Senate 2008 Guru: Following the Races

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

Friday, June 22, 2007

500 Days Until Election Day 2008

  • Wyoming: The newest member of the U.S. Senate will be state senator John Barrasso. From a political standpoint, Governor Freudenthal's choice was particularly notable given that Barrasso was widely regarded as the finalist most likely to be able to retain the seat in his 2008 special election. Let the polling and opp research commence.

  • New Mexico: Former Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty confirmed that Pete Domenici's call to him was "a significant factor" in the firing of former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias. Cue another round of bad local press for Pajamas Pete!

  • Maine: Joe Lieberman's fundraiser for Susan Collins raised a big pile of money... for Tom Allen.

  • Alaska: The Politico reports that Ted Stevens "has hired a criminal defense attorney" in response to the FBI investigation into his dealings with the corrupt VECO Corporation. CQPolitics further profiles the clouds of corruption hovering over Ted Stevens.

  • New Hampshire: Portsmouth Mayor and Senate candidate Steve Marchand correctly points out that Sprintin' John Sununu chose Big Oil over New Hampshire families in his vote the other day. Seriously, can anyone fathom how Sununu gets re-elected given his votes and rhetoric on Iraq, health care, stem cells, the environment, energy, etc. and his reduced status now in the minority Party?

  • Montana: Republican former state House Majority Leader Mike Lange will decide at this weekend's Republican convention whether or not he will enter the Senate race against popular Democratic Senator Max Baucus. In case the name Mike Lange sounds familiar, it might be for his infamous, obscene "Lange harangue" against popular Governor Brian Schweitzer a couple months back. I can't imagine that this guy is who the MT-GOP would want carrying their banner, but to each their own. The DSCC offers thorough background on why Mike Lange is "Not Fit for the Senate, [and] Wrong for Montana."

  • New Jersey: Conservative Republican Senate candidate and assemblyman Mike Doherty won't temper his guns-blazin', global warming-doubting, far-right brand of conservatism. I really hope he winds up as the Republican Senate nominee in 2008.

  • When Democrats run the Senate, good legislation gets passed. Perhaps we need to elect more Democratic Senators.

    • posted by Senate2008Guru | 12:51 PM

    6 Comments:

    Blogger ImprovforLawyers said...

    Re: Assemblyman Mike Doherty not tempering his "his guns-blazin', global warming-doubting, far-right brand of conservatism":

    This is, once again, the worst brand of 'corny conservatism' the Republican Party supports in trying to get elected in New Jersey. They have not held a US Senate seat in thirty years. The neo-con mind set of elected Republicans like Mr. Doherty just does not work state wide. He believes in creationism, opposes stem-cell research, supports the war in Iraq, questions the science of global warming, and opposes a woman's right to choose. These are not positions that work well state-wide ---for even the majority of moderate Republicans. The Republicans would be better off with a Tom Kean, Sr or even Christie Whitman running for Senate against Lautenberg in 2008. Doherty has 'loser' written all over himself in that race.

    2:21 PM, June 22, 2007  
    Blogger ImprovforLawyers said...

    Re: Assemblyman Mike Doherty not tempering his "his guns-blazin', global warming-doubting, far-right brand of conservatism":

    This is, once again, the worst brand of 'corny conservatism' the Republican Party supports in trying to get elected in New Jersey. They have not held a US Senate seat in thirty years. The neo-con mind set of elected Republicans like Mr. Doherty just does not work state wide. He believes in creationism, opposes stem-cell research, supports the war in Iraq, questions the science of global warming, and opposes a woman's right to choose. These are not positions that work well state-wide ---for even the majority of moderate Republicans. The Republicans would be better off with a Tom Kean, Sr or even Christie Whitman running for Senate against Lautenberg in 2008. Doherty has 'loser' written all over himself in that race.

    2:22 PM, June 22, 2007  
    Blogger VA Blogger said...

    http://www.cookpolitical.com/races/report_pdfs/2008%20sen_ratings_jun20.pdf

    Thought you might like to see the newest Cook ratings. Of note:

    --Baucus and Harkin are "Safe Dem" now
    --Smith, Dole, Domenici, and Stevens are in "Likely Rep", still only Coleman and Collins in "Lean Rep".

    2:37 PM, June 22, 2007  
    Blogger mainefem said...

    People are *still* fundraising for Tom, BTW (the Duracell guy).

    Thanks to the netroots (which never closes for renovations)!

    3:56 PM, June 22, 2007  
    Blogger Johnny C said...

    I continue to be surprised that those who know a lot more than me see Collins as more vulnerable than Sununu. Granted Allen is clearly a first tier candidate and the Dems in NH are still courting Shaheen, but even against a lesser known candidate like Marchand Sununu seems to be in a much weaker position than Collins to me.

    3:57 PM, June 22, 2007  
    Blogger George Ajjan said...

    Doherty a neo-con???

    Anything but. He takes heat from so-called "conservatives" for not drinking the AEI Kool-Aid when it comes to military boondoggles like the Iraq War and has talked about the need for war declarations before committing American troops to military action.

    His platform is closer to a Buchanite paleo-con than anything else.

    10:36 AM, June 24, 2007  

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