Not that disturbing...

Ritters suffering the fate of all governors; which will improve by this time next year to do economic limbo instead of free fall. Plus I'm betting Romanoff has a good chance to beat Ritter in the primary, avoiding all the negatives of incumbency. Ritters Labour decisions, hasn't pleased the left-wing, giving Romanoff more of a base.
Bennet could be considered somewhat of a non-incumbent because he was appointed; but that's still not nice numbers

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by: Hamtree @ Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 04:36:23 AM UTC

Romanoff is running against Bennet not Ritter

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by: DTOzone @ Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 04:48:52 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Oh... : )

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by: Hamtree @ Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 06:33:44 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Bennett Needs Romanov's Challenge

All the predecessors who sat in his Senate seat have gone through baptism by fire when it comes to campaigns. Gary Hart beat an incumbent GOP Senator then survived the Reagan 1980 landslide to serve two terms, Tim Wirth and Ben Nighthorse Campbell had both served in the House. In Campbell's case, he was elected both as a Democrat and Republican before retiring. Ken Salazar was elected statewide twice as Colorado's AG before winning his first Senate term.

I'm very glad Romanoff is looking into the primary challenge. Bennett, with all due respect, was in a completely different profession before becoming a politician, and therefore had absolutely zero political skills to draw upon. If the DSCC are upset that Romanoff is challenging Bennett, then tough. He's going to need this experience if he's going to fend of Republican challengers in the general.

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by: Don't Tase Me, Bro! @ Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 11:06:13 AM UTC

Agreed

This will make Bennet stronger not weaker. Especially since the NRSC has placed a big fat target on his head, he's going to need all the experience at campaigning he'll get.  

19, Male, Independent, CA-12

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by: ehstronghold @ Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 12:41:19 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Agree also

Just keep it civil guys. No Westly-Angelides nonsense.

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by: conspiracy @ Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 13:51:03 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

It won't make Bennet stronger

if he loses - which would be fine with me.

"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
--  Will Rogers  

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by: Pan @ Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 19:20:58 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

You can make an analogy to sports, perhaps

That its hard to play well in the big games if you just dont have much experience playing. And in Bennet's case it might be hard for him to campaign statewide, in a general, if he never has before.  

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by: HarrisCountyBrian @ Sun Sep 13, 2009 at 06:59:05 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Romanoff, not Romanov

Last I checked, Andrew was not a member of the not-so-illustrious Russian royal family.

Agree with your point, though.

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by: corran horn @ Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 13:27:35 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Thanks

I realized that as I was typing my main message, but I guess I forgot to correct it in the title.

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by: Don't Tase Me, Bro! @ Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 19:07:37 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Shining Example of Why Government Appointments

are terrible.  Does anyone else notice that of the 4 appointed replacements, 3 (CO, IL, and possibly DE) could be in serious danger come 2010?  Illinois' was a corruption-ridden disaster, Delaware was nepotism at its worst, and Ritter's appointment of Bennet was completely nonsensical.  Had he appointed Romanoff or Hickenlooper - the two politicos that Coloradoans had said they most wanted to have in the Senate - we would not only have had a strong incumbent for the Senate, but would himself have had a boost on Election Day by sharing the ballot with a fellow popular Democrat.  Now, Bennet is starting from scratch and Ritter is completely standing on his own.  I don't care how the national climate is, the GOP is offering up third-tier competition that ought to be annihilated.  

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by: DFLer @ Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 17:16:11 PM UTC

How is the Deleware situation nepotism?

Beau Biden was not appointed to the Senate period, much less by a family member.  And should he run for and win his father's old seat, then that, too, would not constitute nepotism.


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

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by: TheUnknown285 @ Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 17:19:16 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Nepotism was the wrong word

But the then-outgoing (and highly unpopular) Gov. Ruth Ann Minner essentially named a placeholder so Beau can have the nomination all to himself come 2010.  There were plenty of qualified Democrats who could have had that seat, but because Beau's dad is the Veep they had to ensure there would be no competition foo baby Biden.  The ONLY reason why Beau didn't get appointed outright was because of his obligation to go to Iraq - if that weren't in the way he'd be a sitting US Senator right now.  The entire move reeks of family ties shoving out any competition - and it may hurt us come 2010 if Castle runs, as Beau is a weak candidate who won by only 8 points in his lone electoral victory against a nobody despite Joe pulling out all the stops to help him.  so yeah, it's technically not nepotism but it is favoritism and favoring legacy over quality.

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by: DFLer @ Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 18:41:15 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

If she had named someone stronger

Who then ran people would complain a la Gillibrand. This way anybody is entitled to run and Beau has to fight for it himself. Castle, if he runs, would be strong versus anybody but the VP and Carper.

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by: conspiracy @ Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 18:55:59 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

DE and NY are not the same

Folks complained in NY because Gillibrand rubbed a lot of House colleagues the wrong way and she leap-frogged a lot of people who were preparing to run for Hillary's seat (in the expectance she would win the Presidency).  

Delaware is all small-state politics.  No one is really "entitled to run" because the implicit message with the Kaufman appointment is anyone who challenges Beau will get shoved out.  The state rarely has competitive primaries, even for local races (I used to do direct mail out there and saw it first-hand).  Hell, in the last cycle Jack Markell barely beat out John Carney for the gubernatorial nod because the state party paid for ads against him.  Yes, a state party used its funds in a primary to attack another Democrat and no one thought it was wrong to do so.  People were pissed at Markell because he went "out of turn" and challenged the officially endorsed candidate.  They also pushed out most of the local donors from giving to him - he had to use a national network to raise the money to win.  That's how Delaware works.  Unless you're a progidous fundraiser like Markell you will get shut out.

And don't get me started on Beau.  His entire political career has been gifted to him, from his Justice Department gig to his AG run in 2006.  Most Delawareans believe he wouldn't be anywhere without papa Joe, and there are plenty of Dems that would stick it to Castle in a Senate election because they wouldn't carry that kind of baggage.

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by: DFLer @ Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 19:52:28 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Sad thing is

Beau Biden, at least judging by his introduction speech at the DNC Convention, seems pretty impressive. He really doesnt need all the 'extra help' (well, he wouldnt even be AG or possibly running for Sen., in the first place, if his last name werent Biden but thats beside the point). Should he be elected to the Sen. hed probably do quite a fine job. In a way I cant entirely blame Joe Biden as a father should do alot to help his son. But sometimes you have to also do whats fair (for example, if youre a coach and your son is on your team you cant give him more playing time just because hes your son). And this is quite different from Joe Biden's run for the Sen. in the early 70s when he was just some city councilman. Maybe he got the establishment backing during the primary, i really dont know, but I would assume nobody was knocking heads to get him the slot. As he wasnt 'popular' or a 'big dog' by any means.

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by: HarrisCountyBrian @ Sun Sep 13, 2009 at 07:07:12 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

CO

I really wish Romanoff would primary Ritter who will likely be much more at risk.

29/D/Male/NY-01

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by: Tekzilla @ Fri Sep 11, 2009 at 17:35:21 PM UTC