Monday Round-Up

Virginia: The Washington Times speculates that John Warner is likely to retire and that he is delaying his announcement to give GOP Rep. Tom Davis more preparation time. I would agree. Much will become clear when we see Warner's and Davis' Q2 fundraising numbers in a couple weeks. Raising Kaine considers the possible political dynamics if extremely popular former Governor Mark Warner gets involved. To learn more about Tom Davis' numerous failings, check out Tom Davis Truth.

South Carolina: When the Chairman of a state Party is asked about his state's Senator of the same Party who is face re-election this cycle, the typical response would probably be something to the effect of, 'We're hearing a great deal of support from all corners of the state. There's a lot of excitement.' However, in the case of SC-GOP Chairman Katon Dawson and Senator Lindsey Graham, Dawson says (of a possible primary challenger no less!), "Somebody might step up and run against the senator -- certainly there's consternation out there." For the state Party Chairman to publicly acknowledge "consternation" and the possibility of a primary challenger, things have to be pretty rough behind the scenes. Graham may be more vulnerable than the conventional wisdom would suggest. (Paging Robert Barber Jr.!)

Oregon: Last night, State Senator Kate Brown announced that she will be stepping down as Senate Majority Leader. There has been speculation that she might be interested in taking down Republican Gordon Smith.

Colorado: Another bad sign for GOP Senate candidate "Backwards" Bob Schaffer: the CO-GOP seems to be shifting into 'circle-the-wagons and hibernate until 2010' mode.

An interesting idea from a Blue NC diarist: with Bush's massive unpopularity around the country, bumper stickers should be printed up for each state saying "Dole = Bush," or, where appropriate, "Sununu = Bush," "Collins = Bush," "Coleman = Bush," etc. With these Republican Senators featuring Presidential Support Scores anywhere from around 80% to around 98%, we might as well make sure the electorate knows what they're voting for.

An Enduring Democratic Majority offers its thoughts on the vulnerability of the 34 Senate seats up in 2008. Not a bad collection. To nitpick: McConnell should be higher (more vulnerable) on the list, Harkin should be lower (safer) on the list, and Pat Roberts is not safer than Joe Biden or Carl Levin. A solid effort overall.