Senate 2008 Guru: Following the Races

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

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Thursday Items

  • Oklahoma: Jim Inhofe and the OK-GOP are truly scared of State Senator Andrew Rice. There is no other way to interpret the idiotic caricatures that the OK-GOP is presenting. Kos rightfully mocks. Show Jim Inhofe that his ridiculous tactics won't work by contributing to Andrew Rice today!

  • Minnesota: Disappointingly, military veteran Joe Repya will not challenge Norm Coleman to a Senate primary in 2008. Alas.

  • Idaho: Larry Craig still gets to bring home the bacon. Maybe he should run for re-election.

  • Texas: Cheney and Cornyn sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G. Counter Darth Cheney raising money for John "Box Turtle" Cornyn by contributing to State Representative and Lieutenant Colonel Rick Noriega!

  • North Carolina: Public Policy Polling's latest poll matching up Kay Hagan and Elizabeth Dole sees Dole with a 46-33 edge. Two observations: 1) Yet again, Dole does not see the happy side of 50; and, 2) Hagan just announced and is only beginning to raise her name ID outside of her State Senate district. As Hagan circles the state, her name ID will go up; and, if she is an effective campaigner, so should her numbers against Dole. Stay tuned!

  • Tennessee: Quirky thought of the day: The DSCC apparently spent just over $5 million in the Volunteer State in 2006 supporting Harold Ford and criticizing Bob Corker's record. Instead of dropping another $5 million in Tennessee in, what is shaping up to be, a Lamar Alexander-Mike McWherter race, why doesn't the DSCC just contribute the $5 million to Vanderbilt University as an endowment specifically for financing a large salary increase for their Chancellor as Vanderbilt continues its search for a new Chancellor. Maybe that will lure Alexander and open up the seat. Just a thought.

  • Oregon: Speaker Jeff Merkley has a very far-reaching interview from Outlook Portland up on his website.

    • posted by Senate2008Guru | 12:24 PM

    8 Comments:

    Blogger JeremiahTheMessiah said...

    You probably posted just before this went around on the blogs.

    http://www.abqjournal.com/abqnews/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5366&Itemid=40

    "I just got a call from someone very knowledgable about N.M. Democratic politics who says Rep. Tom Udall's people are calling the party's heavy hitters in the state this morning to inform them he is reconsidering a run for the U.S. Senate."

    "But a rapidly growing "Draft Udall" movement online, as well as major arm-twisting from the national Democratic elite (including Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Chuck Schumer), has convinced the congressman to reconsider."

    "Incidentally, I also heard yesterday from separate - but equally reliable sources - that Gov. Bill Richardson called Udall yesterday to tell him he DOES NOT plan to run for the Senate and would stay out of Udall's way if the congressman decides to jump in."

    Chuck Schumer's committment to having the best candidates run for senate is well appreciated by me.

    I'm not saying I expect all three of these to happen, they are just three possibilities that could significantly change the dynamics of the 2008 senate elections.

    1. Rep. Udall enters the NM-SEN race.
    2. Mayor Begich enters the AK-SEN race.
    3. Senator Cochran retires, possibly creating a power vacuum in the Republican party, meanwhile Former Governor Ronnie Musgrove or Former Attorney General Mike Moore decide to run for the Democrats.

    2:03 PM, November 01, 2007  
    Blogger JeremiahTheMessiah said...

    Also, this isn't related to the 2008 senate, but, I think VAB said his state senator and US Rep were the Davis's. Do you think this move adds to the speculation that Tom will retire if his wife loses? Or... Does this not mean anything? He does have a primary challenger, and he hates Republicans wanting to fight Republicans.

    http://www.examiner.com/a-1019903~Rep__Davis_gifts__400K_to_wife_to_win_re_election.html

    I'm just wondering what you think of this move by Davis.

    2:14 PM, November 01, 2007  
    Blogger VA Blogger said...

    Tom Davis will do anything to help his wife. Honestly, he may retire, he may not. I'm not really sure, but I don't think it hinges on his wife's re-election. As for the money, Tom is a prolific fundraiser, and will be able to raise anything he needs to run for re-election if that's what he chooses to do.

    BTW, just so you know, his wife is going to lose.

    2:34 PM, November 01, 2007  
    Blogger VA Blogger said...

    S2G, do you really believe that any instance of a state party or a candidate attacking his opposition means that they're "running scared"?

    If they paid no attention to them, you'd say they were ducking the issues.

    And when Democrats attack Republicans in the exact same manner, you claim they're "holding them accountable."

    See? Its the little things like these that go a long way to establishing credibility. No one in their right mind would think that Jim Inhofe was particularly frightened of Andrew Rice (despite the fundraising link for him on your blog).

    2:37 PM, November 01, 2007  
    Blogger Senate2008Guru said...

    va blogger - did you actually use "credibility" and "Inhofe" in the same paragraph? There's a pretty sizable difference between the average Democrat holding the average Republican to account for their record and the absolute joke of a smear job that is http://andrewricesweb.com/ -- do you actually think that site is anything other than completely laughable?

    5:58 PM, November 01, 2007  
    Blogger VA Blogger said...

    Of course not. Partisan hit sites are rarely anything but laughable, unless they're used to catalogue a list of offenses that are cited and referenced properly.

    However, what's even more laughable is that you believe its an indication that something as routine as this means that anyone in Oklahoma is scared. Guess what? The OK-GOP does nothing all day but promote their partisan agenda. While you could simply sit outside their office all day and label everything they do "desperate tactics" and a product of their fear, eventually you'd start to realize that its none of those things at all.

    7:57 PM, November 01, 2007  
    Blogger JeremiahTheMessiah said...

    Rep. Udall is starting to assemble a team for a senate race.

    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/11/2/02125/0852

    12:40 AM, November 02, 2007  
    Blogger Woody said...

    I love the idea of endowing Vanderbilt U. As I understand it, the rich name makes people think they should be heavily endowed, but they ain't really.

    Anyway, not to suggest any violation of the law, but as the judge said, it's not illegal to avoid a tax, so perhaps a big Democratic donor could offer a very large tax-deductible gift to Vanderbilt as an individual, contingent upon, you know . . .

    And that donation would not be covered by McCain-Feingold or other campaign contribution limits.

    I do think that Sen Alexander would make a fine Prexy for Vanderbilt, helping to raise the institution's profile at home and abroad.

    2:03 PM, November 02, 2007  

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