Election Race Diary Roundup (10/5 –30 Days to Change)

PLEASE NOTE - This is not an open thread and is intended for diaries and discussion of downticket races.

For all the introductory stuff and links to previous diaries in the series, please look below the fold...

This Rescue Diary covers the period from 12:00 Noon, Saturday, 10/4 to 12:00 Noon EDT, Sunday, 10/5

Today's Menu Includes :
42 Diaries Overall

- 9 On House races

- With 8 covering individual Districts in 8 states

- 10 On Senate races

- Representing 4 different states

- 7 On Various election races and ballot issues

- Encompassing Governor, Secretary of State, Local, and more

- 16 General election-related diaries

Follow us for more, come on in............

A few gentle guidelines to keep in mind:

Diary Titles - If you are doing a diary on a candidate or race, please be aware of the standard Daily Kos formatting. For House races, please start your title with the two-digit state abbreviation followed by the district number (example: NC-08: Kissell Rocks Again!). For Senate races, just use state-Sen (example: OK-Sen: Inhofe is Still a Moron). If you're doing a local race, try to use some version of this format. This immensely helps the people sifting through hundreds of diaries to more easily identify appropriate ones and minimizes the chances that we'll miss you (our Miners are almost perfect, but, alas, human after all).

"President-Diary-Free" Zone - We all know who's at the top of the ticket and how important that is. But the Presidential election is getting ample play in all venues and to try to rescue those diaries as well would be overwhelming. At this point, and our aim is to raise the profile of other races that stand to, hopefully, give our new President a better working majority.

"Sarah-Palin-Diary-Free" Zone - Unless it relates directly to one of the appropriate Alaska elections, or directly to another one somehow, we'll be ignoring all SP diaries out of hand.

Volunteers - While we have a pretty full crew on board, this project has always been about the opportunity to contribute and it's my aim to keep that door open for all who would like to be a part of it. If you have the time to spare and are interested, please email me (see my profile) and we'll get in touch with you.

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This is an attempt to compile a fairly comprehensive listing of election-related diaries that have recently been posted. Most of them are House or Senate races but there are also some local ones, as well as the occasional 'general info' diary.

For all the introductory stuff and previous diaries in the 2006 series, please see:
Election Race Roundup (11/11 - Final 2006 Edition)

And for this year's previous diaries:
Election Race Diary Roundup (9/17 - 48 Days to Change) (with links to 10 previous diaries from 9/7 to 9/16)
Election Race Diary Roundup (9/27 - 38 Days to Change) (with links to 10 previous diaries from 9/17 to 9/26)
Election Race Diary Roundup (9/28 - 37 Days to Change)
Election Race Diary Roundup (9/29 - 36 Days to Change)
Election Race Diary Roundup (9/30 – FIVE WEEKS TO GO!)
Election Race Diary Roundup (10/1 - 34 Days to Change)
Election Race Diary Roundup (10/2 - 33 Days to Change)
Election Race Diary Roundup (10/3 - 32 Days to Change)
Election Race Diary Roundup (10/4 - 31 Days to Change)

Incredible thanks to all volunteers: Land of Enchantment, ukben, welso, drchelo, randallt, Joy Busey, TruthOfAngels, eeff, Alma, Sylv, Nightprowlkitty, Spedwybabs Turbonerd, cdale777, and Relevant Rhino.

(12:00 Noon, Saturday, 10/4 to 12:00 Noon EDT, Sunday, 10/5):  (42 diaries)

(Alphabetical, starting from M)

   House (9)

(MI-Var) McCain’s Michigan Pullout a Tricky Manuever by dzhuang – Cause and effect of the McCain campaign pulling out of Michigan, including the effect on downticket races.

(OH-02) Mean Jean in the Crosshairs by kos - Background and overview on this district that has a special place in the Netroots' heart, because of Paul Hackett's race that turned conventional wisdom on its head in 2004. This time, Democrat Victoria Wulsin is mounting a spirited rematch against mean-spirited wingnut Jean Schmidt (R).

(PA-03) PA-03: Wacky Republican Advertisement by The Overhead Wire – Diarist highlights an ad produced by the NRCC on behalf of Repub incumbent Phil English that tries to paint Dem challenger Kathy Dahlkemper’s sensible suggestions as ‘wacky’ ideas.

(CA-04) Voter Outreach at the High Schools by heathen next door - This on the ground report describes how in this traditionally very Repub area, 2/3 of the high schools have registered more Democrats than Republicans this year, which bodes well for Netroots favorite candidate Charlie Brown (D) against carpetbagger Tom McClintock (R).

(CA-46) Rohrabacher tries to solve RFK murder ... in drag??? by BruinKid – Chronicles one of the many bizarre escapades of Repub Dana Rohrabacher, who is one of the more "unusual" members of the Repub caucus and is being challenged by Huntington Beach mayor Debbie Cook.

(GA-01) GA-01: Bill Gillespie Impresses in St. Marys by jayskew - Democrat Bill Gillespie, running against conservative Republican Jack Kingston, continues to gather momentum.

(ID-02) ID-02: Debbie Holmes for Congress Announces Quarterly Figures by W Lane Startin – The Treasurer of the Committee to Elect Debbie Holmes links to their October quarterly report and makes a request for support.

(KY-04) Some DNC Help in KY-04? by BobTinKY – A call for some assistance from DNC as Michael Kelley (D) is challenging incumbent sophomore Geoff Davis (R) in this district located across the river from Ohio.

(LA-02) LA-2 Dem runoff, support Moreno by mymrbig – In the October 4 Democratic primary, Helena Moreno and incumbent William Jefferson were the top two vote-getters; they proceed to a runoff on November 4.

   Senate (10)

(ME-Sen) ME-Sen: New DSCC ad hammers Susan Collins by Spud 1 - YouTube video against incumbent Susan Collins (R) who is being challenged by Tom Allen (D).

(MN-Sen) Good News in Minnesota Senate Race by InCircles – Dem challenger Al Franken now leads incumbent Repub Norm Coleman, according to a Star Tribune poll; Coleman’s negative personal attacks might be part of the reason for this good news.

(MN-Sen) Franken with 9-point lead (Updated) by litho – Diarist tries to make sense of yesterday’s SUSA poll giving Coleman a ten point advantage and today’s Star Tribune poll having Franken up by nine.

(MN-Sen) Franken 43 Coleman 34 in MN (and general MN update) by Siouxnami - A first-time diarist reports on SNL & Air America alum Al Franken's challenge to incumbent Norm Colemen (R) from Paul Wellstone's old seat.

(MN-Sen) Al Franken: Frickin' up by Nine in new poll by Ian Reifowitz - Media personality, comedian and policy wonk Al Franken is challenging Norm Coleman and Franken's had his difficulties along the way,  so this poll is good news.  

(MN-Sen) New StarTrib Poll, holy Sh*t by TonyAngelo – Yet another take on positive poll which bodes well for Dem Al Franken's chances of unseating incumbent Norm Coleman (R).  

(NC-Sen) GOP: Elizabeth Dole "Virtually Certain" to Lose, McCain In TX Running Ads by EmperorHadrian – Repubs fear a loss of Elizabeth Dole’s (R) seat against Kay Hagan (D), as well as several other senate seats.

(NC-Sen) Republicans Concede NC-Sen: Breaking News by alpolitics - The strong showing by Kay Hagan has demoralized Repubs and the writer invites you to throw them an anvil by making a contribution to the ActBlue candidate of your choice, which the diarist will match (up to a point).

(OK-Sen) Andrew Rice Announces Debate With Inhofe by Oilfieldguy - Netroots favorite Andrew Rice (D) will have a debate against strident global warming denier and all purpose nutcase, incumbent James Inhofe (R) on Tuesday. With another slightly higher-profile debate that night, links are provided in the event C-SPAN doesn't carry it.

(OK-Sen) One Month to go and Inhofe is scared (with video) by Andrew for Oklahoma - Challenger Andrew Rice's staff has posted a video and their description of signs that incumbent James Inhofe (R) is running scared.

   Various Races (5)

(Var) People For the American Way Voters Alliance Launching Congressional Competition by downwithtyranny – Contains a link to the People For The American Way Voters Alliance page, accepting donations to your favorite Dem candidate(s) on the list. The Voters Alliance will donate an additional $3,000 to whichever candidate raises the most.

(Var) Thank You, Kossacks - Donation Drive Results by millwx - Diarist posts a follow-up to her fundraising challenge, which raised $1960 for Barack Obama and 11 ActBlue candidates.

(SD-HD 32) A Tale of Entitlement by robbinsdale radical - Diarist tells us about his wife, Bethany Wojahn, a first-time candidate running for state representative in South Dakota’s District 32, covering Rapid City, her political journey and a recent encounter with her opponent, Repub incumbent Brian Gosch.

(VA-Var)First Time Volunteering: Canvasing in Loudoun County Virginia by acluka – Canvassing for Obama which also benefits Mark Warner for Senate, and House candidate Judy Feder (VA-10).

(WA-Gov) I phoned it in today! by fireflynw – Diarist’s account of phone banking for Obama and Dem incumbent Governor Christine Gregoire, who is trying to repeat after her narrow victory over Dino Rossi (R).

   Ballot Initiatives (2)

(MA-Question 1) Massachusetts Question 1 misses its target by Ahadave – Diarist argues against the issue which seeks to eliminate the state’s income tax, which proponents claim is an attack on "big government."

(CA-Prop 5) Better Know the Ballot: CA Prop. 5 (Rehab for Nonviolent Drug Offenders) by gsadamb – Diarist’s overview, analysis and opinion on the initiative known as "Nonviolent Drug Offenses: Sentencing, Parole And Rehabilitation."

   General (16)

Fairfax County VA - canvassing impressions by FDRDemocrat – An "electoral pessimist" has a heartening day of canvassing.

Voting Machine Use in Swing States by glaser – A look at the possibilities for the hacking of electronic voting machines and swing state vulnerabilities.

the white-guy that's running: An Indiana Tale by Marcie – First time diarist relates a hopeful tale of canvassing and registering voters.

When did we stop trusting each other? by CB8421 – Diarist’s account of registering voters and bringing back a sense of community.

Are Voters Registered? Check Here to Ensure Every Vote Counts on Nov. 4 by Project Vote – Another useful entry with tips on how to check your status.

Last Day to Register to Vote in Washington, Alaska, others by thetadelta - State after state is coming down to the wire for voter registration, with only a few days left in many states and this diary gathers all the deadlines together in one place.

I Will Not Vote on Nov. 4 by Underground in Ohio - The diarist describes poll workers and other voters met at the early polling place as the new system attempts to avoid the problems that plagued the Buckeye State in ‘04.

Last Chance Voter Registration Drive at U of Washington: Oh. My. God. by gtnoah - Diarist has a nice voter registration drive from Seattle, Washington.

Ohio phone banking by boatsie - Diarist shares info in a phone banking diary from Ohio.

SW Ohio GOTV Effort: Results w/poll by Gator - Diarist has canvassing results and more tidbits of conversation from SW Ohio.

Butler County, OH – The Trenches by differance – Canvassing tales from deep red southwestern Ohio, where there are a lot of fed up people who might be having second thoughts.

Labor to Labor Walk in PA by grownup - A union member reports that the response to visits to union households in Pennsylvania has dramatically improved this last week.

Lake County Indiana bad voter registrations: Big deal. by kosunitarian - Repubs are using reports of improperly obtained voter registrations to counter the backlash against their caging efforts.

Ohio Supreme Court upholds same-day registration and voting by jamess - Reminding Kossacks, especially those that can go to Ohio, that tomorrow is the last day to be able to register and vote.

Phoning It In: Phone banking 11 days to go N.C. early voting by MsSpentYouth - The diarist gives the information for a tool to use for phone banking for all races in North Carolina.

UNBELIEVABLE and SHOCKING Early Voting Perks Announced! by JeffLieber - Jeff Lieber describes the benefits of early voting, as only he can. (Results not typical. Your mileage may vary).