KANSAS- Pat Roberts introduced the ‘Home Oxygen Patient Protection (HOPP) Act, which will ensure continued access to home oxygen therapy for over one million Medicare patients who rely on this life-sustaining therapy’ and secured $40 million in disaster relief funding for victims of the violent storms that hit Kansas in early May.” So far, no news on a Democratic challenger.
OKLAHOMA- Jim Inhofe pretends to go green by introducing the ‘the Gas Petroleum Refiner Improvement and Community Empowerment Act of 2007, or the Gas PRICE Act.’ The National Association of Manufacturers loves Inhofe’s bill. Are you shocked? There is no new news on a challenger.
ALABAMA- Pete Jeff Sessions is setting surrender dates, which probably means he is feeling a little Sparksaphobia.
GEORGIA- Getting booed at your own state convention is not a good sign. On the other hand, Chambliss recently received the Golden Plow Award from the American Farm Bureau Federation for his ‘distinguished agricultural leadership and support of Farm Bureau’s farm and ranch families.’
ALASKA- Ted Stevens earned a Lancelot Holland Award for thin-skin from Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist Joel Connelly, for his…well…his whole history. Meanwhile, Stevens opened the International Whale Commission’s four day conference in Anchorage. His son’s troubles don’t seem to be slowing him down.
WYOMING- Mike Enzi voted against the war spending bill because it was laden with pork (and a minimum wage hike). This makes him even more invulnerable to a challenge from the left. He’s also been cleaning up with bipartisan legislation. Earlier in the month he teamed with Teddy Kennedy on drug safety and now he is teaming up with Max Baucus on anti-medical malpractice pilot programs. And no challenger in sight.
TEXAS- Nick Lampson will not run against John Cornyn. That’s the good news. The bad news, aside from Cornyn’s pitiful poll numbers, was that Cornyn got the old fuck you from St. John McCain.
TENNESSEE- Lamar Alexander is teaming up with Tom Carper to push the The Internet Tax Freedom Extension Act of 2007. I don’t know if it is a good bill or not, but at least it might give Alexander a legislative accomplishment. He’s pretty short on those. Maybe that’s why he is teaming up with Ken Salazar to push Bush to accept the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group. Still no signs of a challenger.
NORTH CAROLINA- Rep. Brad Miller says he has been assured that Liddy Dole will be one of the DSCC’s top 10 targets in ’08. Meanwhile, Dole can read the polls and has hired a new chief of staff.
MISSISSIPPI- Thad Cochran isn’t acting like someone considering retirement. He and Sens. Cardin, Hagel, and Salazar are spending their recess in the Middle East.
NEW MEXICO- Pete Domenici’s polls have slipped 12 points in the last three months. Still no serious contender in sight.
What are your senators up to?