I confess to being depressed, near despondent really, about both the presidential campaign and the performance of Congress. So, I know that the only thing that is going to keep me going is the senatorial and congressional races. And, on that score, the news just keeps getting better.
Let’s start out with the fact that Jim Walsh (NY-25) is retiring. Walsh is the 6th ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee. The GOP representation on the committee is being decimated with retirements. It’s now almost certain that Dan Maffei will replace him and add another name in the ‘D’ column. Maffei is unapologetically against the war in Iraq.
Another piece of good news comes out of Illinois’ 11th District, where the Republican ‘consensus candidate’ to replace the corrupt Jerry Weller, Tim Baldermann, doesn’t want to raise any money. Dennis Hastert is going to do a fundraiser for him.
Baldermann admits he needs the money.
“I have done very little fundraising,” he said. “It makes me sick to my stomach. My campaign people gave me a list of people who gave money to (Weller). I told them, ‘If you think I’m going to call somebody who’s never heard of me and ask for $2,300, that’s insane.’ I fight with them every single day over it.
“They wanted my Christmas card list. I’m not doing that stuff. I refuse to do it. The Republican Party wanted me to run; the Republican Party should help fund my campaign.”
While I completely sympathize with Mr. Baldermann’s plight, that’s no attitude to take into a race with state Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson. Halvorson has a step-son that has served in Iraq and she wants to bring the troops home.
Something remarkable is happening down in South Florida. The Democrats are enjoying a recruiting bonanza of Cuban-Americans to run against three Republican Cuban-Americans. I would dearly love to see the end of the Republican’s iron grip over Florida’s Cuban community. And it could happen with Raul Martinez, Joe Garcia, and Annette Taddeo (check out her resume). And this isn’t even all of the encouraging news coming out of Florida.
The map of vulnerable seats just keeps expanding and expanding, and the Republicans simply have no money to defend them, let alone go after any of our vulnerable freshmen. It’s enough to kind of cheer me up…a little.
