Google Ads


Site Stats

The Swing State Project Endorses Scott McAdams

by: DavidNYC

Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 11:56 PM EDT


Every so often, people have asked us: Is the Swing State Project going to endorse anyone this cycle? Our answer has never changed: If we think there's a special opportunity where a small blog like ours can make a real difference, we'll seize on it. This cycle, though, we haven't spotted any candidacies that fit the bill.

Until now.

If you read SSP on a daily basis, you probably won't be surprised by our choice - but we hope you are pleased, and that you'll join us in springing in to action. By now, you are of course familiar with Scott McAdams, the Democratic nominee for senate in the state of Alaska, and it is our pleasure to endorse him. We're setting a goal of raising the equivalent of one maximum federal donation - $2,400 - for his campaign.

So why do we like this race?

  • McAdams is a bona fide Alaskan with an authentic pedigree as a commercial fishing deckhand and a small-town mayor. I'm not sure you can get more genuinely Alaskan than that.

  • Joe Miller, his opponent, is a teabagger's teabagger, with views that are pretty crazy even by red-state Republican standards. He wants to eliminate Social Security - as in, get rid of it completely. No exaggeration.

  • Lisa Murkowski, the incumbent Miller beat to make this race go topsy-turvy, has been notably mum on any endorsement. There's definitely bad blood here, and it could linger.

  • McAdams is being backed to the hilt by Alaska's senior Dem, Sen. Mark Begich, a true mensch who knows how to win in a very difficult state.

  • Finally, Alaska is a cheap state - damn cheap - and a little money can go a long way here. SSP may not have Chuck Schumer's rolodex, but $2,400 can do a lot in the Land of the Midnight Sun.

We know this has been a tough and in many ways dispiriting cycle. There haven't been a whole lot of bright spots on the horizon. But this race is definitely one of them. We can make a real difference. Help us get started - now.
DavidNYC :: The Swing State Project Endorses Scott McAdams
Tags: , , , , (All Tags)
Print Friendly View Send As Email

The Swing State Project Endorses Scott McAdams | 63 comments
I can see a BIG opening for McAdams here...
Even in this tough environment. Sarah Palin isn't as popular these days among the general electorate as she was with the GOP primary voters, not even in Alaska. And Begich proved Dems can win with good candidates, even with massive headwinds blowing against us (as they did here in 2008 with Palin on the ticket).

I'd honestly peg this as Leans R now, but that can change with a good campaign on our side and more gaffes and infighting on theirs.

Yes, Virginia, there ARE progressives in Nevada!
24, gay male, Democrat, NV-03 (or 04?)

Thanks!
I'm glad we agree! Hope you'll support McAdams with a contribution on our ActBlue page.
[ Parent ]
not to be pessimistic
but we don't know a lot about him.  sure he's better than miller, but he's been ignored by the media until now and might have some sort of skeleton in his closet we don't know about.  it sounds paranoid i know, but still.  

Top ten signs you're an SSPer #1: your favorite song is "Panic At Tedisco" and no one understands what you mean.
So?
We really have nothing to lose... it's not like this is some sort of critical seat...It's an opportunity... a chance worth taking.  If we lose, so what?  No one ever expected us to even play.
[ Parent ]
Exactly
We're taking a chance! We'll be the first to admit that. There are plenty of things we can't foresee that could happen here. But the off chance that someone might have a proverbial "skeleton in the closet"... well, that's far too remote to deter us from jumping in with both feet.

And it's no reason not to donate, either! So please give!

[ Parent ]
Scott McAdams is the Mayor of Sitka
The fourth-largest municipality of Alaska. He's not Some Dude. He's the only candidate in this race with a record as a public official.

Could he have a skeleton in his closet? There's no greater risk with Scott than there is with anyone else.

[ Parent ]
Alaska Dems seem to like him a lot
And Mark Begich is behind this guy 1,000%. That's honestly good enough for me.
[ Parent ]
I agree that the Begich support is KEY......
If the soon-to-be senior United States Senator from the same state is putting his own good name on the line for this guy, then it's silly to talk about SSP taking any kind of "risk."

43, male, Indian-American, Democrat, VA-10
[ Parent ]
I'm just saying
wait a week to see if there's a media deluge.  the media didn't pay attention until miller won and even then, they focused more on miller's surprise win than mcadams.  remember the assault of articles on palin after she was chosen, i just don't want that to happen to a SSP chosen candidate.  Also, no, i am not comparing McAdams to palin except in the sense that they were both put in front of the media relatively quickly and were both small town alaskan mayors.  comparisons end there.

Top ten signs you're an SSPer #1: your favorite song is "Panic At Tedisco" and no one understands what you mean.
[ Parent ]
We're not waiting
We need to strike while the iron is hot, and McAdams needs our help now. As James noted, he's a public figure who has already been elected to office. If god forbid he should turn out to be unacceptable for some reason, we'll take our lumps and move on. But right now, we fight.
[ Parent ]
fair enough
I'm just a little overly cautious i guess.

Top ten signs you're an SSPer #1: your favorite song is "Panic At Tedisco" and no one understands what you mean.
[ Parent ]
That's Untrue . . . .
Last I heard, judges were considered public officials. And one could even argue that a military officer is a "public official" -- although public servant may be the more appropriate term here.  

Point is, misrepresenting Miller's career isn't going to help McAdams.  

[ Parent ]
Military servicemembers are NEVER referred to as "public officials." The term is limited to...
...civilian elected and appointed officials, as I've always seen it used.  I've never, ever seen the term used in reference to servicemembers.

Regarding judges, that, too, is questionable.  People refer to "public officials" as people who have some kind of political accountability, which judges, by design, mostly lack.  But you can fairly use the term to apply to judges, yes.  But it's definitely NOT the same as someone elected or appointed to an office that carries political accountability.

43, male, Indian-American, Democrat, VA-10

[ Parent ]
Not to beat a dead horse
But, I also think that during this cycle everyone has been so down about our chances. Will we lose a lot of the seats that we gained from two back-to-back banner elections for the Democrats? Probably, yes. But this pessimism and biting negativity is a bit self-defeating.

Endorsing McAdams, while he may or may not be the ideal candidate, is exciting, and more importantly motivating for a group of people who have been reading countless stories about the impending Democratic defeat.

I hope that this doesn't come off as rude, and I trust that you are equally disenchanted, but I am just pleased to see that SSP has endorsed a candidate in an exciting race, and will be making my first political donation for him tomorrow morning.  

[ Parent ]
By the way most people seem to be talking
this November there is going to be a run on razor blades in Democratic cities across the country. It's good that there's some enthusiasm somewhere on the progressive internet.
[ Parent ]
Thanks for contributing!
You're right, in many ways this has been a grueling cycle, but it's not without its (admittedly rare) bright spots -- and this race definitely is one of those few opportunities we can get excited about.

Thanks for donating!

[ Parent ]
Winning
this race would send a powerful signal to the entire country that even in the reddest states in the country, the voters will not tolerate the unrestrained extremism of the tea party.

19, Male, Independent, CA-12
Adding Conway and Melancon
would be the icing on the cake.

My blog
Twitter
Scribd
28, New Democrat, Female, TX-03 (hometown CA-26)
[ Parent ]
Definitly working on Melancon!
When I have some free money (I'm a poor struggling college student) I'll give to McAdams.  He'll be the first candidate I've ever donated to.

21, male, CA-15 (home and voting there), LA-2 (college)


[ Parent ]
Thank you!
That's seriously heroic of you to do. I'm sure you can offset the cost by choosing to drink soda instead of beer one night!
[ Parent ]
Alaska isn't the reddest state in the country
Obama's approval ratings are still decent there, the polling in 2008 was close prior to Palin being chosen as VP, and Democrats are quite strong at a legislative level. To top it off Alaska probably has the smallest population of devout, Religious conservatives of any state other than Vermont and maybe Wyoming.
[ Parent ]
Not the reddest
But I think the OP was talking in general about the reddest group of states. By state-level PVI, Alaska is sixth-reddest (R+13).
[ Parent ]
Here's a good reason to support McAdams
If McAdams doesn't win, the Senate 'stache caucus will only consist of John Hoeven. Clearly the Democratic Party can't allow the Republicans to claim all of the mustaches in the Senate!

Politics and Other Random Topics

24, Male, Democrat, NM-01, Chairman of the Atheist Caucus, and Majority Leader of the "Going to Hell" caucus!

This is a true crisis
I will feature this important piece of information in my next fundraising ask!

And I assume you donated to help make sure this terrible fate does not come to pass!

[ Parent ]
Well, I'm always up for giving money to Democratic mustaches
Gotta wait to see if I can swing a few bucks for it, but I definitely think you guys are right to do this, even if McAdams is a long shot, it's a really good chance to play offense in a year when we really need to.

Well done, David!

Politics and Other Random Topics

24, Male, Democrat, NM-01, Chairman of the Atheist Caucus, and Majority Leader of the "Going to Hell" caucus!

[ Parent ]
Thanks, man
And it's the whole team at SSP which got behind this choice - which turned out to be an easy one, in the end.

And thanks for digging deep - I know you won't miss that latte tomorrow! (Well, not too badly.)

[ Parent ]
Does that mean you've donated to
Childress this cycle? The best stache east of the Mississippi there. Aside from Elliot Engel.  
[ Parent ]
SSP's endorsement is the top news
 on McAdams' campaign website at the moment: http://scottmcadams.org/
This is a wonderful thing you're doing.

I was looking for video of him and there's not a lot on youtube, but here's a nice luncheon speech he gave the day after the election: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
He's a decent public speaker. His Rachel Maddow appearance yesterday wasn't the greatest, but he'll improve- it's a bit different speaking to a camera with an ear piece rather than speaking directly to people normally.

Thanks so much for the kind words!
I hope you'll join in!

And I agree, McAdams will only improve. Getting better at public speaking just takes practice. A few hours with a media coach, just watching video of yourself, can make a big difference, too.

[ Parent ]
that website is atrocious
and he needs a professional photographer.  I spose that's where our money comes into play!  I'll send him something by EDay no doubt.
[ Parent ]
Redistricting
I feel like governors and state legislatures ought to be our priority, given the redistricting that will be coming up.  Maybe you can find some gubernatorial candidates with redistricting influence to endorse?  But I pitched in $10 anyway just to be a team player.  
Thanks for donating!
It can be hard to motivate people to give to state races, since most of the issues we're concerned about tend to be federal/national in focus. But maybe with this crowd, it could work, especially with villains like Tom Emmer and Dan Maes and... oh yes... Malbolgia himself, Rick Scott.
[ Parent ]
DLCC
How about putting in a plug for the DLCC?  I actually just now thought about that, and made a $50 contribution to them.  

They're the ones who help Democrats win state legislative seats, and they're the ones with the expertise to know where funds will the most effective to win key redistricting battlegrounds.  

I don't think it would take too much to persuade this crowd that the redistricting fights will have a very, very large influence on national politics for the following ten years.  Not to mention that obviously a lot of important decisions get made at the state level, and state legislatures are the primary breeding ground for candidates for higher office.  We need to think long-term, and pay attention to these important but un-sexy races.  

And there are a lot of people--even pretty wonkish people--who have never even heard of the DLCC and what they do, so you'd be providing an educational service in addition to a fundraising plea.  

They also have a pretty great blog on their homepage which I read regularly:
http://www.dlcc.org/

And they've got great page on Redistricting Facts, which is an excellent reference tool whenever I want to know what institutions control a state's redistricting process, and which party is currently in control of those institutions:
http://redistrictingfacts.com/...

[ Parent ]
Nate gives McAdams a 1.8% chance of winning
... which is slightly lower than Gillibrand's Republican opponent. To be sure, Alaska is a cheap market, but the marginal returns are still going to be pretty low.

I'm not sure if touting the SSP endorsement says more about the SSP or McAdams.

Nate Silver
is not the boss of me! Harrumph!!!
[ Parent ]
It's not a matter of him being the "boss of you", but being rational with distribution of donations
It depends on your objectives of course, but if it's "maximise the number of Democratic Senators" or something similar, then McAdams probably isn't the best use of your money.
[ Parent ]
I guess
I just like underdogs.
[ Parent ]
I
I understand.  Heck, I'm rooting for Linda McMahon. She's a big underdog.  It's just so much nicer when an underdog you got in for early wins.  Feels so much better than picking someone who looks golden from the start.  I'm really hoping the GOP wins this seat, but I feel like wishing you all good luck, anyway.  If I were a Dem, I'd totally be behind this guy; he seems very genuine.

43 - Male - GOP/Libertarian - FL 22
[ Parent ]
Note to Republicans
If you feel the need to say anything in threads like these, let the gentleman above be your example.

Thanks for wishing us well!

[ Parent ]
Your
You're welcome.  I simply don't like when people seem to hate each other.  Everyone wishes good things for the country, it's just a matter of different ideas.  I've got lots of Dem friends and I love to get together after an election so the winning team can help cheer up the losing team.

43 - Male - GOP/Libertarian - FL 22
[ Parent ]
Polls over the past two weeks...
... have shown McAdams trailing by 6% and 8%.

That's closer than the Democrats' Senate nominee is in: Arkansas, Delaware, Indiana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, arguably Missouri - and roughly equivalent to where things stand in Ohio, Kentucky and New Hampshire.

[ Parent ]
Nate's model is not a rational substitute for good personal judgment......
Nate is very smart, he's a supreme number-cruncher, but numbers frankly are limited.  You have to be able to see around corners at various candidates' strengths and vulnerabilities and anticipate how they'll likely play out down the road, when ads are flying and voters are paying closer attention.  Past and present numbers don't tell you that.  It's why Democrats wanted to run against Ken Buck instead of Jane Norton in Colorado, even though Bennet's pre-primary polling against Norton had become slightly better than against Buck.

And, by the way, do you even know for sure he has updated his numbers for this race since the last 2 polls came out?  His ratings are fluid as numbers change, and now numbers have changed.  And he doesn't update everything constantly, it's a lot of work and he doesn't do it daily or weekly.

43, male, Indian-American, Democrat, VA-10

[ Parent ]
Has he updated
Since the primary?
[ Parent ]
I'm guessing that Nate hasn't updated numbers
just the name.

It takes time to collect new polling data, find appropriate weights, and include them into an existing model.

And I'm guessing Nate's been busy with his new colleagues. I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't update numbers say for another week.

The 2%, to me, sounds like a "pre-primary" number, based on some small probability of a Miller win in the primary (and based on pre-primary polls, the probability of a Miller win was certainly significantly less than 50%.)

[ Parent ]
Come back in a week.

[ Parent ]
Good choice, guys
As a cash-strapped college boy, I have a verrry tight budget. Right now, I've decided to donate to Jack Conway, Tom Perriello, and a few New York State Senate candidates. With a SSP endorsement, though, I'm seriously considering it. He seems like a good candidate and a good guy. We'll see...

NY-14, DC-AL (college) Distraught Mets fan
Thanks!
Of course, we understand that not everyone can afford to make a donation, and you've already picked some very good candidates to support. But if you manage to find scrape together some loose change that you found under your dorm's vending machines, well, at least in Alaska you'll get more bang for your buck!
[ Parent ]
Same here
I have already committed to donating $25 to Jack Conway when he won the primary, and I am going to donate some to McAdams when I am not dirt poor.

First, I need a job...

20, Male, Democrat, CA-44 (home) CA-12 (college)

[ Parent ]
Thank you!
And good luck with the job hunt!
[ Parent ]
Now
be honest David, his awesome stash is helping your endorsement. Seriously though I saw him on Maddow and was very impressed with him. I loved that he talked about environmental issues and he really seemed like a great guy. An environmentalist from Alaska! Also he's not another career pol. He is living the American dream, working his way up from a deckhand to a US Senator! He was a fairly effective speaker as well, which was something I was worried about as well. I'll want to wait to see more polling but I can definitely see myself giving him some coy down the road.    

Proud member of the Indiana Democratic Party from IN-9.  
I guess you guys were worried
about that 'Support Joe Miller' ad running from Google on the left side there, but I didn't expect you to go with an all out endorsement. Nevetheless, good luck to you. It's going to be an interesting race.
Seriously, what does "endorsement" mean?......
This is a Democratic site.  By definition doesn't that mean SSP endorses EVERY Democratic nominee?  Obviously there are exceptions like when a LaRouchie or a teabagger sneaks on to the Democratic line when Democrats don't recruit anyone in a hopeless contest, but otherwise I don't understand what "endorse" means in the context of this site.

Is it simply that SSP has set up its own Act Blue page for McAdams?

Fair enough if that's it.

But otherwise, this reminds me of the discussions here and in the political media about Obama "endorsing" or "not endorsing" various Democrats for November, when in reality he endorses every Democratic nominee and the only "endorsement" that's newsworthy is in a primary.

43, male, Indian-American, Democrat, VA-10

It means they're raising money for him
SSP has done this occasionally in the past. We raised money for Travis Childers, for example.  

28, Unenrolled, MA-08
[ Parent ]
Marcus is right
This site always supports Democrats, of course. But an endorsement is just our way of saying that we're going the extra mile for a candidate.
[ Parent ]
You guys have rocked my world here
I probably only have enough money to give to a couple of out of state candidate, and I was going to choose Jack Conaway (I can't stand Rand Paul), but now I'm reconsidering that choice.

To answer DC's query, this is the first candidate I remember SSP asking for money to support.

Travis Childers was first

[ Parent ]
Thank you so much!
Of course, Jack Conway is also a very worthy choice, but one thing worth considering is that your dollars will go a lot further in a state with a much cheaper media market.
[ Parent ]
Who else besides Childers have you guys endorsed in the past?
This is my first election cycle here so I haven't seen an endorsement before.

Obviously, you all know I'm on the other side here, but I gotta admit that dollar for dollar, this is the smartest donation for Democrats to make this year. Ten bucks goes a lot further in Alaska than in most states, and you could argue that McAdams chances are no worse than any Dem challenger this year other than Conway.

20, CD MA-03/NH-01/MA-08

A few
We also endorsed Jim Martin last cycle, and one of the very first candidates we were proud to raise money for on our own was Jon Tester.
[ Parent ]
Geez
I'm gone for a day and suddenly SSP gets all warbloggy.

But I have to admit, in addition to being a surprisingly perfect candidate for this race and this cycle, Scott McAdams is adorable.

Not in a "I wanna get it on with him" sort of way, more in an "adorable baby whose cheeks I wanna pinch" sort of way.

And, obvs, the stache. That could very well be the best stache in the entire 112th Congress.

Kansan by birth, Californian by choice, and Gay by the grace of God.

I rarely donate to out of state candidates but...
.... I am making an exception in this case. $25 ($20 for the man, $5 for the stash)

"Where free Unions and collective bargaining is forbidden, freedom is lost." - Ronald Reagan
Right on!
Let's make Scott McAdams the Dean of the Senate 'stache caucus! Thanks for donating, man -- much appreciated.
[ Parent ]
OK...
I'm yet another poor college student, but I chipped in $10.  Now if I could figure out just how to cover my student fees this coming year.....
The Swing State Project Endorses Scott McAdams | 63 comments

Copyright 2003-2010 Swing State Project LLC

Primary Sponsor

You're not running for second place. Is your website? See why Campaign Engine is ranked #1 in software and support among Progressive-only Internet firms. http://www.mediamezcla.com/

Menu

Make a New Account

Username:

Password:



Forget your username or password?

About the Site

Publisher: DavidNYC

Senior Editor: James L.

Senior Editor: Crisitunity

Contributing Editor: Jeffmd

Search the SSP archives:

Sign up to receive a daily e-mail whenever the SSP is updated:

SSP Resources

Presidential Vote by CD

SSP Document Collection

Race Tracker Wiki

Dave's Redistricting App

Blogroll

Daily Kos Elections
DemConWatch
Five Thirty Eight
Governing
Hotline On Call
Political Wire
Pollster.com
Prop*50
Public Policy Polling
The Thicket
Powered by: SoapBlox