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SSP Daily Digest: 7/9

by: DavidNYC

Thu Jul 09, 2009 at 12:02 PM EDT


• AL-02: Noted sartorialist Bobby Bright was photographed (proudly?) holding up a t-shirt with the logo "Fire Congress" on the front. Also be sure to check out the shirt Bright himself is actually wearing.

• IL-Gov: GOP state Sen. Kirk Dillard formally announced his entrance into the race today.

• MI-09: Former GOP state Rep. Andrew Raczkowski has filed paperwork to run against Dem Rep. Gary Peters in this D+2 district. "Rocky," as he is known, got hammered by Carl Levin in the 2002 Senate race, 61-38.

• MN-06: Dem state Sen. Tarryl Clark, generally considered a possible MN-Gov candidate, may turn her attention instead to Michele Bachmann. Of course, she'd face a contested primary against El Tinklenberg (who was last seen giving $250,000 from his unexpected 2008 surplus to the DCCC).

• NC-Sen: Civitas has Sen. Richard Burr's favorables at 31-19, which is the weakest they've been all year. I don't quite understand why 50% are either undecided or haven't heard enough, though. Meanwhile, Burr's pollster Paul Shumaker, who did a garbagey poll for Burr and then pretended it was an independent survey, will now pay for the poll out of his own pocket and call it an in-kind contribution to the campaign. Nice try, bucko.

• NJ-Gov: Rasmussen has Chris Christie up 46-39. Believe it or not, that's good news - last month, it was 51-38. Don't get too excited, though. With leaners, it's 53-41. Obama can't show up here soon enough.

• NV-Sen: Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn advised John Ensign to pay off his mistress's million-dollar mortgage and move her & her husband out-of-state. Seriously.

• NYC-Mayor: Another poll - this time from Marist - shows Bloombo under 50, and his re-elects are an uninspiring 44-51, despite the fact that he's blanketed the airwaves with zillions of ads for months. The problem is that Comptroller Bill Thompson (who clocks in at 35) doesn't seem to be running much of a campaign.

• New York: Ken Rudin makes an interesting point - if you count "new LG" Richard Ravitch, four of NY's six statewide elected officials... weren't elected to the positions they now hold. Comptroller Tom DiNapoli was appointed when Alan Hevesi resigned; Gov. David Paterson was elevated when Eliot Spitzer resigned; Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand was appointed when Hillary Clinton resigned; and now Paterson is attempting to appoint Ravitch. Only Sen. Chuck Schumer and AG Andy Cuomo faced voters for their current jobs.

• OH-Sen: A good get for Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher - he just received the endorsement of the 134,000-strong Ohio branch of the United Auto Workers union.

• UT-Sen: Just when you thought the Utah GOP Senate primary couldn't get any zanier and more chock-full of wingnuts, along comes news that new Rep. Jason Chaffetz -- rising star of the movement conservatives, who just vaulted into power by out-conservativing Chris Cannon in a 2008 primary -- is now thinking about a challenge to the establishment's Bob Bennett. It'd be a pretty brash move by Chaffetz, especially since AG Mark Shurtleff is already mounting a strong primary challenge from the far right. (C)

• VA-02: Scott Rigell, who owns car dealerships "throughout the Virginia beach area," has filed paperwork to run against Dem Rep. Glenn Nye in this R+5 district. Rigell, like the vast majority of auto dealers, is of course a Republican, but he did donate $1,000 to Obama last year.

• WA-Sen: Not that you were probably sitting up at night worrying about Patty Murray's re-election prospects, but a poll by local pollster Elway finds her looking pretty good with 53-34 job approval. 44% say they would re-elect her and 33% say they wouldn't, with the rest taking a wait-and-see attitude to see what sort of opposition the Washington GOP can scrape up. (C)

• Census: Looks like we may finally get a floor vote on Census Director Robert Graves' confirmation, who is currently subject to holds by both David Vitter and Richard Shelby (over use of sampling techniques and ACORN's involvement in the census); Harry Reid is planning a cloture vote now that we're eight months away from the April 1 count. (C)
DavidNYC :: SSP Daily Digest: 7/9
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SSP Daily Digest: 7/9 | 30 comments
Bill Thompson clocks in at....?
It looks like you broke off mid-post. What was that about Thompson's approval rating?

As for Bright, either he has an ironic sense of humor or has no concept of irony. As for the shirt he's wearing....seriously? A shirt like that belongs in only 2 places: a Fourth of July parade or a dude ranch.

UT-Sen: This really puzzles me. What exactly has Bennett done to enrage the base in UT?

OH-Sen: I get the feeling this endorsement is part of the reason Brunner is complaining about the "establishment".

Fixed NYC-Mayor, thanks
I think Brunner's post probably had more to do with fundraising than this particular endorsement, but I'm sure it didn't help.
[ Parent ]
Bright
I'm pretty sure Bright was wearing that shirt on July 4th, so that's a bit more acceptable.  I'm guessing he showed up at one of those "tea parties" hence the fire congress t-shirt.

28, Unenrolled, MA-08
[ Parent ]
Yeah
http://www.politico.com/blogs/...

It was a 4th of July gathering.

I really liked the campaign's response:

Spokesman Lewis Lowe told Shenanigans: "Congressman Bright, who is always willing to meet with and talk to his constituents, knows that the folks at home are the boss, and he's bringing the shirt to Washington and keeping it in his office as a symbol of who he works for. That's why Congressman Bright has worked hard to be an independent voice for Alabama and an advocate for fiscal responsibility in Congress."

[ Parent ]
It WAS a Fourth of July celebration

[ Parent ]
Oh, that's nothing
compared to Gerry Connolly's infamous "flag vomit" shirt:


[ Parent ]
KY Senate
Chris Cillizza reports in The Fix that Dem. AG Jack Conway had an amazing fundraising pull in 2Q, breaking the all-time record for a Ky. Dem senate candidate, raising $1.3 million.  Republican Trey Grayson raised more than $600,000.  No word yet from the others, Dem. Lt Gov. Dan Mongiardo, or "dead man walking" Sen Jim Bunning.  

http://voices.washingtonpost.c...

 

MI-09
I'm gonna think about The Wrestler now every time I read about Randy Raczkowski.
Ohio Polling
Here are some new numbers for the Gubernatorial and US Senate races in Ohio from Daily Kos and Research 2000.

OH-GOV:
Ted Strickland (D-inc) 44%
John Kasich (R) 39%

In the race for the US Senate, both top Democrats lead Republican Rob Portman.

OH-SEN:
Jennifer Brunner (D) 40%
Rob Portman (R) 36%

Lee Fisher (D) 42%
Rob Portman (R) 35%

Democratic Primary:
Lee Fisher 22%
Jennifer Brunner 17%

50, straight white male, Democrat(Dan Boren/Gene Taylor 2012!), AL-7(born in AL-5)

Link
http://www.dailykos.com/statep...

50, straight white male, Democrat(Dan Boren/Gene Taylor 2012!), AL-7(born in AL-5)
[ Parent ]
Burris won't run

Link
[ Parent ]
Let's hope the people of AL-02 take Bright's advice.
Worthless excuse for a Democrat.

Follow the elections in Georgia at the 2010 Georgia Race Tracker.
I like him
He's done good for his district. He will win in 2010.

50, straight white male, Democrat(Dan Boren/Gene Taylor 2012!), AL-7(born in AL-5)
[ Parent ]
What has he done for his district
aside from vote against every important piece of legislation the Democrats have passed so far this Congress?
[ Parent ]
I don't care much if he loses
but the type of extremist Republican who'd be very likely to replace him in that district would be even worse.

"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
--  Will Rogers  
[ Parent ]
He's kept a winger Republican out
works for me.
[ Parent ]
What's the difference?
Really? Bright's voted against Climate Change legislation, pay fairness for women, the stimulus, penalties for hate crimes against gays.  AND the DCCC pays for all of that.

Follow the elections in Georgia at the 2010 Georgia Race Tracker.
[ Parent ]
I have to agree with you
n/t

"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
--  Will Rogers  
[ Parent ]
He's been a Democrat.
That's what he's done.

Slowly, and gradually, he will be one of the fighters on the front line to help pull some of these deep red districts into the 21st century.

party: Democratic, ideology: moderate, district: CT-01

[ Parent ]
I don't see much fight or much pulling
I see what is either a cowardly Blue Dog chasing every conservative meme supposedly expoused by his district or an opportunist using the Democratic majority for pork and prestige but giving little in return and who will be a candidate for a party switch if and when the political winds change or an anachronism of when the Democratic Party was just as pig-headedly conservative as the Republican Party and is still a candidate for a party switch.  I wonder if today's Bobby Bright is yesterday's Nathan Deal.

Follow the elections in Georgia at the 2010 Georgia Race Tracker.
[ Parent ]
To continue (damn me for hitting submit too early)
I don't see how people like Bright pull their districts into the 21st century when they won't take any even remotely progressive stances, even incremental ones.  Voting against paycheck fairness for women?  Come the fuck on!  How can they be expected to pull their districts forward when they're not giving a good defense of a Democratic action?

As a 2004 Dean supporter in a red area of a red state (Cartersville, Georgia), I was receptive to the 50 State Stategy.  If it takes a Southern accent or a cowboy hat to bring progressivism to new areas, then so be it.  But if all we're getting is blue re-color of a Republican, then I don't see what's the use.

Follow the elections in Georgia at the 2010 Georgia Race Tracker.

[ Parent ]
More the pity for you
Bright's level of "left-ness" is literally as far as his district will go, now.  He won by a tiny, tiny margin.

At the same time it is delusional to not see that Bright votes "more left" than a Republican would at least SOME of the time, probably by next year somewhere in the 25 to 35% range.  

Attacking him for being the most conservative D in the House is nuts since he represents the most conservative district held by a Democrat (Edwards' district may be technically redder, but the difference between a typical Texas Republican and a typical Alabama Republican is not a trivial one).

[ Parent ]
As far as I'm concerned
he can sink or swim on his own. And having people like him around makes a difference to how receptive (or not) I will be when the DCCC comes calling.  
[ Parent ]
well, here's the thing
I hear what you're saying, but AL-02 is a blood-red district that no other Democrat would ever have a chance in. Who knows, maybe some of the people in that district really do oppose equal pay for women. Maybe even some of the women are of the "oh I love to be beneath my husband, it's God's way..." types for all we know. It's a shit stain of a place, but Bright helps us out in one major way:

He's quiet.

I mean, you have Demint in South Carolina very seriously comparing Obama to Hitler, you have Steve King in Iowa getting mad about having to apologize for slavery, you have Republicans everywhere saying we should overthrow our govt the way the military did in Honduras, saying that gays are evil and that protecting them will endanger our freedom, and virulently advocating for a theocratic corporatist regime in front of an audience of undereducated, angry Southerners seeking an explanation that allows them an out so that they don't have to blame themselves for their sad, pathetic lives. Keeping all that in mind, Bright looks like a saint.

I wish we had 2 good parties, but instead we have one party of corporate puppets (the Democrats) and one party of crazy people, so you kinda have to take what you can get.

21, Male, Democrat, MD-02 (home/registered), MD-05 (college)

[ Parent ]
The Democratic Party of the United States.
Taking wedge issues off the table and using (most of) our time to actually deal with important issues rather than political posturing, since 2000.

party: Democratic, ideology: moderate, district: CT-01
[ Parent ]
Well
"As a 2004 Dean supporter in a red area of a red state (Cartersville, Georgia)"

It is statements like this that puzzle me when you post your rants trashing any centrist or center-right Democrats. You, more so than most, should realize the importance of Conservative Democrats in the party.

Does Bright vote the party line constantly? No way, and, quite frankly, in his district, that is a good thing. Not only is Bright's seat a conservative strong-hold, it was a GOP stronghold until he won. I'm sure some people are thinking "what is the difference"? Well, we're talking about a southern Congressional seat, that's the difference. AL-02's history is the polar opposite to most Congressional seats in the South with the exception of some of the Tennessee Congressional seats. Most of the Congressional seats in the South elected conservative Democrats until the past decade or so, yet AL-02 had been GOP held for over four decades!

As a Conservative Democrat myself, I am a huge fan of Bobby Bright. While I disagree with some of his votes, common sense tells me there is no member of Congress that I will agree with 100% of the time, and expecting such, is, well, insane. Bright was NOT elected to "pull his district forward by giving a good defense of a Democratic action". Bright was elected to represent the citizens of AL-02, and he's done a great job.

If you'd prefer purging Blue Dogs because they vote their district and not their party, then I'd argue that you'd rather see a Republican majority that enacts legislation you might agree with 10%, compared to a Democratic majority that will enact legislation you agree with 80% of the time. This purity complex that you and some other left-leaning Democrats display is doing nothing but hurting the party and the legislation you hope the party passes. In fact, advocating for the defeat of people like Bobby Bright does exactly what you claim they do, and that's hurting the party and the chance at passing any decent legislation.

Let's look at CQ's Party Unity list. http://innovation.cqpolitics.c...

According to the CQ study, party unity is defined as "The frequency with which they vote with their party, on occasions when a majority of Republicans oppose a majority of Democrats (Party Unity)."

Bright and Minnick are routinely vilified in liberal circles for their votes. Bright's party unity score is 52, Minnick's is 40. Those scores are not great by any means, but I am willing to bet Jay Love and Bill Sali would have been in the mid to high 90s on the GOP side.

I am the type that if I am given the choice of supporting someone who will vote with me 40% of the time and someone who will vote with me 10% of the time, I will choose the 40%, not complain about the fact that 40% is not good enough.

Even if one wants to use the "well that's because of procedural votes and blahblahblah". That is a very valid point, and it can easily be argued that on major liberal legislation, Bright and other Blue Dogs usually go against the party. Without the 50+ Blue Dogs and the dozens of New Democrats voting with the party on procedural votes, that major legislation would never get to the floor in the first place!

Too often many confuse a Democratic majority with a liberal majority. There are issues that all wings of our party can usually come together on, and there are issues that can tear our party into the numerous factions we're known for. Overall, unlike the robotic style of the GOP, we're a fairly loose knit coalition that does not pass any extremist legislation.

Bright reminds me of one of my favorite Congressman, Jim Marshall. Marshall represented my county for a couple of cycles before the mid-decade redistricting occurred. Anyway, Bright, like Marshall, is a former Mayor of a big city in his district. Marshall won a closely contested race in 2002 against Calder Clay, and then turned around in 2004 and beat him by an extremely large margin. Granted, Marshall faced a tough race against former Congressman Mac Collins in 2006, he came back and beat Rick Goddard by a huge margin last year. My point is, I can see Bright becoming entrenched if he keeps doing what he is doing. If this happens, he might be able to vote a little more with the party but no, he'll likely never hit the 80% or 90% plateau, which is a good thing.

Bright is not today's Nathan Deal. TheUnknown285, however might be the next Ralph Nader. Someone who does more harm to the causes he supposedly holds so close to him because people within the party do not agree 100% of the time.

The more Blue Dogs in Congress the better.

[ Parent ]
Reply
[quote]Well, we're talking about a southern Congressional seat, that's the difference.[/quote]

Once again, high cost, low benefit.  High monetary cost, high PR cost (giving bipartisan cover to the Repubicans and giving the media their "Democrats in disarray" stories), while low vote benefit.  Trying to keep a district like Bright's as opposed to focusing more on districts like all those California districts is like trying to grow oranges in Alaska instead of Florida: you can do it but with an extreme capital cost because the environment is not in your favor.  

[quote]Bright is not today's Nathan Deal.[/quote]

Care to elaborate or are you just reflexively defending a DINO?

[quote]Bright was elected to represent the citizens of AL-02, and he's done a great job.[/quote]

So, telling the women of his district that they shouldn't expect pay fairness or telling the children of his that they shouldn't expect healthcare is a good job?   Bang up job for his district there.  Oh, wait.  He voted against the gays!  Wonderful job for his district!

[quote]The more Blue Dogs in Congress the better.[/quote]
Right.  Because we [i]really[/i] need more guys who sabatoge healthcare reform, hemming and hawing over costs, yet had no problem sending thousands of Americans to their graves in a liar's war or securing millions upon millions in pork for their districts.  We need more guys who vote against the rights of gays. We need more chronically vulnerable "Democrats" who vote like Republicans.  We need more "Democrats" who give bipartisan cover to the Republicans.

[quote]TheUnknown285, however might be the next Ralph Nader.  Someone who does more harm to the causes he supposedly holds so close to him because people within the party do not agree 100% of the time.
[/quote]

Yeah, because that's what I said.  Go fuck yourself.
   

Follow the elections in Georgia at the 2010 Georgia Race Tracker.

[ Parent ]
Coburn, and UT-Sen
As for Coburn: Gotta love him, laying out the politically incorrect details of everything.

UT-Sen: So is it a good thing or a bad thing short-term for us if Chaffetz does run?

party: Democratic, ideology: moderate, district: CT-01

By the way, what mayor or former mayors
are currently running for Senate?

party: Democratic, ideology: moderate, district: CT-01
SSP Daily Digest: 7/9 | 30 comments

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