Shame and Degradation in the Twin Cities

Its a tough time to be a Republican and it appears targeted GOP Senate candidates have little desire being photographed walking past Larry Craig's favorite restroom.

Among those who will not attend [the GOP nominating convention Saint Paul] are Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, who is not close to presumptive presidential nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona, and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who is a McCain loyalist. Stevens and Collins will use the convention week to focus on their campaigns.

Also sending regrets is former Rep. Bob Schaffer of Colorado, running for the seat being vacated by retiring GOP Sen. Wayne Allard.

Six others -- Sens. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, John Sununu of New Hampshire, Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina and Gordon Smith of Oregon and challengers John Kennedy of Louisiana and Rep. Steve Pearce
of New Mexico are still on the fence. Their spokesman offered responses
ranging from "there are no plans yet" to "no decisions have been made."

This should be an interesting 100 days or so as we head into the conventions and the general election. Democrats have a lot of work to do between now and then, but it's a worthy exercise to remind ourselves now and again that although things may not appear to be going as we might like: it could be worse. Now is not the time to do our best Chicken Little impressions because hard work, perseverance and a firm commitment to our candidates will see us through the final push.

Now go make a contribution to your favorite Democrat, have a shot of good tequila, and keep the faith My Friends. (Oh shit, I think my McCainia is kicking in!)

(Cross posted at TPMCafe)

How NM Shapes up for the GE

Every NM Congress Critter threw a hat in the ring for Pete Domenici's seat. That's not quite as impressive as it may sound because we only have three of'em.

Here's a snapshot of how things look right now:

CD-01 (Tom Udall's seat will stay Dem)

CD-02 (Steve Pearce's seat is a toss up right now.)

The Democrat (Teague) has a name recognition advantage, but the district is pretty conservative. Even most of the Democrats in that CD would be Republicans in other states.

CD03 (Heather Wilson's seat is a toss up)

Although Martin Heinrich is the darling of the progressives he is an unknown quantity when it comes to his ability to organize and campaign. Darren White (R) is VERY popular with Republicans and is not hated by moderate Independents. White also has substantial name recognition because he is currently Bernalillo County sheriff and has served as the head of the state Department of Safety. If Heinrich can tie White to the Bush Administration (which shouldn't be difficult because he supports the war) then Heinrich will probably win in a close election. If he can't, White wins by 6+ points.

NM-Sen: The biggest gift of last night primary was Steve Pearce knocking off Heather Wilson for the Republican nod to be the sacrificial lamb to the Udall. Heather Wilson is a great GE campaigner. Unfortunately, with a low turnout yesterday, only the most fanatical members of the Republican base voted yesterday. In the southern part of the state she was considered a "librul" and Pearce is one of them. Game over. Udall wins by 10+ even if he doesn't campaign well.

New Mexico will go for Obama and he will have very long coattails. Grassroot organizing has been strong here and several longtime Dem office holders were knocked out for better Democrats. Why you ask? My brother is voting for Barack Obama. That is a sure signal that either the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are about to make an appearance, or a seismic poltical shift has occurred since George H.W.'s son got himself appointed Idiot-in-Chief. I'm an atheist so my money is on the seismic political shift.

Keep your fingers crossed, but it looks pretty good right now. If Obama, and the fired up progressives here in NM keep momentum rolling it could be one hell of a GE for Democrats, and in particular for progressives.

I'll be out doing voter registration drives all this summer and keeping everyone posted about what I hear out in the field.

Have a good'un.

(Cross posted at TPM Cafe)

Marty vs. Marty

Marty Chavez announced his desire to take the Senate seat being vacated by Pete Domenici.

“Let me be clear -- I'm proud to be a Democrat.”
(Marty Chavez on NM FBIHOP, Nov. 1, 2007)

Now if you would act like act like a Democrat instead of the Prince of the City someone might take you serious.

"I have every intention of endorsing Pete Domenici, and I'm going to catch a lot of heat for that.”
(Marty Chavez, Albuq. Journal, May 28, 2006)

But, but, but ...what I meant to say was ...

It must suck to be Marty now that Tom Udall is preparing to throw his hat in the ring.