Ethics, Immigration, and Family Names
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) had his son, former state Senate President Ben Stevens, head a board that distributed $12 million in federal grants to promote seafood companies that, at the same time, paid the younger Stevens upward of $775,000 in "consulting fees."I'm not accusing anybody of anything. I'm just saying that if someone wanted to concoct a scheme that involved nepotism, money laundering, fraud, graft, and general corruption, it could look a lot like this.
Graham’s approval rating has sunk to 31 percent and he has a 40 percent disapproval rating, according to a poll released Friday by Atlanta-based InsiderAdvantage. The new poll points to Graham’s support for the Senate immigration bill, which includes a path to citizenship, as a likely reason for his apparent unpopularity.This should pretty well embolden the folks at The Payback Project to seek out a primary opponent for Graham. (HT: Atrios)
His disapproval among Republicans is higher — 46 percent — than among Democrats —30 percent. Both give him an approval rating in the low 30s.
Michael Ray McWherter, 51, son of former Tennessee Gov. Ned McWherter, is considering a run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Lamar Alexander, according to NashvillePost.com sources.The McWherter name is clearly still very big in Tennessee. If Mike can demonstrate Ned's appeal, we could indeed have an interesting race on our hands. (HT: R o o k)
Mike McWherter, as he is known, is owner and operator of Central Distributors, a Jackson, Tenn.-based Anheuser-Busch distributing company, as well as vice chairman of First State Bank of Union City. ...
From 1987 to 1995, Ned Ray McWherter served as Tennessee's governor. Arguably one of the most popular politicans in recent Tennessee history, alongside Republicans like former U. S. Sen. Howard Baker and the late East Tennessee Congressman Jimmy Quillen, the elder McWherter still looms large over Tennessee's political landscape. In the years after he left office, it was not uncommon to see "I miss Ned" bumper-stickers on cars throughout the state. ...
Most political observers had anticipated Tennessee Democrats to put up a sacrifical lamb against Alexander. Should McWherter enter the race, it will be apparent that they are not taking the election lying down.
posted by Senate2008Guru | 8:27 AM
5 Comments:
About Sununu, remember that he was not supposed to win election the first around. This is a Republican who can win in a swing state. That is why most analysts at this point still give him a decent chance at reelection.
Maybe so; but is New Hampshire really a "swing state" anymore?
On top of that, in order to win the first time, he had to top an incumbent Senator in the primary, then the incumbent Governor in the general. How many other Senators have defeated two sitting state-wide officials on their way to office?
Remember that 2002 was a big GOP year. In the primary, incumbent Senator Bob Smith had for a short while left the GOP and was considered the independent, moderate Republican while Sununu was the conservative Republican, so he won the primary. And, despite '02 being such a big GOP year, Sununu only edged Shaheen by a few percentage points. Every indication is that '08 will be much more like '06 than '02 and since his election Sununu has voted less and less with the will of New Hampshire voters. He is wildly vulnerable. I really put his level of vulnerability on par with the open seat in Colorado all factors considered.
No one is disputing that he is vulnerable. However, despite the favorable year, its a difficult challenge to knock off one sitting statewide office-holder, let alone two. '08 may be more challenging for Republicans than '02, but Sununu now has the protection of the incumbency. Again, not saying he's not vulnerable, but perhaps the reason why so many pundits write New Hampshire as "likely GOP" rather than "lean GOP" is because 1) of the lack of a top-tier challenger, and 2) because of Sununu's proven ability to win.
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