It is with great sadness -- but also great joy -- that I announce my retirement from Daily Kos for the rest of this election cycle. As many of you know, I've been following the Senate races from almost the day after the 2004 campaign ended. I still think we have a great shot at taking back both houses of Congress in November, and I'm sure all of you will be working hard to see that happen.
As I documented in March, Rep. John Doolittle is one of the most crooked Congressman this side of the Mississippi. What pushes him to the top of the list is that he received over $50,000 from Jack Abramoff's clients, the most of any California Representative. It is thought that after Bob Ney in Ohio, Doolittle will be the next Congressman indicted if that sweep of twenty guilty Republicans comes to pass.
California's 4th district is a Republican den in which Bush snared a 61%-37% victory over John Kerry. It encapsulates the Sacramento suburbs, Lake Tahoe, and goes all the way up to the Oregon border. But if there was ever a year to turn Tahoe blue, it is this year, and I firmly believe that a Democratic wave in November could do it.
After last night's voting at the California Democratic Party Convention in Sacramento, Phil Angelides came out with 67% of the delegates' votes -- far above the 60% required. It was predicted that neither Angelides nor Dem challenger Steve Westly would be able to hit that 60% mark, but the longtime party imsider was able to rally the troops.
I am still undecided in this race, as both men have nearly identical positions on most of the issues, but I feel that Steve Westly has a better shot at beating Arnold: He "appears" moderate, has a shitload of cash, is doing better in the polls, and has some awesome commercials. On the other hand, Angelides has been active in the California Dem Party for decades and has the endorsements of Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, Nancy Pelosi, and many others.
Just minutes after giving a speech yesterday about the horrendously high gas prices that "average" Americans have to pay -- you know, all that B.S. about bribing voters to go GOP with $100 rebates...with ANWR drilling tacked on, of course -- Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert drove off in an energy-efficient hydrogen car.
But once he was around the corner and, theoretically, out of the sight of photographers, he screeched to a halt, got out, and jumped in his gas-guzzling SUV to finish the trip to the Capitol.
This is not some anti-SUV rant or anything, but it's a perfect example of the "do as I say, not as I do" and "it's okay if you're a Republican" ethos of these crooks in Washington.
C'mon! This this picture should be plastered on every billboard in America as an example of the non-commitment Republicans are making to the energy crisis.
Hot on the heels of all the endorsement talk in Rhode Island comes this poll from Rhode Island College about all things Ocean State. But let's just focus on the Senate race for now, keeping in mind that the survey was conducted before Matt Brown exited the race:
...or at least that's what I got out of his new TV commercials, which started airing yesterday.
For those outside of California, Treasurer Phil Angelides is running against Controller Steve Westly for the Dem nomination to unseat Gov. Muscles. After more than a month of non-stop Westly ads (Phil went off the air to save money), the onetime Dem leader has two TV spots: One with fireman and one with his three hot daughters. Both are okay, but they still aren't as good as Steve's ads ("he founded eBay, is pro-choice, and sued George Bush to stop giveaways to oil companies"). At least Phil is back on the air.
Tonight I got back from dinner with an old friend. A friend I have known since we were 10 years old. He had suddenly "discovered God." God apparently told him to "head south towards Mexico." He will not be bringing a backpack, money, food, or cell phone and will be traveling on foot.
In celebration of this journey, Chris, my friend, invited 10 of us to his parents' house in Mill Valley for a farewell dinner. Everyone in attendance has pretty much known each other since kindergarten. It's kinda odd if you think about it -- I didn't know these people for the first 5 years of my life, but I've known them for the past 20. They've been about an equal part of my life as much as any blood relative I have.
I already have a flight booked to attend YearlyKos in Las Vegas in June. However, when I bought the plane ticket long ago I didn't realize there'd be so much activity on Sunday morning/afternoon. (I've been told "it can't be missed.")
I called America West Airlines and inquired about pushing my departure time of 9:30am back to the 3:58pm flight. The change in fare? $60. No too bad. However, there is a change fare fee of $100.
This is obviously way too expensive and ridiculous. What the fuck is the point of this fee when merely two buttons are being pushed by a guy in a cubicle? It clearly is meant to discourage changing fares except for all but the rich. I had a hunch that it might be there to discourage last-minute flight changes in the name of national security, but this too seems false. (If someone is destined to do harm on a plane, they'll probably pay $100 more.) These fees were not in place before 9/11, I remember strongly.
I had the good fortune of meeting Connecticut Senate hopeful Ned Lamont last night, and I came away very impressed.
On several occasions I have made clear my initial hesitation with Lamont's primary challenge to Joe Lieberman. My main caveat is that with taking back control of the Senate within our grasp, it's foolish to waste precious resources on a primary battle against an admittedly bad -- although voting-record-wise, not too terrible -- Democrat. However, I came to terms last night with the fact that donating to Ned is not necessarily a zero-sum game -- and when people like Hillary Clinton rack up $20 million for a "Senate" run, there should hopefully be more than enough support to spread around.
I wrote a diary earlier today that I really didn't like and it's been deleted. But time to move on to the important stuff: Senate polling. Here are the results for one Dem blowout (California), one lean-Dem race (Maryland), a toss-up (New Jersey), and a GOP-favored race that has interesting potential (Virginia).
Today is the 100th anniversary of the Great Earthquake of 1906, part of San Francisco lore that every Bay Area resident grows up with -- the defining event of our shared history, even for those of us born 75 years after it happened.
The front page of the Chronicle is reproduced exactly as the Call-Chronicle-Examiner looked one hundred years ago, and even the buses are free today.
So here are some fundraising figures for the top Senate races this fall. Numbers are due to the FEC imminently, but a few notable names -- Conrad Burns, George Allen -- have yet to release them publicly.
Things I found a little surprising:
After Hillary, Bill Nelson is our most prolific fundraiser?
The difference between Mike DeWine and Sherrod Brown is nearly exactly what the Bush fundraiser brought in
Jon Tester is doing a bit better than last quarter, though he still trails John Morrison by a decent amount
Steve Laffey again out-raised Lincoln Chafee
PS: Numbers before the "/" are funds raised in the first quarter of 2006, the number after is cash-on-hand; if nothing's there, it hasn't been reported yet.
In brief, the only reason that I have a land line is so I can buzz people into my apartment. All calls are made and received with my cell phone. Thus, if my phone ever rings and I'm not expecting someone to come over, it's a telemarketer.
Well, I got one such call just a few minutes ago, and it was a taped recording urging "registered voters to lend their support to a ballot initiative that will require girls under the age of 18 to get their parents' permission before getting an abortion. This will aid in the health and safety of our children. We need at least 1 million signatures to qualify this for the ballot, so please sign up today at..."
They never quit! We actually just defeated this exact same proposal in last November's special election. It was Prop 83 I believe. On this issue, I don't think Californians are ever going to warm up to the tragic idea of parental notification no matter how many times it's forced upon us.
The results weren't released publicly, but somebody paid upwards of $40,000 to see how much support there was for Florida Speaker of the House Allan Bense to take on Katherine Harris for the GOP nod and challenge incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson.
The Tarrance Group -- a firm that counts ex-Harris pollster Ed Goeas as a partner -- was behind the survey, but nobody's claiming responsibility for it. According to the Tampa Tribune, it wasn't the Florida Republican Party, the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, Allan Bense, or the Harris campaign.
Some interesting surveys released today from three different pollsters is shining a new light on some key Senate races.
First, despite the abortion hubbub that took place in last weekend's Dem debate in Pennsylvania (Alan to Bob: "I don't think that is respect...I think it is condemnation"), Casey has retained a double-digit lead. From Strategic Vision:
Matt Brown's Senate campaign appears to be on its last legs. After using much of his campaign cash on an ad surge earlier in the year that improved his name recognition and poll standing substantially, the Rhode Island secretary of state was beset by a fundraising scandal in which the Democratic parties of Hawaii, Maine, and Massachusetts redirected campaign donations to his coffers.
The latest blow came yesterday when it was reported that Brown has only $35,000 left on-hand for use in the primary out of $355,000 total -- and is $173,000 in debt. (In contrast, primary opponent Sheldon Whitehouse has $1.8 million cash-on-hand minus a personal loan of $360,000.) For the first quarter of 2006, Brown raised $350k and spent $480k; Whitehouse raised $530k and spent $285k.
With the state's primary not until September 12th, I don't see how Brown can last that long with mere pennies in the bank and a big incentive for prospective donors to start looking elsewhere. A shame, as I was a big fan of Brown and his (now-ironic) publicly-funded elections proposal.
