Wednesday Reading List

The Hill has published the must-read analysis of the year thus far on the NRSC, entitled "NRSC lacks candidates and money." So many highlights to choose from - read the whole article - but here's a taste:

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) is facing many of the same problems it battled last cycle, raising about half as much money as its Democratic counterpart and failing to recruit a single major candidate nearly six months after the 2006 elections. ...

In the first quarter, the NRSC, currently led by Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), raised about half the money of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), which eclipsed the NRSC’s quarterly total in March alone. ...

The NRSC has yet to land one substantial candidate, while the DSCC has several candidates in Minnesota and New Hampshire, along with leading candidates and presumptive nominees in Colorado, Idaho and Maine. ...

While the DSCC has shifted its recruiting focus to less vulnerable seats in states such as Kentucky and Texas, the NRSC is still looking for candidates to tackle top targets in Louisiana, Montana and South Dakota. In Colorado, former Rep. Scott McInnis (R) unexpectedly dropped out of the open-seat race, leaving another hole to fill.

The NRSC Executive Director offers some pretty funny lines in defense of their slow start, like saying they're “leanly staffed but properly staffed” and that “if there’s 50 steps in this process, we’re on step two.” Do read the entire article. (But don't get cocky! Still a long way to go! In the meantime, help the DSCC continue to make the NRSC look bad.)

In the wake of Bush vetoing funding for our troops, the DSCC has compiled some choice clippings of newspapers across the country opposing Bush's Iraq policy and/or supporting troop withdrawal.

Statistic of the day: Rasmussen Reports declares that the "number of people identifying themselves as Republicans has fallen to a new low." The GOP peaked during the 2004 election cycle at 37.3% but has since plunged to 31.0%.

Kentucky: Ditch Mitch KY highlights the Lexington Herald-Leader joining the Louisville Courier-Journal in chastising Mitch McConnell for obstructing legislation whose purpose is increased transparency in campaign finance. Obstructing legislation? Opposing transparency in politics? Sounds like Mitch McConnell's M.O. indeed. Meanwhile, Cliff Schecter has a few questions for McConnell regarding his working relationship with scandal-plagued Paul Wolfowitz.

Oklahoma: CQPolitics profiles State Senator Andrew Rice as a possible challenger to unpopular Jim "In Denial" Inhofe.

Louisiana: I don't know if this is laughable or frightening.

New Jersey: One of New Jersey's most Republican bastions elected a Democrat to the Town Council for the first time in over 30 years. Will this further discourage the NJ-GOP?

Texas: The Texas Blue profiles Texas attorney Mikal Watts as a possible challenger to unpopular John Cornyn.

Disturbing thought of the day: It appears that in George W. Bush's military, those fighting for ideas like freedom of speech are not allowed to practice freedom of speech.