The NRCC reserved over $8 million for twelve districts earlier today as part of its second round of media targeting. Earlier this week, the House Republicans reserved nearly $9 million in ad time for 14 races. Here are the details on the NRCC’s second round, courtesy the Politico (we’ve added the DCCC’s reserved ad time for comparison):
District
Incumbent
NRCC
DCCC
FL-21
L. Diaz-Balart
$1,000
$1,400*
FL-24
Feeney
$408
$1,000
FL-25
M. Diaz-Balart
$950
$1,400*
MI-07
Walberg
$832
$1,500
MI-09
Knollenberg
$618
$1,100
MN-06
Bachmann
$600
$0
OH-02
Schmidt
$485
$0
OH-15
Open
$800
$1,200
OH-16
Open
$800
$1,300
TX-22
Lampson
$1,500
$1,100
WA-08
Reichert
$1,000
$949
WI-08
Kagen
$213
$475
All numbers are in thousands.
Special note on FL-21 and FL-25: The DCCC’s $1.4m reservation applies to both of these districts and FL-18.
In most cases, the NRCC continues to be out-gunned, although their $600K reservation in MN-06 is pretty surprising. Yeah, I know Michele Bachmann is a nutball, but given her district’s R+5.1 lean and her big cash-on-hand advantage over Democrat El Tinklenberg, this is one race that I would have cut loose if I were the NRCC and had to pinch pennies. Maybe they know something about this race that I don’t.
Late Update: We now have the hard-dollar sums for OH-02 and TX-22. (H/T: Real Clear Politics)
Well, the political season has gotten pretty hot in Kentucky. With a Senate seat, and four hotly contested House seats here, Democrats here are fired up. Despite what any poll has said to this point, all these races are winnable. We have fielded a surprisingly impressive lineup of candidates and we are ready to fight for them. Meeting some of the delegates, and Jennifer Moore, the KDP chairman has convinced me that our party is ready to fight.
Our Senate campaign is first and foremost. Living in Kentucky, I have seen the terrible Mitch McConnell ads. I will not grace Mitch McConnell with their prescense in my diary, but they should be easlily findable on YouTube.
For his part, Bruce Lunsford has been hitting back:
He also recieved a huge endorsement from a formal rival:
DENVER-Democratic Congressman Ben Chandler of Kentucky’s 6th District officially endorsed Bruce Lunsford in his race for U.S. Senate against Mitch McConnell. Chandler made the announcement this morning during a Kentucky Delegation breakfast at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
“I am delighted that Ben has publicly expressed the support that he’s been expressing to me privately throughout the year,” said Lunsford, who attended the breakfast. “I’m thrilled to have Ben’s endorsement, and very grateful for it. Ben and I are united in the fight to put an end to the Bush-McConnell policies that have damaged Kentucky and the nation this decade. For many years, Ben Chandler has been an important leader in Kentucky, and I know Mitch McConnell and George W. Bush realize that when Democrats are united behind a cause, it spells trouble for them.”
Bruce can still win this race and still needs our help. Defeating Mitch McConnell should be as important as expelling Joe Lieberman, and would should get behind it with as much effort.
Now, in Congressional races, we simply must keep John Yarmuth, incumbent in the 3rd District. Anyone can find his record and easily see why. I got the priviledge of sitting next to him during Kennedy’s speech at the Convention. Here is a video he gave the grassroots Progressives at bluegrassroots.org:
I don’t think he is in trouble, but we must remain vigilent in this race, because Anne Northup is a Republican sweetheart who will raise a ton of cash. Yarmuth is a fine man, and a great Democrat we need to keep in our U.S. House. Please remember him:
David Boswell is in a hot race too. There have been hints of a DCCC investment, and Boswell has polled ahead in this race. You can see him here. As a State Senator, he has high name recognition in his district:
Ah, and finally, we have Heather Ryan!! Yes, this is my home, my race and my friend. Thanks to all who helped us win the Progressive Patriots contest, it was huge for us. Thanks to Jennifer Moore and the KDP for helping us achieve it, and to all the many folks I asked to vote for her that did. You have all our gratitudes.
It seems the Exxon Ed Whitfield people just have something against this fiery grassroots Democrat. Not only do they take money from terrorist, but they hate free speech too. With a million dollars in their campaign account, they continue to rip up our campaign signs, many handpainted ones and two of the fifty printed ones we had donated. With a million dollars in their account they fear us because we speak the truth to power:
They even attacked her for raising money for a foundation that supports battered women in Western Kentucky:
The good news is the Feingold money, that many people were kind enough to help us win will keep Whitfield and his cronies plenty busy yanking up yard signs from now until November so we have time to go on the offensive. We need to run T.V., and we need your help to do it.
One T.V. spot on cable here costs about $6. Please, chip in just $6 to buy us one spot here:
If enough people give the price of a lottery ticket to take a chance on expanding our Congressional majorities we could well scratch off a winner here. Please help.
Don’t forget Kentucky. Jennifer Moore is providing great leadership here, and we have great candidates!!
OK, now that the convention is over… It’s time for us to get back to work! And for us here at C4O, this means getting more & better Democrats elected. So today, I’d like to introduce you to a truly awesome person who will make a fantastic Senator from New Hampshire.
Jeanne Shaheen was the first woman ever elected as Governor of New Hampshire. But not only did Gov. Shaheen make history this way, as she also worked hard as Governor to build a clean, green energy infrastructure in the state, as well as implement real ethics reform, improve New Hampshire’s schools, and advocate civil rights for all. Oh yes, and her list of accomplishments didn’t end after she left office. From 2005-07, she was Director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
Now contrast this with RepublicanIncumbentJohnSununu. He’s an out-of-touch George W. Bush Republican who would rather side with Bush than the people of New Hampshire. The people of New Hampshire are ready for change, but Sununu only offers more of the same.
Fortunately, the race here has become quite competitive. In fact, Democrats may even have a slight advantage here. But still, that doesn’t mean we should take a win here for granted. Bush, McCain, and Sununu will do anything to win New Hampshire this fall, so we Democrats must be ready to fight back!
And guess what? Democrats are lining up to support Jeanne Shaheen! Emily’s List is on board, as well as the DSCC, the Democratic organization that supports our Senate candidates. New Hampshire is poised to be one of our best Senate pick-up opportunities, so we need to be prepared to win!
So please join us in standing up for great Democrats like Jeanne Shaheen! let’s say no more to the GOP and its watys of the past. Let’s say “Yes, We Can” and make real change happen today! 🙂
Democrats were sitting pretty in these two races (esp. if Young hangs on in the primary) until McCain picked Gov. Palin.
My short take:
Stevens is done unless he is acquitted. The outcome of the trial may be important. I just don’t think there are many coattails in this race. The House race may be a different story as Palin could pull Young through.
I met Jon Powers last July when he visited Orleans County for the first time. In the past, Orleans County had not been a focus for our Democratic congressional challengers against Tom Reynolds. But Powers wanted to come out to Orleans County. He wanted to see the whole district. After all, if he was going to win he would need all of us.
It was after sitting down with Jon for an interview that I realized what a great candidate he was, especially for someone who was only in the race for a month and was, by all accounts, a political novice. But over the last 13 months of knowing Jon, I know that he has grown as a person and as a candidate. He has listened to citizens in all seven counties of the district, whether they are Republicans, Democrats, liberals, conservatives, farmers, teachers or any other compare/contrast you could make. When Jon talks, you have his undivided attention.
Jon Powers needs your help today. Powers is out with his first television ad that has aired during the Democratic National Convention numerous times and local television stations also. If you haven’t seen the ad, here it is:
Almost 10 days, the Powers campaign started a fundraising drive to raise $10,000 in 10 days to help fund the ad and keep it on television. There is an Introducing Jon Powers ActBlue page to allow donors to give and keep this ad on the air.
The goal of $10,000 is in sight. As of this writing, the total given is at $8,707. That means within the next eight and a half hours, we need to raise $1,293. I think we can do this.
You don’t need to give hundreds of dollars to help this cause. Think about it: If 100 of us gave $10, that would be $1,000 right there. Now, 100 people is a lot to ask for. But what if some of those gave $25? Or $50? Or what if they really came out strong and gave $100 or more? We can do this and we can do it by midnight tonight.
So watch the ad above or visit the “Introducing Jon Powers” ActBlue page to watch the ad and give your secure contribution today. Being a resident in this district, I know that we have two television markets to appeal to (Buffalo and Rochester) and getting in both markets is of the utmost importance. This is a great way to get Jon more name recognition and to raise awareness about his campaign.
In case you haven’t heard yet, John McCain’s out-of-the-box Vice-Presidential pick is Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska. Now let me start by saying: I’m baffled, because her lack of experience (two years as governor of one of the nation’s smallest, and, let’s face it, most unusual states… and prior to that, mayor of a town of about 7,000) dramatically undercuts his ability to hit Obama on the not-ready-to-lead charge.
On top of that, there’s the mini-scandal associated with Trooper-gate, which revealed a rather vindictive and not so squeaky-clean Palin going after the head trooper who wouldn’t fire her screw-up ex-brother-in-law. There’s also the not-so-small matter of Alaska having only 3 electoral votes, although it does legitimately qualify as a swing state this year. Maybe after the Dem convention, the Republicans have realized the not-ready-to-lead thing just isn’t going to work on Obama, and, despite the pleasant whiff of unity coming out of Denver, are banking on peeling off a few points’ worth of PUMAs who may be attracted to a female pick (and Palin is one of the few prominent Republican women conservative enough that she won’t irritate the base).
Anyway, let’s step away from the Presidential politics; this is Swing State Project, after all! Here’s the hypothetical: what if, for some reason, McCain/Palin wins? The next person in line is Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell. If the current vote count in the AK-AL race holds, it looks like Parnell might have his schedule free to take over as governor after all.
On the other hand, what if Parnell manages to squeak past Don Young in the recount (and since the person in charge of administering Alaskan elections is none other than Parnell, don’t rule it out!), and then makes it past Ethan Berkowitz in the general? We discussed this very possibility, remote as it seemed at the time, in our VP Vacancy Speculation thread a few months ago. It turns out that the Alaska constitution and election statutes don’t specify who the #3 person in the line of succession is, but an Attorney General opinionAlaska law allows the governor to designate a third person. The currently designated person is Republican Attorney General Talis Colberg.
There’s one more possibility: what if Parnell wins AK-AL, but put in the position of being able to choose between being governor or representative, chooses the power of governor over the potential longevity of representative? Then, as far as I can tell, we’d be in immediate special election territory for the vacant House seat.
Your thoughts?
UPDATE: In this video (from several weeks ago), Palin admits that she doesn’t really know what the VP does every day. Try doing that at your next job interview!
From the about section of the ActBlue page I’ve created:
Despite the self-important screechings of the traditional media, the hurt feelings and ruffled feathers of the primary season are not insurmoutable. Hillary and Bill Clinton have worked to unite the Democratic Party with their rousing convention speeches and gracious support of Obama during the delegate voting process. Now it’s time to reward Hillary for being a team player by helping pay off her campaign debt.
And while we’re at it, lets give Barack Obama, who was equally gracious in victory, the funds he needs to expand the map, create coattails for down-ballot races, and end the conservative governing that thinks that all social issues are due to gays, Atheists, Hollywood, and working women, that the way to solve all economic ills are tax cuts for the super rich, and that war will solve all of America’s international problems.
We’ve noted with glee that Obama is advertising in states like Alaska and Georgia and opening campaign offices in states like Indiana. And this strategy of expanding the map and out-organizing McCain will yield results in down ballot-races as well. An Obama get out the vote operation in Georgia helps Senate candidate Jim Martin. Organizing in Alaska helps make the words “Senator Begich” or “Representative Berkowitz” possible.
As a college student who does off-campus programs as often as possible, I am ecstatic to be doing the program through The Washington Center’s Campaign 2008 Seminar Series: The Republican National Convention. The program is one week of class work and seminars, and then the next week is during the convention where I do fieldwork and do my best to get credentials to get inside the convention. I’ve been assigned to do my fieldwork with CNN so I’ll be able to provide many insights and great stories once I start that work on Monday. My program thus far has been teaching me about general political topics and also about political conventions. The program has been 100% fantastic. I’ve gained many insights, had an epiphany, and have become so dedicated to electing Barack Obama that I almost wish I wasn’t doing the program so I could have the free time to register voters for Obama.
First, I’ll say that if I had instead done The Washington Center’s seminar at the Democratic National Convention, I’d be pissing my pants every day out of excitement, guaranteed. But alas, I’m from Saint Paul so getting to save money on a plane ticket and hotel rooms seemed like an easy decision. At the Republican Convention, I’m taking everything as a learning experience and as something to put on my resume. I’m surrounded by Republicans all day every day, college Republicans at that; those who aren’t even old enough to benefit from the tax benefits the Republican Party offers those in the top 1% of the tax bracket. They are mainly in the pocket of Republicans and they spout off stupid Republican talking points that I cringe at. I’ve had a really hard time turning off my politics button off and ignoring my political differences with these people so I can interact with them at a friendly level, but I’ve been trying my best to not judge them all as Bush-enablers.
One of the main professors of the seminar is a former Congressman from Oklahoma, Congressman Mickey Edwards, a founder of the Heritage Foundation. The other is a professor from Hofstra University, Dr. Meena Bose (same school Norm Coleman went to coincidently) who has represented the left in a non-partisan way. I’ve bitten my lip, made numerous comments underneath my breadth and also comments loud enough for everyone to hear and laugh at. I’ve been able to learn exactly why I think Republican ideology is complete bullshit and has corrupted the American psyche.
One of the speakers I’ve been able to hear was Jo Anne Davidson, co-chair of the RNC and chair of the Committee on Arrangements, the committee in charge of putting on the convention. I’ve learned great insight in the purpose of political conventions; to introduce ones candidate and present a message to the American electorate to convince them to vote for ones party’s candidate. One of the best quotes I’ve heard so far was that everything that happens on stage is scripted. Every time Obama’s kids did something cute on stage or when Hillary did the move for acclamation, scripted. Very important thing to remember, the convention is the opportunity for the party to market and brand their candidate.
A lot of the actual class work has been discussions on the Democratic National Convention, who McCain will pick as VP, and other various topics. One of these various topics was the make-up of the Republican Party, which former Congressman Edwards described as being made-up of libertarians, the former racist Southern Democrats, the religious right, and neo-cons. One of my inclinations is that the Democratic Party is the reverse and made up of who these groups disenfranchise, labor unions, minorities, and the socially liberal.
I was able to go inside the Excel Energy Center where I got to see the set-up for the Republican National Conventional and I’ll tell you now, it looks good. I was very impressed and I can’t wait to play the credentials game of getting as far inside as I possibly can.
Nothing that spectacular has happened as pertaining directly to the convention but a lot of build up. I start my fieldwork for CNN on Monday and I absolutely cannot wait. The list of duties I may perform that I have been given pretty much indicate that my credentials will allow to me be all over the convention and I’ll certainly write follow up diaries on how everything has been going, of course without too much detail as I don’t want to get in trouble with the Secret Service, ?. But Saturday I’ll hopefully be attending the huge media party in downtown Minneapolis and also another event with Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, and Megan McCain on youth voting. Karl Rove is a complete douche but the bitch knows how to win so hopefully I’ll learn some insight on how organizing college students for Barack Obama.
