Senate 2008 Guru: Following the Races

Keeping a close eye on developments in the 2008 U.S. Senate races

Friday, April 06, 2007

Friday Night Quick Hits

  • Maine: Hotline On Call reports that Susan Collins has posted an ad on YouTube responding to the ad from Americans United for Change highlighting Collins' real record on Iraq. Want to know the two main reasons that the Collins response ad will fail horribly? The first is that the response ad includes the entirety of the original ad - I don't know what PR geniuses thought up that move. The second is that, while Collins' response ad criticizes the original ad's writers for using an old stock photo of her (the horror!), the response ad mentions none of Collins' actual votes to back up her claim or refute the original ad's claim. For instance, this little doozy of a vote by Susan Collins supported keeping Bush's Iraq War open-ended and without accountability. Let's see Two-Faced Susan defend that!

  • Oregon: TJ from Loaded Orygun reports on the quick start of the Draft DeFazio effort.

  • New Hampshire: Blue Hampshire once again does a spot-on job of illustrating how out of touch Sprintin' John Sununu is with the reality on the ground in Iraq.

  • Illinois: Fox News picks up on the fact that even Karl Rove thinks Senator Richard Durbin is safe and the IL-GOP is impotent.

    UPDATE (4/7/07 7:54am): Maine: Cliff Schecter posts similar thoughts on the Collins response ad. Great minds...

    • posted by Senate2008Guru | 11:25 PM

    3 Comments:

    Blogger Will Cubbison said...

    what a painful ad. who told her it was a good idea to have a minute and a half with the only words being the negative ad? the only fact she talked about was a floor speech. why not throw up video from that?

    8:59 AM, April 07, 2007  
    Blogger Johnny C said...

    I thought the response was pretty weak but is anyone here from Maine? Will the "this is just outsiders messing with our Senator" riff gain any traction? Do people in Maine care who pays for ads in some places people do and in others they don't.

    5:08 PM, April 07, 2007  
    Blogger mainefem said...

    I can't seem to post on Suzie-Q's YouTube page--should have a fundraising link for TMB & Allen, dontcha think?

    Can anyone here pls. do that for us?

    Yes, those ads did have an impact--due to a massive No'r'Easter this week--those who had power were @home, watching TV.

    Typically, negative TV ads "from away" (serious xenophobia the MRP was attempting to tap into) don't work here (also, two soldiers have died, so the issues are congruent; as well as relevant to Mainiacs).

    Did someone say civil liberties down the hopper?

    Maine's Republicans tend (other than the Rapture-types) to be of the Rockefeller ilk--don't mess w/their Constitutional rights, Suzie-Q.

    What isn't mentioned (natch) is: "Report Finds Underreporting and Abuse of USA PATRIOT Act Powers

    'The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) at the Department of Justice (DOJ) reported on March 9 that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been systematically underreporting National Security Letter (NSL) requests and has repeatedly violated federal law and agency policies in collecting personal information. The report unleashed a firestorm on the Hill, with calls for reform of the USA PATRIOT Act.

    The Patriot Reauthorization Act of 2006 directed the OIG at DOJ to review the FBI's use of the NSL powers under Section 505 of the USA PATRIOT Act and to report any improper or illegal use of such powers. Without court approval, the FBI can issue NSL requests that require Internet service providers, telephone companies, credit reporting agencies, and banks to disclose information relating to individuals':
    Internet use: websites visited and the email addresses to which and from which emails were sent or received
    Telephone use: the times and durations of calls and the numbers to which or from which calls were received or dialed
    Financial transactions: checking and savings account information, credit card transactions, loan information, credit reports and other financial information'"

    [....]

    Thanks~

    1:26 AM, April 08, 2007  

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