First things first.
Colorado,
Indiana,
Nevada,
North Carolina,
Iowa,
New Mexico,
West Virginia,
Kansas,
Connecticut,
Illinois,
Missouri,
North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming,
Wisconsin,
Kentucky,
Oregon,
Minnesota,
Washington,
Virginia,
Nebraska,
Alaska, Hawaii,
Florida,
Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island and Delaware.
And before we take the jump, I just wanted to remind you again that you can contribute to candidates on this project by hitting this
ActBlue page
And, because I get grief about not pimping my other series, here are the stories in The Basics Series...
New Republican Sales Pitch
DLC Democrats Sales Pitch
City on a Hill
The Napoleonic Strategies of the GOP
The Danger Called Howard Dean
JUMP!
I was going to lump Alabama in with Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana as I didn't expect to see anything interesting here. I was wrong. We have terrific candidates in Alabama. I mean, I really like these guys. But they're all going down due to lack of funding. And that's a shame, because we're finally challenging the uberreddies, but if we don't throw dollars at these people, they're just going down. I'm not putting them on my
Act Blue Page because I'm keeping that just for races where I figure we're within striking distance, and, as great as these candidates are, we're coming in too late to actually take the reddies down. But I really strongly suggest that if you have some dollars to spend, you give these people some lovin.
AL-1 - Southwest portion of the state, including Mobile. The red incumbent, Jo Bonner, won this one with 63%. Our gal is Vivan Beckerle, served as Mobile County Treasurer for 12 years, so she has great name recognition in the area; she earned her JD just a few years ago; and, most importantly for the region, she is a convert from the Republican party who served on the Mobile County Republican Executive Committee and served as Secretary of the Alabama GOP. It certainly doesn't hurt anything, either, that she retired from the military after 20 years, earning the rank of Major, and she's running on the shameful way that the Republicans have been treating our service members in uniform and our veterans. She's a perfect candidate for this race but she has next to no money. Of all the challengers I've seen, and I've seen a lot of them, if she had half the money her opponent has, I'd put Vivian up in the top tier for a pickup.
AL-1: Wouldn't it be sweet to turn this seat? Contribute here
AL-2 - Southeast portion of the state including parts of Montgomery. The red incumbent, Terry Everett, won this with 71%, besting Bush's 66. Our guy, Chuck James, served a tour in Korea and two in Vietnam in his 30 years in the service, amassing almost 10,000 flight hours, and earning 34 combat Air Medals, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, and a Purple Heart. He retired a Lieutenant Colonel, having held 5 enlisted grades prior to commissioning. In addition to military experience, the guy's done everything from construction to finance to printing to being a professor of law. He's running on returning government to the people, economic growth for all, labor and farming. This is a rematch from 2004. Hopefully Chuck's name recognition has gotten better, because, with $50 in the bank, he's not going to be able to do a lot of advertising.
AL-2: Great candiate. Too bad it's gonna stay red. Contribute here
AL-3 - Eastern portion of the state including Auburn. The red incumbent, Mike Rogers, won this with 61%, though Kerry got 41%, making this downright purple by Alabama standards! Our guy is Greg Pierce who volunteered for Vietnam and served in the 101st Airborne Division earning the rank of Sergeant. He has spent the past 30 years in telecommunications, and his wife is an elementary school teacher. Here's just the first paragraph of how he's running on Family Values
Republicans claim to support family values while systematically undermining family's ability to work and prosper. Whether it is the removal of bankruptcy rights, stripping away student loan access or using bait and switch tactics to undermine senior citizens and veterans, the Republican Party has failed America and American Citizens.
AL-3: Another candidate giving his all in the face of overwhelming funding disparities.
Contribute here
AL-4 - The North central part of the state, including Decatur. The red incumbent, Robert Aderholt, won this district with 75% of the vote, or 4 better than W. Our gal is Barbara Bobo, a newspaper publisher and community activist who served as a Millport council member for six years and the town's mayor for 20 years. For a publisher, she should really be more internet savvy. I don't think she has a website, but will be happy to update this listing if any of y'all know it. Meantime, let's hope she has sufficient name recognition to make a showing.
AL-4: Safe Red
AL-5 - Northern portion of the state, including Huntsville. Our incumbent, Bud Cramer, won this last time with 73% of the vote, where Bush carried 60. You'd figure the reddies would go after this district, but there is no Republican contender in this race.
AL-5: Safe Blue
AL-6 - Central part of the state including the suburbs of Birmingham and Tuscaloosa. The reddie incumbent, Spencer Bachus ran unopposed last time, but Bush got 78%. There is no Democratic contender for this race.
AL-6: Safe Red
AL-7 - West Central portion of the state including parts of Birmingham. Our incumbent, Artur Davis, won this last time with 75% of the vote. Kerry got 64. There is no Republican contender for this race.
AL-7: Safe Blue