Proactive Democrats, Obstructionist Republicans

Happy Friday:

The Senate GOP's strategy continues to be: avoid debating Iraq policy. That will go over very well in Colorado, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Maine, Oregon, Virginia, North Carolina...

Tennessee: DKos diarist Sidof79 offers an insightful rundown of possible Democratic candidates to challenge Lamar Alexander. I didn't realize Tim McGraw was such an outspoken critic of George W. Bush.

North Carolina: Another great DKos diary, from Blue South, sees Elizabeth Dole still well under 50% approval, and garnering only 45% in a hypothetical match-up against Rep. Bob Etheridge. Very troubling numbers for the Dole camp. I'm still holding out hope that Mike Easley will challenge Dole once he decides that he's not in the thick of the Veepstakes, as polling already has him beating Dole.

Minnesota: Al Franken will push for universal health coverage. Once Minnesotans see Franken and Ciresi and other potential Democratic candidates out there discussing issues, then the ball will really start rolling.

The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza has come out with his latest look at the Senate playing field. Cillizza is excited to see how a Franken candidacy shapes the dynamics of the MN race. Also, he sees the potential for CO SoS Mike Coffman entering a GOP primary for the super-conservative wing if Bob Schaffer doesn't get in to challenge Scott McInnis for the GOP nomination. Cillizza notes a push for GOP Rep. Richard Baker to challenge Mary Landrieu in Louisiana. He also seems as annoyed as I am that Thad Cochran is delaying his re-election vs. retirement decision.