Wednesday Tidbits

Bob Corker and Norm Coleman are both being eyed as the next head of the NRSC. Jim Talent of Missouri was also eyed for the gig for this election cycle before he got knocked out by Senator Claire McCaskill. In other words, Bob Corker may be the frontrunner, as Coleman's re-election is in high jeopardy. My first instinct is that a piece of furniture would be a better Chair than either John Ensign is or Elizabeth Dole was. But the conventional wisdom was that Ensign would be far superior to Dole. Hopefully Corker (or whoever is next) will just be more of the same as we look ahead to 2010.

Oregon: Gordon Smith is getting slammed in the media, both local and national, for his integrity-free flip-flop on Trent Lott's racist sentiments. He is "Say Anything" Senator Smith for a reason. (P.S. To KVAL-Eugene, KATU-Portland, and The Olympian, who ran the headline "Democrats accuse Smith of flip-flop on Lott" - it's not an accusation by the Democrats, as though it's a partisan attack or anything up for debate; it's a statement of fact. He flip-flopped. There's no debate. Please properly portray the situation as such.)

Maine: Jeezum Crow! Less than a week after the Kennebec Journal ran a pro-Susan-Collins letter to the editor written by a College Republican chapter Chair without identifying him as such, the same paper runs another pro-Susan-Collins letter to the editor written by a Republican state legislator again without identifying him as such! Are the Kennebec Journal's editors incredibly lazy or incredibly partisan?

Mississippi: Trent Lott officially resigned at 11:30pm last night. Expect an appointment by Republican Governor Haley Barbour in the next ten days, followed by a court battle when Barbour officially schedules the special election for Election Day 2008 but the state Attorney General argues that a special must be scheduled within 100 days of the Lott resignation.

Kentucky: Will state Attorney General Greg Stumbo return to the familiar confines of the state Legislature rather than run for Senate in 2008? We may know tomorrow. Meanwhile, BlueGrassRoots wonders how many "last chances" Mitch McConnell will give on Iraq.

New Mexico: Republican Senate candidate Steve Pearce could see us with a troop presence in Iraq for 50 years. Great.

Texas: Is the Lone Star State ready to go blue? A 61% GOP-performing state legislative district just elected a Democrat with over 52% of the vote. It is a promising omen for State Representative and Lieutenant Colonel Rick Noriega.