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Who Is Your Ideal 2008 Senate Candidate? (w/ poll)

by: senate2008guru

Thu Mar 01, 2007 at 11:25 AM EST


[Cross-posted at Senate 2008 Guru: Following the Races.]

As we look at the 2008 Senate map, and where we have pick-up opportunities, there are some obvious choices for who would be our best candidate, and there are some not so obvious choices.

From Sebelius in Kansas to Allen in Maine to Easley in North Carolina to a number of choices in New Hampshire to fewer choices in Idaho, there is much to discuss.

Who is your ideal 2008 Senate candidate? Who would you like to see run?

More below the fold.
senate2008guru :: Who Is Your Ideal 2008 Senate Candidate? (w/ poll)
SEEMS OBVIOUS

Colorado (Wayne Allard) - U.S. Rep. Mark Udall: he's all-but-in, so no need for the hard sell, and he's the frontrunner with momentum while the CO-GOP is looking to a potentially nasty primary

Kansas (Pat Roberts) - Governor Kathleen Sebelius: enjoys a 67-29 approval-disapproval as Governor

Maine (Susan Collins) - U.S. Rep. Tom Allen: one of only two ME Congressmen, he is routinely re-elected with 60+% of the vote

Mississippi (Thad Cochran) - Former state Attorney General Mike Moore: the most popular Democrat in Mississippi

Nebraska (Chuck Hagel) - Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey: a bright star on a relatively shallow bench

North Carolina (Elizabeth Dole) - Governor Mike Easley: already beating Elizabeth Dole in polling

Virginia (John Warner) - Former Governor Mark Warner: left the Governor's office with an 80+% approval rating

SEEMS FAIRLY OBVIOUS

Alaska (Ted Stevens) - Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich: With Tony Knowles' electoral results statewide dropping from '98 to '04 to '06, it seems that Begich's star is the fasting rising among AK-Dems

Oregon (Gordon Smith) - U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer: a popular Democrat re-elected with larger totals each successive election, he seems to be politically preparing for a statewide bid

Tennessee (Lamar Alexander) - Governor Phil Bredesen: enjoys a monstrous 73-24 approval rating, while Lamar is at 53-36

Wyoming (Mike Enzi) - Governor Dave Freudenthal/Former Congressional candidate Gary Trauner: pretty much the only two high profile Democrats in the state at the moment; Freudenthal enjoys a mammoth 77-19 approval, but has indicated no interest in the race; Trauner came within about 1,000 votes of winning the At-Large Congressional seat in 2006

SEEMS LESS OBVIOUS (deep benches) - who would you prefer?

Minnesota (Norm Coleman) - do we choose the high-profile satirist, the millionaire public interest attorney, or well-known legislators?

New Hampshire (John Sununu) - do we choose the popular, young Mayor, the prominent activist, the progressive businessman, or the medical professor/former astronaut? An embarrassment of riches that not only should scare Sununu but also Gregg in '10

New Mexico (Pete Domenici) - several prominent Congresspeople and current and former statewide elected officials - just waiting on Domenici to make a retire or run for re-elect decision

SEEMS LESS OBVIOUS (slimmer or quieter benches) - who are your picks?
Alabama (Jeff Sessions)
Georgia (Saxby Chambliss)
Idaho (Larry Craig)
Kentucky (Mitch McConnell)
Oklahoma (Jim Inhofe)
South Carolina (Lindsey Graham)
Texas (John Cornyn)
Poll
Who would you most like to see run for Senate in 2008?
Maine Congressman Tom Allen
North Carolina Governor Mike Easley
Omaha, Nebraska Mayor Mike Fahey
Former Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore
Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius
Former Virginia Governor Mark Warner
I want 'em all in! We want a filibuster-proof maj

Results

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Who Is Your Ideal 2008 Senate Candidate? (w/ poll) | 7 comments
In addition to the candidates you mentioned:
FAIRLY OBVIOUS:

OR-Sen: Absolute ideal would be Kitzhaber or DeFazio, in that order, but both have declared no interest. Blumenauer is second best. If for some reason Blumenauer actually isn't running, Steve Novick is probably our best shot unless someone else appears out of the woodwork. As long as the nominee isn't Bill Bradbury again or a similar inept stick of wood from Kulo's cabinet such as AG Myers, I'll be happy.

WY-Sen: Trauner is an obvious candidate, but I'd rather he ran against Cubin again or waited for Freudenthal's term limits, then ran for the open seat. Enzi's too popular to waste a good candidate on in such a conservative state.

LESS OBVIOUS (deep):

MN-Sen: Judi Dutcher. Mike Ceresi second, RT Ryback and Franken tied for third.

NH-Sen: I want to see Marchand run against Sununu and Buckley vs. Gregg. They'd both win.

LESS OBVIOUS (shallow):

AL-Sen: Artur Davis, but he's out.

OK-Sen: vs. Inhofe, Brad Carson. (vs. Coburn in 2010, Brad Henry, whose term limits as Gov are perfectly timed)

TX-Sen: My ideal is less conservative than can realistically win in Texas. Much as I dislike Cuellar, I'd take him over Cornyn, and he's got the conservative and Hispanic appeal.

No offense, but you're DEAD WRONG on MN
Judi Dutcher is absolutely retarded.  She's the reason Tim Pawlenty is still Governor Pawlenty (in an interview, she didn't know what E85 was, and later, when asked about it, gov nominee Mike Hatch called the reporter a republican whore).  Ergo, Judi Dutcher is the absolute worst choice for a senate nominee.

I honestly don't like our bench here at all, but I'd lean towards Ryback because he's not a trial lawyer like Ciresi and not polarizing like Franken.

[ Parent ]
What about Rep. McCollum?
I mean, I'd be fine with Ryback, too, but I think McCollum would definitely be a great candidate.

Either way, Ryback or McCollum would both be far preferable to Ciresi, Franken, or anybody else on the Democratic bench.

Of course, a candidate could come out of nowhere, the way Klobuchar did.  Nobody anticipated that the Hennepin County prosecutor would make a run for the senate . . . but, she did, with a resounding victory.  So, you never know . . .

[ Parent ]
Fair enough
No offense taken. My knowledge of MN politics is far from comprehensive. I'll take your word for it that Dutcher's really that useless.

Ryback or Franken it is.

[ Parent ]
NH-Sen.
Who can win?

The progressive businessman: most definitely.

The popular mayor? Yes.

The former astronaut? Maybe.

The prominent activist? Less sure.

One thing I know... we have a small army of excellent candidates.

Wonder if Sununu's fired now.

Sebelius
I actually rather not see Sebelius run in a presidential year.  I'd like to see her take on Brownback in 2010.
Brownback isn't running in 2010
, or so he says - and I wouldn't be surprised if he actually meant it. Which means we have an even better shot at taking the seat.

I'd like to see a strong candidate against Roberts. The man has so many skeletons that need to be exposed, and only a popular Democrat will have the cred to expose them in a state as red as Kansas.

Maybe Sibelius runs against Roberts and Boyda (if she survives re-election in '08) runs for Brownback's open seat?

[ Parent ]
Who Is Your Ideal 2008 Senate Candidate? (w/ poll) | 7 comments

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