Saturday Rundown

BooMan takes a look at blogging from the Senate race perspective.

Maine: Could a Tom Allen for Senate announcement be coming soon:

Although the trip took the Democratic 1st District congressman beyond his district, he said he wanted to stay up to date on all state issues, especially education.

"I do travel," Allen said with a chuckle. When asked if his trip was an attempt to increase visibility for a possible 2008 run for the Senate, Allen replied, "There is no announcement yet," but he indicated one could be made very soon.

Looking forward to it!

Alabama: Sack Sessions and Cliff Schecter have the goods on Republican rubber stamp Jeff Sessions' connection to the Rove/Goodling/Gonzales Attorney Purge fiasco.

Utah: Yes, Utah. Speaking of the Attorney Purge scandal, Blue Sunbelt covers "persistent rumors" that Orrin Hatch has been lobbying to get named Attorney General should Alberto Gonzales resign or get fired. This would lead to a gubernatorial appointment and an eventual 2008 special election if it happened. Something to keep an eye on.

New Mexico: And, speaking again of the Attorney Purge scandal, things are only getting worse for Pajamas Pete Domenici. Today, the Washington Post offers:

One document also raises new questions about the firing of prosecutor David C. Iglesias in New Mexico, who has testified that he felt pressured by Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.) and Rep. Heather A. Wilson (R-N.M.) to speed up indictments of Democrats before last November's elections.

Two pages of handwritten notes by Monica M. Goodling, until recently Gonzales's senior counselor, include this criticism of Iglesias: "Domenici says he doesn't move cases." The notes are undated but appear amid a set of documents relating to meetings in February of this year.

Domenici and Wilson have admitted calling Iglesias but have denied pressuring him. Domenici called Gonzales or his deputy four times to complain about Iglesias, and Gonzales also fielded complaints about him last fall from Bush and Rove.

The story of Domenici's involvement in this scandal isn't going away. It's not. And that's not for Domenici's lack of trying. Talking Points Memo and New Mexico FBIHOP have the details on efforts to keep the Domenici tentacle of the scandal just a "one day story," which obviously failed, as we're discussing it now still as the Senate Ethics investigation continues to loom.

Domenici has a few options: he can let the scandal fester as he waits for the Ethics investigation to conclude, hoping things just move on as he moves forward on a re-election bid; he can announce his eventual retirement at the end of this term; or, he can announce his immediate resignation. We'll see.

That said, while it's nice that Congressman Tom Udall has more cash-on-hand than Domenici, it's disappointing to see that he didn't put much effort into fundraising in Q1.

Idaho: Red State Rebel compares Larry LaRocco's bipartisan approach to problem-solving with Larry Craig's "ideologically hidebound" partisanship.

Minnesota: Al Franken puts the "fun" in fundraising. While the Star Tribune focuses on the celebrities that have contributed to Franken's campaign, Franken's camp offers greater perspective on his fundraising numbers:

We raised over $1.35 million, and we have over $1.1 million cash on hand. This is more than twice what Amy Klobuchar raised in her first quarter in 2005, and it's more than Sam Brownback and Mike Huckabee raised in their first quarter in 2007. And we did it in just 45 days. ...

Over two thousand of our donors came from Minnesota - more than from any other individual state - and over six thousand of our donors were so-called "small-dollar," who gave $100 or less. ...

(We're guessing we'll have less money from Washington, DC than Senator Coleman does, but that's probably because we don't have too many friends on K Street.) ...

So, as we prepare to play our in-house game of Republican Talking Points Bingo, we encourage you to consider that Senator Coleman has a long record of taking money from Big Pharma, Big Insurance, Big Oil, and, apparently, Big Pollution. We suppose Al can accurately be accused of taking some money from Big Comedy. But, as Al likes to point out, Tom Hanks isn't asking for an earmark or a subsidy. (And even if he did, Al wouldn't vote for it.)

Read the whole post over at Minnesota Campaign Report - it is as entertaining as it is enlightening.

North Carolina: Blue South has been on his horse working to get the Brad Miller ball rolling. Read the diaries and help out!