More vulnerable

McHenry spends a lot of the money he raises outside his district to nurture his leadership ambitions.  Unlike Virginia Foxx, who was elected at the same time, he's relatively low in cash on hand enjoying less than a 2-1 edge in cash on hand as of 4/16: $325,653 to $165,165.  The incumbent McHenry has outraised Johnson by roughly a 4-1 margin, $871,844 to $217,311.  That half a million was not spent on the primary, folks.  

One lesson of the Boehner era is that Republicans do best to keep their funds and not share.  Fossella was short on cash and Boehner used that to cut him off at the knees (charitable wording).

McHenry's bounty should be dead in the water and it is one more lesson to encourage GOP selfishness.    

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by: David Kowalski @ Wed Jun 25, 2008 at 12:10:01 PM CDT

This district was intentionally drawn

but the Dems in the NC legislature to be as Republican as possible. It is a conceded district.

That McHenry only has an 11 point advantage shows how personally unpopular he is. As PPP notes, Mike Easley couldn't even win this district.  

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by: andgarden @ Wed Jun 25, 2008 at 12:12:05 PM CDT

It would be sweet to be able to get that weasel.

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by: Taget @ Wed Jun 25, 2008 at 12:28:52 PM CDT

if Daniel Johnson can somehow win this...

...he'll probably be a hardcore Blue Dog and be able to hold this seat for awhile. at least until the next GOP wave year, if such a thing ever happens again.

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by: youthatlarge @ Wed Jun 25, 2008 at 12:52:45 PM CDT

We should control NC redistricting in 2012

That is assuming Perdue wins, which I believe she will, and we hold our sizable majorities in the legislature.

If a big upset like this race were to occur and the seat was held in 2010, we could probably make it more dem friendly in 2012.

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by: ChadInFL @ Wed Jun 25, 2008 at 13:43:08 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

NC Governor has no veto power over district map.

It is all up to the legislature.

http://www.senate.mn/departmen...

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by: DCal @ Wed Jun 25, 2008 at 14:25:18 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Even better for us then

We have a solid hold on the state House and a somewhat solid hold on the state Senate.  We should definately control NC in 2012.

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by: ChadInFL @ Wed Jun 25, 2008 at 14:39:04 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Blue Dog, really?

So I'm looking at his issues page, and he doesn't exactly seem like that much of a Blue Dog.  Oh sure, he may caucus with them for appearances sake, but look at where he stands on the issues.

He's in favor of expanding SCHIP and providing tax breaks to small businesses so that they can cover their employees.

He uses his Christian faith to call for conservation and protecting the environment, using the excellent phrase "responsidle steward of God's creation".  That hits home for the truly religious.

On Iraq, he does note that we've diverted attention away from Afghanistan, and actually defines "victory" in Iraq as having a "stable, independent government".

He gets that our dependence on foreign oil has national security implications, something too few Democrats want to highlight.  You can easily connect the dots, but a few people like Johnson seem to be willing to connect those dots.

Veterans?  He is one, 'nuff said.

He talks about reforming No Child Left Behind, and making college affordable for every qualified student.

On trade, he's an economic populist, railing against NAFTA and CAFTA for costing us American jobs.

Really, other than on taxes, he doesn't sound much like a Blue Dog.  And even when talking about taxes, he raises the point that too few make: that 25% of our debt is in the hands of China, and if they decide to squeeze us, we're royally screwed.

And I'd assume he's probably pro-life, but given how Republican that district is, well, so are his constituents.  (I wonder how many liberal bloggers will rail against him as an "anti-choice reactionary" and proclaim that they cannot support him.)

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by: BruinKid @ Thu Jun 26, 2008 at 03:36:58 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

It's polls like this one and TX-32 that make me optimistic

That we could indeed turn this into another 30+ House seat pickup.  If they are polling this badly in what should be solidly red districts this year is going to be 1994 in reverse.

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by: ChadInFL @ Wed Jun 25, 2008 at 13:45:48 PM CDT

James, you're a bit mixed up

Cleland is the triple-amputee (from Vietnam); Johnson appears to have all his limbs.  Neither man served in Korea; Cleland was a child during that war, while Johnson was not yet born.

ProgressiveHistorians: History For Our Future

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by: Nonpartisan @ Wed Jun 25, 2008 at 13:51:50 PM CDT

I'm not, actually.

Wikipedia tells all:

Daniel H. Johnson is a former assistant district attorney in Wake County, North Carolina and a veteran of the United States Navy who received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for saving the life of a crewmate on the USS Blue Ridge in 1999. As a result of that incident, both of Johnson's legs were amputated below the knee.

In 2007, Johnson resigned as a Wake County prosecutor, moved back to Hickory, and announced that he would run for election to the United States House of Representatives in North Carolina's 10th congressional district.

Next time, dig a little deeper. :)

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by: James L. @ Wed Jun 25, 2008 at 14:01:53 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Wow

I stand corrected.  Well done!  The guy sounds pretty amazing.

ProgressiveHistorians: History For Our Future

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by: Nonpartisan @ Wed Jun 25, 2008 at 14:11:39 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

And as for the Korea reference...

See here:

On an August day in 1999, a tugboat began pulling his ship off the coast of Korea, but lost control of the line, unleashing a horror.

One of Johnson's sailors got caught up in it, and he ran over to try to disentangle him.

"Before I could get the line off his leg, it amputated one of his legs and four of his fingers across the top where he grabbed it," Johnson said.

"Then, within seconds, I found myself in kind of the same situation. ... I saw the hole where the line was passing through and I slammed my foot against the side of the deck to keep from going through it. ... I tried to grab the line initially with my hand and that's how I lost my pinky finger, and then I tried to kick it and that's how my right leg became entangled.

"And then, just like that," he snaps his fingers, ''it amputated both my legs."

One leg washed out to sea. The other was too damaged for surgeons to reattach, and he thinks it's just as well because his prosthetics are so advanced that he can snow ski, hike and fly fish.

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by: James L. @ Wed Jun 25, 2008 at 14:07:02 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Wow

He sounds like one hell of a recruit, although Tammy Duckworth seems to have at least mildly the same intriguing story and it didnt work there.  But, it doesnt even matter if Johnson manages to win, if he can make this race competitive, that speaks volumes to whats going to happen country wide.

I'd of course rather him win, ;)   Wave elections are seriously fun, god I've had a great week.

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by: Andrew @ Wed Jun 25, 2008 at 14:27:08 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

McHenry better look over his shoulder

There are a lot of sordid details about McHenry and the people he associates with. One "associate" is even linked to a murder-suicide in Florida.

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by: RandySF @ Wed Jun 25, 2008 at 15:36:20 PM CDT

it is pretty much an open secret

that the hypocritical mchenry(like lindsey graham)is "in the closet"(which his wing-nut supporters i'm sure would not like)

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by: jackdawkins @ Wed Jun 25, 2008 at 15:43:33 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Giving info to the enemy in Iraq for cheap publicity

That doesn't exactly increase your popularity either.

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by: ChadInFL @ Wed Jun 25, 2008 at 16:01:38 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

and that's probably more important

than any "being in the closet" business.

Bill Posey is not half-alligator...and is outclassed by Davy Crockett anyway

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by: Glenn Magus Harvey @ Wed Jun 25, 2008 at 16:49:48 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

i say probably

because there are some idiotnuts that actually think being gay is worse than giving US military information to terrorists.

Bill Posey is not half-alligator...and is outclassed by Davy Crockett anyway

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by: Glenn Magus Harvey @ Wed Jun 25, 2008 at 16:52:59 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

that was my point

they could care less that this idiot is endangering american servicemen's lives but DAMN him to hell they won't accept him if he is gay(which he is)

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by: jackdawkins @ Wed Jun 25, 2008 at 18:04:12 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

What's bizarre is the reaction of republicans to gay legislators

They all know people like Gov. Crist, Senator Graham and Rep. McHenry are gay but don't care since they publicly pretend to be hostile to gays and keep their own sexuality private.  But when the public does get details of their sex life they go batshit crazy.  It makes no sense.

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by: ChadInFL @ Wed Jun 25, 2008 at 18:39:15 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

It's called denial.

Deal with it (at least until these nuts are out of office).

Bill Posey is not half-alligator...and is outclassed by Davy Crockett anyway

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by: Glenn Magus Harvey @ Thu Jun 26, 2008 at 04:43:14 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

50 State Strategy

This is a perfect example of why the 50 state strategy makes sense.  Contest every seat, every time - you never know where you might get a surprise win, and you can tie down the GOP $$ in the home district.

Johnson is a great candidate - he stands head and shoulders above McHenry in every way.  Even though this is a lean-red district, Democrats need to make the GOP pay for putting such an imbecile as McHenry in office.

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by: bear83 @ Wed Jun 25, 2008 at 23:56:55 PM CDT

Don't forget IL-18

where we need to help Colleen Callahan prevent the crazy Aaron Schock from getting that House seat.

Bill Posey is not half-alligator...and is outclassed by Davy Crockett anyway

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by: Glenn Magus Harvey @ Thu Jun 26, 2008 at 04:43:49 AM CDT

[ Parent ]