Tag: NRSC

Another day, another hundred thousand dollahs. Here are the April fundraising reports for the six major party committees (March numbers are here):

Still on tap: a joint DSCC/DCCC fundraiser headlined by Barack Obama in June.

• NJ-Gov: Believe it or not, we’re in the home stretch heading toward the June 2 primary in the New Jersey governor’s race, and Rasmussen takes a quick look at the GOP primary field. US Attorney Chris Christie leads former Bogota mayor Steve Lonegan 39-29, with 3% voting for someone else and 29% still undecided. That’s a lot of undecideds with just a few weeks to go, and I have no way of knowing whether they’d tend to break for the better-known establishment figure of Christie, or the anti-tax raging of Lonegan.

• TX-Sen: The last thing John Cornyn wants is a special election on his watch at the NRSC, but he may get one anyway. Despite his pressure on fellow Texan Kay Bailey Hutchison to remain in place while she runs for Governor, Cornyn is now publicly warning to expect her resignation “this fall sometime.”

• PA-Sen: Seems like the GOP is going through its whole Rolodex looking for someone more normal than Pat Toomey to run in the Pennsylvania primary. Two of the more moderate members of the Keystone State’s House delegation, Charlie Dent and Todd Platts, felt compelled to announce today that they won’t be running. Dent, in fact, endorsed Toomey, the previous holder of PA-15 (making him the first PA House GOPer to endorse Toomey).

• AR-Sen: State Senator Kim Hendren, the GOP’s only candidate so far against Blanche Lincoln (and they may want to keep looking…), has been in politics a long time (one claim to fame is that he lost a gubernatorial race to Bill Clinton). But now he actually seems to be caught in a timewarp from a different century. Today he’s trying to walk back having called Chuck Schumer “that Jew” (and, in doing so, tried using The Andy Griffith Show by way of explaining himself).

• IL-Sen: Speaking of shifts in the space-time continuum, Mark Tiberius Kirk’s end-of-April deadline on announcing his Senate plans has seemingly disappeared into a wormhole, while the GOP waits impatiently for him to emerge at the other end. (No backup date for a decision has been set.) A likely explanation is that he’s waiting to see what Lisa Madigan does, and he may meekly go wherever she doesn’t.

• SC-Gov: Who would’ve guessed that the South Carolina governor’s race would be one of 2010’s hottest tickets? Two more GOPers are trying to hop onto that ride: state Senator Larry Grooms, who officially launched a campaign, and state Rep. Nikki Haley, who now says she’s considering it. (Haley is a young rising star who’s a close ally of Mark Sanford and the hardcore anti-taxers.) They’d join Rep. Gresham Barrett and professor Brent Nelsen, as well as likely candidates Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer and AG Henry McMaster, in the hunt for the GOP nod.

• NC-08: Freshman Rep. Larry Kissell has drawn a potential opponent with no previous political background, but very high name rec: Mike Minter, who was safety for the Carolina Panthers for 10 years until recently retiring. Kissell handily beat incumbent Rep. Robin Hayes in 2008 in this now R+2 district, but Minter, who’s still scoping out the race, is well-connected in the local megachurch community and could also eat into Kissell’s African-American support. Minter is apparently looking with Hayes’ encouragement, suggesting that the 10-year Congressman is looking to spend more time with his money instead of seeking out a rematch.

• NRSC: Here’s a double shot of John Cornyn news: in another one of his occasional reality-based moments, Cornyn slapped down strange remarks by his NRCC counterpart, Rep. Pete Sessions, alleging that Barack Obama is intentionally sabotaging the American economy. When asked if he was comfortable with Sessions still leading the NRCC, Cornyn equivocated, deferring the judgment of the House Republicans on the matter. (Because “judgment” and “House Republicans” always go together so well.)

• PA-Sen: The founder of the PA chapter of the Club for Growth has called on Pat Toomey to drop out (!), saying that he’s too conservative for Pennsylvania. (No shit.) The Toomey camp fired back with some mostly non-responsive B.S. (D)

• CA-Gov: San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom made the official leap from exploring the California governor’s race to being an officially announced candidate yesterday. He joins Lt. Gov. John Garamendi as the only formal candidates in the race, although Garamendi’s campaign is on hold while he pursues the CA-10 special election.

• CA-Sen: The California GOP has lined up a “strong second choice” to challenge Barbara Boxer if ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina doesn’t get in the race. African-American talk radio host Larry Elder, who was on Los Angeles’s KABC for 15 years, is meeting with GOP officials, but still sidelined while waiting for Fiorina. (The pro-choice, pro-pot legalization Elder is very much from the libertarian wing of the party.) Assemblyman Chuck Devore is already officially a candidate, but the party seems unenthused about his odds.

• NC-Sen, NC-07: Dem Rep. Mike McIntyre says that his re-election to the House is his current “concentration”, but when asked if he’s considering a Senate bid, McIntyre told a local ABC affiliate that “you never say never to anything.” A recent PPP poll had McIntyre trailing Richard Burr by only five points. (J)

• TN-09: Rep. Steve Cohen, as a white Jewish man representing a mostly African-American district, is going to always be vulnerable to primary challenges (as seen with last year’s mudfest with Nikki Tinker). It looks like he’ll be facing a serious test this year, as Memphis mayor Willie Herenton has formed an exploratory committee for the House race. Herenton is African-American and has been mayor since 1991, elected five times. On the other hand, there may be some Herenton fatigue going on in this district, as he is under federal investigation, was re-elected most recently with less than 50% of the vote, and announced his resignation in 2008 only to withdraw it shortly after.

• NY-20: You know it’s over for Jim Tedisco when major Republicans are telling him to pack it in. Yesterday, ex-Rep. Tom Davis said it was over, and today, state senator Betty Little (who lost the special election nomination to Tedisco) and Dan Isaacs (who’s running for state GOP chair) also called for the pulling of the plug. Isaacs is so upset that he’s reduced to making up new words: “Tedisco appears not able to pull out a victory in an overwhelmingly Republican district; to me that’s the final indignancy.”

• MI-02: Roll Call takes a quick look at the race to replace retiring Rep. Pete Hoekstra. On the GOP side, former state rep. Bill Huizenga is the “biggest voice that’s out there,” but state senator Wayne Kuipers is poised to get in, as is former NFL player Jay Riemersma, who’s well connected with the Christian right. (Notice a common thread in those names? This is the nation’s most heavily Dutch-American district.) There are three Democratic state reps in the district, too, but none of them seem to be making a move yet.

• Michigan: An interesting white paper obtained from the Michigan GOP shows that they’re quite pessimistic about getting back into power in 2010, despite the advantages they seem to be taking into next year’s governor’s race. Their suburban base has eroded since the 1990s, and their one-note message just isn’t resonating with swing voters anymore.

• NRSC: Continuing our theme of unusually reality-based Republicans today, NRSC John Cornyn is sounding an increasingly cautious note about senate prospects in 2010, telling the Hill that it’s “going to be real hard” to keep the Democrats from breaking 60 seats in 2010.

• NH-St. Sen.: Ex-Rep. Jeb Bradley, who lost twice to Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, has begun a new, more low-key chapter in his career, as a state senator. He easily won a special election, 61-39, over retired judge Bud Martin, to retain a GOP-held open seat. Dems continue to hold a 14-10 edge in the chamber.

John Sununu Sr. (the state GOP chair) didn’t seem interested in spinning the victory as indication of a new GOP trend in New Hampshire, though. Always a charmer, Sununu’s thoughts instead were:

He said Bradley’s election actually helps [Gov. John] Lynch. Bradley could be counted on to sustain a Lynch veto of the gay marriage and transgender discrimination legislation, “if he (Lynch) finds the strength to veto that garbage,” Sununu said.

March fundraising reports for the six major party committees:

Note that the DNC figure includes a $2 million transfer from the Obama campaign, which makes their March intake not so impressive compared to the RNC. (Say what you will about Michael Steele, but fundraising does not seem to be suffering too badly under his watch.) Spending tallies for the two Senate committees are also currently unavailable.

Once again the story continues to be the rather portly levels of debt held by the Dem House and Senate committees, which in aggregate are just over three times as large as the combined NRCC/NRSC debts. But the Democratic committees should be able to balance the books sooner rather than later — especially with a major June fundraiser headlined by President Obama on the horizon.

• Site News: SSP is delighted to announce that we’ve just welcomed our six millionth visitor to the site. Thank you, everyone! (D)

• NY-20: The NRCC is already using the paper-thin margin in NY-20 last night as the springboard for a whole new fundraising e-mail pitch: the Dems are trying to “pull a Franken” and “steal” the election in the courts, so please send lawyers, guns, and money. Eric Kleefeld has a thought on why this is good news! For Pete Sessions!

One problem Murphy might have is that Al Franken’s lawyers aren’t available right now. And in Tedisco’s favor, Norm Coleman’s attorneys are busy, too.

The Fix has obtained some Democratic projections of how things will shake out after all absentees are counted (they’re projecting Murphy by 210). This appears to be based on performance rates in the counties where the absentees came from (in other words, there seem to be disproportionately more absentees coming from pro-Murphy counties than Saratoga).

• AK-Sen: It happened a few months too late to save Ted Stevens’ job, but the DOJ has finally dropped its frequently-bungled case against Stevens after further instances of prosecutorial misconduct arose.

• CT-Sen: One more ‘oopsie’ for Chris Dodd: he blew through a lot of his campaign war chest on his ill-advised 2008 presidential run (he transferred $4.7 million from his 2010 senate kitty to his presidential campaign). He’s currently at only $670K cash on hand, compared with $1.6 million at this same point in his 2004 re-election.

• FL-Sen: Kendrick Meek plays Gallant to Chris Dodd’s Goofus: he raised a whopping $1.5 million in the first quarter, as he tries to nail down frontrunner status for the Democratic nomination.

• CA-Sen: Carly Fiorina, who was briefly sidelined by treatment for breast cancer, seems ready to get back into the political arena. She’s “seriously considering” entering the race against Barbara Boxer.

• OK-Gov, OK-04: SSP’s all-time favorite punching bag, Tom Cole, looks to be staying where he is. He’s declined to run for Oklahoma governor, leaving fellow Rep. Mary Fallin in the driver’s seat for the GOP nomination.

• TX-10: Democrat Jack McDonald, an Austin-area businessman running for the seat of GOP Rep. Mike McCaul, has announced that his campaign has raised over $300,000 in its first five weeks. Those are some pretty impressive numbers at this stage in the game. (J)

• NRCC/NRSC: Remember the brouhaha over the big NRCC/NRSC fundraising dinner where no one could figure out whether or not Sarah Palin was going to keynote, where it turned out that the governor’s office and SarahPAC had no idea what each other were doing? Well, amateur hour is continuing apace in Anchorage, as now she’s off again. In her place, Newt Gingrich (who would have ever predicted the day when Newt Gingrich would be seen, by comparison, as the GOP’s sober, rational elder statesman?).

• History: PolitickerNY takes an intersting trip down memory lane, looking at some of the greatest hits among previous close House elections, like CT-02 in 1994 and IN-08 in 1984.

• Committees: Fundraising numbers for the committees for the month of February came out yesterday and today:

The NRSC raised $2.87 million, ending with $1.05 million CoH and $2.7 million in debt (down from $4 million in debt last month).

The DSCC also raised $2.87 million, ending with $3.07 million CoH and $10.9 million in debt.

The NRCC raised $2.03 million, ending with $1.85 million CoH and $6.4 million in debt.

The DCCC won the month, raising $3.5 million, ending with $2.9 million CoH and $15 million in debt.

• MN-Sen: Is there finally a light at the tunnel at the end of the interminable legal battle? Norm Coleman’s attorney said in a radio interview that he’s “done,” and that when the three-judge panel is done reviewing the count, Franken is still likely to be ahead, although he still plans on a “quick appeal.”

• CA-10: More clarity in the field in the upcoming special election: assemblyman Tom Torlakson, who was considered one of the two likely contenders for the seat, won’t run. He was already in the process of running for state superintendent of public instruction, and will continue with that instead. This leaves a clearer path for state senator Mark DeSaulnier, although assemblywoman Joan Buchanan is also interested.

• MI-Gov: Venture capitalist (i.e. rich guy) Rick Snyder is looking to join the crowded GOP field for the 2010 governor’s race. At least six names have been floated for this race or are already running. (D)

• SC-Gov: Inez Tenenbaum, the highest-profile Dem considering the South Carolina governor’s race (she was superintendent of public instruction for two terms and was competitive against Jim DeMint in the 2004 Senate race), has declined to run for governor. State senator Vincent Sheheen is the only Dem in the race so far, although others interested include state house minority leader Harry Ott, state senators Brad Hutto and Robert Ford, and Charleston attorney Mullins McLeod.

• SC-03: Republican state senator Shane Massey is the first to jump into fray to succeed Gresham Barrett, who’s running for the open SC governor’s seat. No Dems have stepped up yet in this dark-red district.

• PA-15: Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan met with Allyson Schwartz in Washington this week to discuss a possible bid against GOP Rep. Charlie Dent. Unfortunately for Democrats, Callahan says he’s “not interested” in the race at this point. And so the search for a viable candidate in this competitive district continues… (J)

• NRSC/NRCC: The NRSC and NRCC announced yesterday that Alaska governor Sarah Palin would headline their fundraising dinner in June, which is a big ‘get’ since she couldn’t be bothered to come out all the way to DC for CPAC. The Anchorage Daily News then reported that Palin wouldn’t be attending after all. Turns out that one hand of PalinCo doesn’t know what the other is doing… the appearance was arranged through SarahPAC, while the actual governor’s office had no idea this was happening. The NRCC and NRSC still say “that to their knowledge” she’s still coming.

• SC-01, SC-02: Linda Ketner is sounding a little iffy about a rematch against Henry Brown, worried about diminished African-American turnout in an off-year election (and also the costs; even wealthy philanthropists get hit by the recession). Former state rep. Mike Barber and state rep. Leon Stavrinakis are possibilities if she demurs. Next door, though, Iraq vet Rob Miller has begun fundraising for a rematch against Joe Wilson.

• OR-04: Peter DeFazio may get his first substantive challenger in ages; the GOP is recruiting Springfield (the district’s 2nd largest city) mayor Joe Quimby Sid Leiken to run. While DeFazio would still be a heavy favorite in such a race, he’s been mentioned frequently as a potential 2010 gubernatorial candidate, and in this D+0 district the GOP could be competitive with an open seat.

• VA-02, VA-05, VA-11: Southern Political Report takes a look at potential challengers to the three new Virginia freshmen. In VA-02, the only Republican in the race so far is Chuck Smith, an African-American, former chair of the Virginia Beach GOP, and an ex-Navy JAG, although moderate state senator Ken Stolle and Virginia Beach mayor Will Sessoms are eyeing the race. In VA-11, wealthy businessman Keith Fimian is interested in a rematch, but so is Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity, who recently narrowly lost the special election to replace Gerry Connolly as chairman of the Fairfax County Board.

• CT-Sen: Robbie Simmons may not have the GOP field to himself in his bid to unseat Chris Dodd: CT GOP Chairman Chris Healy tells The Hill that former Ireland Ambassador Tom Foley and state Sen. Sam Caligiuri will also run in the Republican primary. (J)

• AL-02: Add another name to the retread watch — state Rep. Jay Love says he’s considering challenging frosh Dem Rep. Bobby Bright in a rematch next year. Another name tossed around as a potential candidate for the GOP is none other than George Wallace, Jr., who lost an open seat race in this very same district as a Democrat in 1992 to Terry Everett. (J)

{Originially posted at my blog Senate Guru.}

Roll Call has a new article online focusing on Republican attempts to win in 2010 the Senate seat held by Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln for the last ten years.  The content of the article is a clear statement on how Senate Republicans’ only weapon besides obstruction-by-filibuster is toothless bullying.

The article begins by telegraphing how Republicans will attack Senator Lincoln over the course of the 2010 cycle:

This cycle, the NRSC has stepped into the Arkansas race early, attempting to soften Lincoln’s poll numbers with attacks on her support for the stimulus legislation and for sending “mixed signals” when it comes to the Employee Free Choice Act, according to an NRSC press release. And when Lincoln announced late last month that Vice President Joseph Biden would join her at her 2010 campaign kickoff this weekend, the NRSC was quick to blast the two-term Senator for being out of touch with voters back home.

“Senator Lincoln’s support for runaway Washington spending and her refusal to take a position on ‘card check’ despite representing a right to work state, are among a few of the important issues we are bringing to the attention of her constituents,” NRSC spokesman Brian Walsh said on Monday.

Let’s take a look at the foolishness contained in this passage:

(Much more below the fold.)

1) The NRSC attacks Senator Lincoln as being “out of touch” with Arkansas voters because Vice President Joe Biden is attending her campaign kick-off.  So, um, how popular is the Obama-Biden administration right now?  I believe the levels are historically high (as are the folks at the NRSC, apparently).  Here is a link to the rather comical release.  Among the ‘reasons’ that the NRSC gives for why ‘palling around’ with Vice President Biden proves Senator Lincoln is “out of touch” with Arkansans is that McCain-Palin won Arkansas’ electoral votes in 2008.  I wonder if the NRSC staff will apply that same standard when they opine about the re-election bids of Iowa’s Chuck Grassley and Pennsylvania’s Arlen Specter, as well as the campaigns of those who win the Republican nominations for Senate in Florida, New Hampshire, and Ohio.  Note to Senator Lincoln: Republicans will call you “out of touch” no matter what you do.  If you dive to the right in order to deflect their attacks, it won’t work because they’ll keep attacking no matter what.

2) The NRSC attacks Senator Lincoln’s support for what they call “runaway Washington spending.”  The NRSC’s ridiculous attack press release linked above does not reference a single vote of Senator Lincoln’s, only criticizing Vice President Biden’s record as a U.S. Senator.  However, the NRSC has already dispensed a stock attack against Senator Lincoln for her support of the economic stimulus bill earlier this year.  Note to Senator Lincoln: Republicans will claim you support “runaway Washington spending” no matter how you vote.  Even if you oppose every bill that includes a dime of spending, Republicans will attack you.  If you dive to the right in order to deflect their attacks, it won’t work because they’ll keep attacking no matter what.

3) The NRSC attacks Senator Lincoln on what they call “card check,” refering to the Employee Free Choice Act.  If Senator Lincoln strengthens American workers by supporting the Employee Free Choice Act, Republicans will attack her, sure.  Although, if Senator Lincoln caves to Republican bullying and votes against it, all that will do is drive a wedge between her and organized labor, a key source of support for Democrats.  However, caving to Republicans on this issue won’t bring an end to Republican attacks.  Note to Senator Lincoln: To put it simply, Republicans will attack you no matter how you vote.  The more you cave to their attacks, the more credence you give their attacks.  Work to gain the approval of Arkansas’ families and workers, not the NRSC.

After offering the silly stock Republican attacks against Senator Lincoln, the article goes into who the Republicans might recruit to oppose Senator Lincoln:

When it comes to taking on the Lincoln machine, the Republicans mentioned most often right now include state Sen. Gilbert Baker, who represents a Little Rock-based district, and Little Rock Attorney Tim Griffin, a former special assistant in the Bush White House who briefly served as U.S. attorney in Arkansas. …

Outside of Griffin and Baker, Republicans are also looking to Rogers Mayor Steve Womack and Little Rock banker French Hill – who served as a special assistant under Bush for economic policy – as possible 2010 Senate candidates.

Let’s take a look at what this list of potential recruits says about Republican prospects against Senator Lincoln:

1) Nowhere in the article is Republican Rep. John Boozman mentioned.  Rep. Boozman is the only Republican member of Arkansas’ Congressional delegation.  Given that every – I repeat: every – Constitutional officer in Arkansas is a Democrat, Rep. Boozman is basically the top elected official in Arkansas.  That the NRSC didn’t even see fit to make sure his name was included means he is out.

2) Similarly, the absence of any mention of former Gov. Mike Huckabee reiterates Gov. Huckabee’s insistence that a 2010 Senate run isn’t in his future.

Two of the four mentioned possible recruits are guaranteed to turn AR-Sen, in no small part, into a referendum on George W. Bush more than on President Obama or Senator Lincoln.

3) Tim Griffin is a Karl Rove protege who Cheney-Bush-Rove tried to install as a U.S. Attorney amid their notorious Attorney Purge.  Griffin is also a former RNC staffer credited with engaging in the racist voter-suppression tactic of “vote caging.”  Speaking of Griffin being a Rove protege, even Twitter betrays Griffin’s Rove-philia:

4) The other Bushie mentioned as a possible candidate is French Hill, whose name sounds a little – what’s the word? – French!  As the article notes, French Hill was a “special assistant under Bush for economic policy.”  Hmmm, someone refresh my memory.  How does the public regard George W. Bush’s economic record?  Really, I beg the AR-GOP to put French Hill forward as their Senate candidate.

5) The first non-Bushie possible recruit mentioned is state sen. Gilbert Baker.  Though not a member of George W. Bush’s administration, he has not managed to avoid scandal.  First, Baker went to bat “as a character witness for a campaign worker and Republican officeholder who’d repeatedly brutalized a woman and was subsequently convicted of kidnapping. Some supporter of women.”  Here’s the situation:

Recently, Baker sent out a press release claiming the issue of women’s rights is one he takes “seriously”. However, in 2005 Gilbert Baker asked the 1st Division Faulkner County Circuit Court for “leniency and mercy” for a campaign worker of Baker’s who repeatedly beat his female victim, held a knife to her throat, smothered her until she threw up, and  using a cigarette lighter burned her multiple times.

Baker testified repeatedly as a character witness to help the defendant, also an elected Republican constable. The defendant was accused of rape, and convicted of kidnapping and assault against a Faulkner County woman. According to Circuit Court documents, Baker testified twice for the man, after knowing the horrible facts of the case and even admitted the defendant had “done wrong.”

Baker acknowledged that this heinously degenerate person had “done wrong” and he still offered his testimony as a character witness multiple times (because this degenerate was a campaign worker?).  Pretty grotesque.  Another scandal, far less grotesque but nonetheless inappropriate, was also aired for public consumption.  Baker’s son allegedly received preferential treatment at the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) and Baker used public property belonging to UCA for a campaign fundraiser while Baker delivered over half a million dollars to in public money to UCA.  The credibility of the allegations (particularly as a possible quid pro quo) were furthered when it was revealed that UCA President Lu Hardin used money from his discretionary fund to buy gifts for Baker.  Will the AR-GOP and the NRSC turn to this person, who appears to abuse his political power and defends his campaign workers when they abuse women?

6) The last possible recruit is Rogers Mayor Steve Womack.  Rogers is a city of about 50,000 residents, putting in the bottom half of Arkansas’ top ten most populous cities, and Womack was first elected Rogers’ Mayor in November ’98.  By not being a Bushie or a character witness for someone who brutalized a woman, Womack should automatically become the most desirable of the four recruits to the NRSC.  I don’t know much about Womack aside from an episode of anti-immigrant fervor.  Womack wanted to task local law enforcement officers with enforcing federal immigration policy.  When the Mexican consulate in Arkansas wanted to discuss the issue with Womack, Womack gave the consulate the cold shoulder:

It was a bad week for …

ROGERS MAYOR STEVE WOMACK. He treated rudely a request by the Mexican consul in Little Rock to talk about Womack’s plan to use police officers to crack down on immigrants, pleading more important business at a golf tournament. Womack intends to send cops full bore after people without proper working papers, not, you may be sure, the people who hired them.

Womack could simply veil his anti-immigrant policy under the guise of populism.  Womack is, perhaps, the most unknown of the named possible recruits – and that might be his greatest strength as a Republican candidate in 2010.

After running through the underwhelming list of possible Republican Senate recruits, the Roll Call article ends with Republicans warning Senator Lincoln that, if she doesn’t vote the way they want her to, she’ll be in big, big trouble:

“Right now, we’re all watching her card check vote,” said Karen Ray, whose last day as Arkansas Republican Party executive director was Monday. “If she votes yes on it, the repercussions here will just be enormous.” …

Griffin said he too would be watching Lincoln’s votes carefully.

“There will be a number of other pieces of legislation where she will have to decide between being an Arkansas conservative or being a Washington liberal,” he said.

I have two responses to this closing section of the article:

1) “The repercussions here will just be enormous.”  Senator Lincoln, watch out!  If you don’t vote the way the National Republican Senatorial Committee wants, they will attack you.  However, if you vote the exact way they want you to every single time, they will… they will… they’ll still attack you!  These “enormous repercussions” that Republicans rattle on about are absolutely meaningless.  I truly hope that Senator Lincoln recognizes this and has the spine to stand up to idiotic Republican attacks.

2) For the AR-GOP, the only two types of people that exist are “Arkansas conservatives” and “Washington liberals.”  That’s why the AR-GOP is so successful.  Need I remind you that Arkansas’ Congressional delegation includes only one Republican and every single statewide Constitutional officer is a Democrat.  Further, the 35-member Arkansas state Senate consists of 27 Democrats and only 8 Republicans; and, the 100-member Arkansas state House of Representatives consists of 71 Democrats and only 28 Republicans (and 1 Green).  Aside from the Presidential election, these are partisan electoral leanings you’d more likely see in Rhode Island than in the South.  Yet Karl Rove protege Tim Griffin wants to turn the race into a political caricature about “Arkansas conservatives” vs. “Washington liberals.”  And Republicans expect Senator Lincoln to quake at their threats.  Once again, that’s why the AR-GOP is so successful.

I’ll close with a reiteration of sentiments given above.  Note to Senator Lincoln: Republicans will attack you as “out of touch” or as a supporter of “runaway Washington spending” no matter how you vote.  Even if you vote the way Republicans want you to every single time, Republicans will attack you.  The more you cave to their attacks, the more credence you give their attacks.  If you dive to the right in order to deflect their attacks, it won’t work because they’ll keep attacking no matter what.  The best way to keep your job for another six years is to do your job.  Look out for the best interests of Arkansas’ families and workers, and don’t give a second thought to the toothless, empty bullying of Republicans.

Ya, Obama is really destroying the Democratic Party.  Whatever.  Illinois, New York and DEelaware are their golden opportunities?!?  What is Cornyn smoking?  “Big John” Cornyn deathwatch thread time?

Cornyn: Obama Helping Senate GOP in 2010

Sen. John Cornyn, the Texas Republican tasked with helping his party bounce back in the Senate, argued Wednesday that the Senate GOP has been inadvertently helped by Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats.

“President-elect Barack Obama has given us some opportunities,” said Cornyn.

Cornyn, the newly installed chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said the GOP went from having no chance in Illinois to a fairly good one.

“I don’t see how Mr. Burris can separate himself from the circumstances of how he was appointed,” said Cornyn.

Cornyn did not name any specific Illinois Republicans who are planning to run for the Senate in 2010 but Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., is considered a top contender.

In New York, Cornyn thinks Republicans could be helped if Gov. David Paterson appoints Carolyn Kennedy, a political novice, to replace Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., Obama’s nominee for Secretary of State.

“Caroline Kennedy has never run for office before,” said Cornyn.

Cornyn cited Rep. Peter King as a New York Republican seriously weighing a Senate bid now that Clinton is expected to become the nation’s top diplomat.

Cornyn is also eyeing Colorado where Obama’s selection of Ken Salazar to be Secretary of the Interior removes a seasoned politician from the seat.

Gov. Bill Ritter has chosen Michael Bennet, the well-regarded Superintendent of Denver public schools, as Salazar’s replacement.

The NRSC is also hoping to put Delaware, the home state of Vice President-elect Joe Biden, into play.

Democrat Beau Biden, the state attorney general and son of the vice president-elect, is expected to seek the seat which will be held for the next two years by Ted Kaufman, a former Biden staffer who agreed not to run in 2010.  

The NRSC chair said Republicans have also been helped by Obama’s nomination of Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano to be Secretary of Homeland Security and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack to be Secretary of Agriculture.

The appointments remove Napolitano as a possible challenger to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Vilsack as a possible challenger to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.

Cornyn downplayed speculation that Grassley would be the next Senate Republican to retire by saying that the Iowa Republican has held eight fundraisers since the new year.

Cornyn, who was sporting a pair of black boots with his business suit, made his comments in Washington, D.C., during a pen-and-pad briefing with reporters.

After insider chatter suggested that national Republicans would be pulling out of the Colorado Senate race, here’s what NRSC Chair John Ensign had to say:

National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Ensign (R-Nev.) wants to make it absolutely clear: national Republicans are in Colorado’s Senate race for good.

“The Colorado race has closed up, and that’s the reason we’re going to stay there. We’re going to stay there up until the end,” Ensign told an audience at a National Press Club breakfast Tuesday morning.

Well, it turns out that John Ensign is nothing but a dirty liar:

The National Republican Senatorial Committee is pulling out of the battle for Colorado’s Senate seat, yanking its ads from television stations across the state beginning next week, according to an NRSC spokesman.

That decision leaves Republican Bob Schaffer on his own to try and close what some polls show is a double digit gap in the critical closing days of the campaign for Colorado’s open Senate seat.

A video detailing the NRSC’s internal strategy in Colorado was also leaked today: