Since even some Republican senators admit that their party is not ready to lead the Senate, maybe we need to figure out how to rout these bastards in next year’s midterm elections. Sure, the odds are stacked against us, but take a look at Shenna Bellows who is announcing her bid to take out Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) tomorrow. How do we make that happen? Don’t tell me that you don’t want to give money and lend support to Ms. Bellows’ campaign.
It might be hard to find realistic challengers in Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Alabama, but we ought to at least try. We need to find an Al Franken-type for South Carolina, since we have no elected bench. Someone ought to run against Lamar Alexander in Tennessee. None of these fools deserve to be reelected and their constituents seem to know it. Let’s expand the map and make these Republicans defend their turf.
Well, it looks like the Dems have a solid shot at the open seat in Georgia, and an outside chance at knocking of McConnell in Kentucky. The four “vulnerable” Dems aren’t looking that vulnerable, either.
Pryor is the only one who seems in real trouble at the moment, although the other 3 are definitely in dogfights. What is his relationship with the Clinton’s, the titans of Arkansas political history. Are they still well-liked there? I mean, they did pack up and move to Noo Yawk…
Is Udall in CO considered pretty safe?
Booker’s race will be one to watch, if only to see how he has done after a year?
Will Hillary stump heavily for 2014 candidates? Maybe with a convenient emphasis on those in the swing states? That will be the clearest sign she is running in 2016.
Will Christine O’Donnell run again in DE? What about the other Tea Party nuts? You can be sure the GOP leadership would hate to see them become the awful mascots of the party, again.
Taking out McConnell – Obama’s most effective opponent – would be a huge, political, emotional, symbolic win. I think people are underestimating how enormous that would be. Especially if we take back the House on the same night (which is probably a prerequisite, frankly).
The primary fight between the (I presume) more native Hanabusa and more progressive Schatz in Hawaii should be interesting.
How will progressive fresh face Bruce Bradley conport himself in Iowa (he looks likely to win in current polling).
How will AL Franken do? Seems like it’s been awhile since we heard from him.
Who’s gonna take on Cornyn in Texas? Maybe a smart, young pol who’s willing to take the loss in order to build their profile for future, bluer years. And not the Castro’s, please, they still need to gain some AA-ball experience.
How badly will Liz Cheney embarrass herself and Daddy Palatine before Enzi kicks her butt?
And finally, will we ever hear one newsworthy or interesting thing about Jim Rich? Maybe he’ll get caught smoking a cigarette.
She already is, notably for Terry McAwful.
Udall is solid in Colorado. The Repugs have been self destructing in the most amusing ways at the state level for the past few years. The implosion of Scott McInnis when he ran for Governor was amazing. From first to finished in a matter of hours.
Now it’s time to work on getting the House members to follow suit.
What you say: “Let’s expand the map and make these Republicans defend their turf.”
What potential donors hear: “Let’s take a bunch of your money and pound it down that rathole over there.”
That may be true of the big donors who are buying access so they want to be sure they are buying something for sure. For little donors who are interested in policy, a few bucks to hold back the night is worthwhile. If they have to defend home turf, they will have less money to spend on contested areas.
Also, I see the 50 state strategy as akin to the Doolittle raid in WWII. It had no effect militarily, but had a great psychological effect on both sides.
Have to disagree. The fifty state strategy was instrumental in taking the House and Senate in 2006, changing the Senate from a 45 to 55 GOP majority to a 51 to 49 GOP minority. Yes, its success depended on GOP overreach and individual GOP scandals, but not having effective challengers in those races to exploit the GOP woes — the standard DEM practice before and after the 50 state strategy — there would not have been a Speaker Pelosi and Harry Reid would have had at best a slim majority. 2008 was similarly successful. There were five serious and successful challenges to sitting GOP Senators (AK, MN, NC, NH, OR), one gimme (Warner replacing the retiring Warner in VA) and two open GOP seat wins (CO and NM); 59 to 41 DEM. Then the Democratic Party fired Gov Dean.
Are you suggesting a Colbert for South Carolina?
Honestly, it’d be a lot easier if certain moronic Dems hadn’t thrown out the 50-states strategy because a) they don’t like Howard Dean and b) they’re strategic morons.
Is there a single Democratic consultant or strategist in DC who doesn’t consistently lose at tic-tac-toe?
Generic take:
Can Democrats hold Baucus’, Harkin’s, Johnson’s, Levin’s, and Rockefeller’s Senate seats?
Can Begich, Franken, Landrieu, and Pryor hold their seats? (I’d say better than 50/50 chance all four win.)
Only two Republicans have announced retirement:
Georgia (Nunn may pull this one off)
Nebraska (not even a declared Democratic candidate at this point).
Weirdly enough, the best pick-up potential may be KY – McConnell. (An echo of SD 2004 when Dashchle was defeated?)
As Alexander won with 65% of the vote in 2008, this one would be really tough to flip.
We’ll see about Nunn. She actually has a primary challenger:
http://drradforsenate.com/
Name recognition counts for a lot. In 1999 and 2000 GWB took a lead against Gore and never lost it until the DEM convention because a significant number of people thought GHWB was running.
Interesting to note that Chambliss is the first ever GA GOP Class 2 Senator. And it’s only since 2005 that GA has had two GOP Senators in office simultaneously.
Well, if the DINO term is to be used, I think it would be well-used with ol’ Zell Miller.
“Dr. Rad” is an really cool nickname. That is all.
Have you ever been as rude as one GOP House leader to say this to someone that you had to work with?
Even if I had to work with Daryl Issa, I’d never tell him that he makes my skin crawl.
I wouldn’t either, but only because he has $400M and can hire a lot of hitmen.
Let’s start by getting Susan Collins a nice Teaturd challenger. If Maine can elect LePage, I’d say we have a chance of some really impressive ratfucking.
In fact, I think it’s high time the Tea Party ran as a third party, don’t you?
Yeah, I was thinking that the Democratic campaign in Maine pretty much writes itself. Just show lots of pictures of Collins with LePage and Ted Cruz. Or even just put pictures of them next to each other. They may hate each other, but who cares? They’re all Republicans.
Give me $20B dollars, and I’d run “tea party” candidates in every Senate race…not as a primary challenger, but as a third party challenge to the Republican and Democrat.
Seriously though, give me $20B and I’d give away 99.99% of it immediately to friends, family, and charity.
Anyone with over $1B should have 99.99% taken away out of principle.
we seriously need to find someone for Maine.
Collins has voted in lock step with the GOP since the President was inaugurated. Her ‘moderate’ cred is nothing but bullshyt
Well, the Tea Party appears to agree. They’re planning to primary all the sellouts and traitors aren’t they? That should help. And pretty soon people with swastikas tattooed on their foreheads are going to be winning Republican primaries. Or at any rate only people with swastikas tattooed on their foreheads will be willing to vote for them.