is more.
We also have 238 candidates who I believe are running but who are at this stage unconfirmed according to the above criteria. All 233 districts held by Democrats but also 5 districts held by Republicans as follows:

AR-03,
CA-04,
ID-01,
IN-06 hurry up and confirm Barry!,
NJ-05.

We also have 6 rumoured candidates. These guys are mentioned as considering the race in the following districts:
FL-06,
FL-13 *** depends on the outcome of the challenge,
NV-03,
NJ-07,
PA-15,
TX-06.

So we are off and racing for 2008. Use the 2008 Race Tracker wiki as the primary source of gossip and information as it is a fantastic site and I have spent a LOT of time contributing there also.

Any candidate news, particularly opponents for Repubs welcome in the comments!