I was unable to catch last night's debate but I did get to hear a few clips and read up on the debate thanks to the great liveblogging here at DailyKos. One of the clear problems with a debate that lasts only 90 minutes with 8 participants is the lack of time available for a detailed response. Worse is when a debate consists of relatively frivoulous questions that don't help a voter distinguish between candidates. In specific, when there are questions that apply only to a single candidate a debate become very worthless since that does not allow us, the voters, to compare and contrast the answers. I began thinking about how a debate with so many candidates could be successful in helping the voters make informed decisions.
At the end of March I wrote a diary, 2006 The Democratic Perfect Storm is Here Featuring Jack Carter the Next Senator from Nevada, outlining the potential of Jack Carter's race for Nevada Senator. The Carter campaign is making their final push to take this seat from the Republicans and a quick google search shows they are earning their free media and getting their message out to Nevada voters on why we need Jack Carter in the Senate.
I wanted to post a diary about Jack Carter this week but while I was working on it Tuesday my Aunt walked in and said, "Mike you have to come with me, Doug's dead!" I have been working off and on for a month and a half on a series of four diaries. One on Why We Need Jack Carter in the Senate, one on Fighting Republican Propaganda on the Presidency of Jimmy Carter, one on The Greatest Former President, and one on First Lady Rosalynn Carter.
While disgraced former Majority Leader Tom DeLay has set an official date for his resignation from Congress, DeLay to bow out on June 9, it is unclear what will happen. In general, if things work for the Republicans, they will be able to replace DeLay on the general election ballot and there will be a special election at the same time as the general to elect someone to fill out the rest of DeLay's unexpired term, Procedure For Replacing A Texas Congressman. However, it may be that DeLay's name will have to remain on the ballot. Regardless, the Republicans are proceeding full speed ahead on the assumption they will get to replace DeLay's name. In the process, they seem to be ripping their party apart.
On the eve of the 50 State Canvass I thought it would be appropriate to look at how the 50 State Strategy is doing. We know that Democrats are running for Congress in record numbers, check out the Barry Welsh site, but that is only a small measure of success for Democrats. If a candidate doesn't have adequate resources then it is only marginally better than not having a candidate running especially if the candidate is flawed in some major way. In WA we call that candidate, Mike the Mover, a man who periodically runs for office in order to advertise his moving business. More frustrating is having a great candidate who doesn't have the money. In this evaluation of the 50 State Strategy I look at those Democratic House candidates who have raised at least $100,000 by the end of the 1st quarter of 2006 who are either challenging Republican Incumbents or are running for open seats vacated by Republican Incumbents.
Yesterday bonddad did a diary entitled Class War: It's Time. Later that day sln70 asked Would You Sell Your Shares in the American Dream for freedom? Both diaries deal with what ought to be the central issues in the 2006 campaign. Today we see a confluence of major stories that reflect the frustration of most Americans as they try to support themselves and their families and live out their ideas of the American Dream.
When political insiders start making predictions they get repeated by insider shows and magazines and newspapers and websites. They are then repeated on more mainstream shows, and in more mainstream magazines, and more mainstream newspapers. They get to blogs, they head out to the grassroots. They energize some and demoralize others. They cause people to run for office when they normally wouldn`t. They give people incentive to contribute money to campaigns they would normally consider longshots. Sometimes they become self-fulfilling. Here are a few groups of insiders who recently discussed the 2006 elections and control of Congress.
Q. Pat Robertson, host of The 700 Club, just published Miracles Can Be Yours Today. What miracle does he pray for?
--S. Hensley, Los Angeles, Calif.
Robertson's answer is hardly surprising:
A. "I have prayed that somehow, thanks to the goodness of the Lord, we would have a change in the composition of the Supreme Court," Robertson, 76, tells us. "We've had two new justices already, and I'm sure one more is coming. That's miracle enough for me."
Media Matters for America documents Robertson's prior comments on emptying the Supreme Court of its more rational members:
Robertson said that God told him: "I will remove judges from the Supreme Court quickly, and their successors will refuse to sanction the attacks on religious faith."
DeLay was the gift that kept on giving for Democratic candidate Nick Lampson running for Congress in the newly redrawn 22nd Texas Congressional District. Like many high profile Republicans that Democrats just really don't like, DeLay was a name that could be used to raise money nationwide. According to Lampson's 2/15/06 filings with the FEC, he has raised more than $1.8 million and has more than $1.4 million cash on hand. Lampson, the former four-term Congressman, had no opponents in his primary and had more cash than his opponent, DeLay, who faced a number of opponents. After DeLay's showing in the primary there was concern that he might still be strong enough to win the election despite the cloud of corruption surrounding him. Still others, myself included, feared that DeLay might drop out of the race and Lampson would be faced with a strong Republican opponent who did not have the same cloud handing over him.
In my first three diaries, here, here, and here on the 2006 Democratic Perfect Storm I reviewed the election of 1994 that swept Republicans into Congress, reviewed indicators showing 2006 is the Democratic Perfect Storm, and illustrated some personal election experiences that could be applied to 2006. In an earlier diary I argued for three Senate races that Democrats ought to make Tier 1 races in order to win the Senate. Last diary I gave an overview of one of those races, Jack Carter running for Senate in Nevada. This diary is an overview the Virginia race for Senate by Jim Webb.
How can we win if we don't fight the fights worth fighting?
In my first diary on the Democratic Perfect Storm I briefly reviewed what happened in 1994. In my second diary on this subject I reviewed the indicators that show 2006 is the Democratic Perfect Storm. My third diary dealt with some of my personal experiences in politics and the lessons I learned from them and how they relate to the 2006 Perfect Storm.
Previously, I presented arguments for pushing three Senate races from the second tier into the first. Now I want to give a more detailed look at the Democratic attempt to reclaim Congress this year. In this diary I profile Jack Carter-NV, one of three most important Senate races for the Democrats in a year of the Perfect Storm. My next two diaries will deal with Virginia and Arizona Senate races.
How can we win if we don't fight those fights worth fighting?
In my first diary on the 2006 Democratic Perfect Storm I briefly reviewed how the Republicans were swept into power in 1994. In my second diary I showed why 2006 is the Democratic Perfect Storm. In this diary I hope to illustrate through personal experience lessons that can be applied to 2006 along with suggestions for success.
How can we win if we don't fight the fights worth fighting?
Last Diary I briefly reviewed what happened in 1994 that gave Republicans control of Congress for the 1st time in 42 years. In this diary I will illustrate what leads me to believe this year is the Democratic Perfect Storm.
Political prognosticator Charlie Cook tells us that barring a Perfect Storm, Republicans will retain control of Congress. 1994, the year Republicans gained control of Congress was considered a Perfect Storm. Are we now facing a Democratic Perfect Storm? In this 1st diary of five I review what happened in 1994. In the next I will illustrate what indicates 2006 is a Perfect Storm and how Democrats can best take advantage of it. In the 3rd, 4th, and 5th diaries I will focus on specific Senate races with excellent Democratic candidates and weak Republican incumbents that are considered 2nd tier.
Before the Congressional vote to authorize the use of force in Iraq, the question was raised about how members of Congress would vote if their children had to go and fight and risk their lives. Michael Moore even went around and tried to get members of Congress to encourage their kids to enlist. Congressmembers who have sons that served in Iraq are Sen. Tim Johnson(D-SD), Rep. Joe Wilson(R-SC), Sen. Kit Bond(R-MO), Rep. Tom Akin(R-MO), Rep. Duncan Hunter(R-CA). More Below.
We all know about the Tier 1 targeted races for the Senate,if not check out this diary. These are the races where candidates will have all the money and help they need to win. However, these are not going to be the races that ultimately give Democrats control of Congress. Republicans have targeted these races too and they are going to be bloody and we will win most but not all. It is in the 2nd Tier races that we will get what we need. These are the races that we need to focus on in order to take advantage of the Democratic 2006 Tidal Wave. These races are ones that wouldn't normally be winnable due to incumbency and money and length of time until the election. Yet, Bush and the corrupt Republican Congress have given us the same opportunity that Republicans took advantage of in 1994 when they gained control of Congress due to the Angry White Male and the Dispirited Democrat.
It is important to move now to push these 2nd Tier races into the 1st Tier in order to put Democrats in the best position to take control of the Senate now not 2008.
After a few more hours of investigation I found some more interesting things and decided to update and repost this diary at a better time of day.
The Longview Daily News picks up a story about the connection between K Street and Wall Street that makes one wonder just how much money Republicans are making by controlling Congress.
U.S. Rep. Brian Baird on Friday stepped up his "crusade" to ban congressmen, their staff and a small circle of investors from profiting by lawmaker decisions not yet made public.
Baird said an article last spring in The Hill, a D.C. newspaper devoted to covering Congress, drew his attention to firms that pass "political intelligence" gathered on Capitol Hill to Wall Street investors.
