Monday Quick Hits
Kentucky: Trouble in Paradise? It appears that Republican Governor Ernie Fletcher is doing everything he can to avoid endorsing Mitch McConnell for re-election.
Oregon: Even Gordon Smith's allies are laying it on Smith over his lame excuses regarding his role in SalmonGate. Meanwhile, a Loaded Orygun reader points out that Smith took thousands of dollars in contributions from under-investigation-several-times-over Ted Stevens and wonders if Smith will return the money.
Following on the above item, here is a list of Republicans up for re-election in 2008 who received contributions from Ted Stevens' Northern Lights PAC in the 2006 cycle:
Craig, Larry (R-ID) $5,000
Domenici, Pete V (R-NM) $2,500
Inhofe, James M (R-OK) $1,000
McConnell, Mitch (R-KY) $2,500
Smith, Gordon H (R-OR) $10,000
Stevens, Ted (R-AK) $5,000 [Why shouldn't he pat himself on the back?]
Sununu, John E (R-NH) $2,500
Tack on that the Stevens for Senate Committee gave the NRSC over $200,000 during the 2006 cycle. Should Ted Stevens officially be found guilty of any wrongdoing as a result of the numerous ongoing investigations of which he is at the center, I wonder if any of these Republican Senators or the NRSC will return Stevens' contributions. (To be honest, I don't wonder. I'm quite certain that they wouldn't.)
Alabama: Might State Senator Vivian Figures announce today her decision regarding a 2008 Senate bid?
Maine: Democratic Congressman and 2008 Senate candidate Tom Allen continues to provide Mainers with a clear choice on Iraq. Bring the troops home safely or subscribe to the George W. Bush-Susan Collins plan of "stay the course."
More polling indicates an electorate strongly leaning the way of the Democratic Party.
5 Comments:
I'm confused exactly why Senators should return money from Ted Steven's PAC. Was Stevens bribing them?
There is a marked difference between a lobbyist's donations and donations from the PAC of a fellow Senator.
Dear VA Blogger:
Please go away.
--- Everyone else who reads this blog.
I know I don't post to often on any BLOG, I basically read this, SSP and MyDD, and as much as I disagree with VA Blogger, I feel he does make some legitimate points that we as democrats would be wise to take to heart and prepare to defend against else we lose the great potential the upcoming election, and not win as many races as possible and god forbid end up losing outright.
Anyway, to you VA Blogger, although I doubt a lot of people care much about where fund raising money comes from as long as the person is not seemingly doing anything for the money as a quid pro quo. But one can also argue that by accepting the money and not returning it, it can be said that that person is giving his/her approval to the actions in question. Now like I said I doubt most people care, but those who do care are your potential volunteers and super-voters who may change their habits and not get involved as much as they used too.
Just my 2 cents
Dear Josh:
Why should I?
--Va Blogger
Stephen, thanks for your input. As far as your answer goes, I don't know if I agree it has a real impact. The voters you refer to are likely to have had their mind already made up. That is to say, if someone truly faults Larry Craig for recieving a thousand dollars from another Senator, that person wasn't likely to vote for Craig to begin with.
I recognize that most, if not all, of this posturing taking place this summer will all be largely irrelevent towards the outcome of an election 15 months from now, but even in this "insider baseball" talk, I think there are some legitimate complaints, and some that are not.
I hear what your saying about most voters who this would bother have already had their minds made up, but what I meant was, using your Larry Craig example, a supporter of Craig may feel less inclined to volunteer for the campaign and a supporter of LoRocco may feel more motivated to make that extra phone call or knock on one more door. So not really the people really attuned to it will be influenced, but the campaign itself may be assisted more or less because of these actions
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