I was interested in seeing which races Kos readers most want to win on Tuesday. I rank my top five picks below.
As you can see, my top five are all Senate races. This is partly because control of the Senate appears to be too close to call and every pickup counts. Also important is the fact, I believe, that the higher national profile of Senators places them in a better position than most Congressmen, Governors, and local politicians to be a constructive voice of opposition to W.
My top five, in order, are as follows:
1. Webb v. Allen. Allen represents the very ugliest elements of the Republican party: ignorant, smug, and reckless, it's no wonder that he was initially touted by many Republicans as the proper successor to W. Webb may not be as progressive as I'd like, but he offers a positive agenda and is a solid choice for a fairly conservative state. Icing on the cake: a big win in the South here would provide a much needed morale boost for the Democrats heading into 2008, when we will need to win somewhere outside of the 'blue states.'
2. Ford v. Corker. If ever there is a time when Democrats should be able to win a Senate seat in Tennessee, it's now, when the state has soured on a Republican President, the Democratic governor is headed for a landslide, and the Republicans have fielded a fairly weak candidate. Ford is conservative for sure, but he's a loyal Democrat who has run a solid campaign. Notwithstanding, polling after the "Call Me" ad suggests that Corker may be pulling away. Are enough Tennessee voters really suseptible to this kind of race baiting? It is a disheartening thought. A win here, as a rejection of this kind of politics, would be all the more powerful in its symbolism.
3. Tester v. Burns. The resurgence of Democrats at the state level in the Mountain West and Southwest is exhilirating. The question remains though whether we will be able to channel that energy into support for a national candidate in 2008. If any of the great candidates we have running in these regions represents such a possibility, Senate candidate Tester is at or near the top of the list. Tester's brand of integrity and grass roots politics would be a welcome change from the corrupt and cranky Burns.
4. Casey v. Santorum. As a Pennsylvanian, this race is personal for me. It was particularly hard to take Santorum's win over Wofford in 1994 (Wofford would otherwise have won but for the anti-incumbent/Democratic wave that year). It's not easy to get excited about a candidate as charasmatically challeged (or, for me, pro-life) as Casey, or a race that already appears to be in the bag for us. Still, the political and symbolic significance of knocking off a high profile oaf and bigot like Senator Santorum is more than enough to qualify this race for my top five.
5. LaMont v. Lieberman v. Schlesinger. It may not earn me too many friends to say this, but I don't think Lieberman should be thrown out on account of his support for the Iraq war, or even for his embrace, political and otherwise, of the President. There are, after all, Democrats who support the war in Iraq, or otherwise have friendly relationships with the President. I'm much more concerned with Lieberman's embrace of Fox News and other outlets to bash the party. He has reaped all the benefits of his membership in the Democratic party over the years, even accepting a nomination to be vice-president, but now has so little regard for the party that he cannot even accept the outcome of its primary. If every Democratic primary loser ran as an independent, Democrats would never win any elections. Going forward, in order to grow as a party, Democrats need to become more disciplined and fall into rank when necessary, as the Republicans do. This Senate election is important because growing the democratic party mean that we must reject party bashing politicians like Lieberman.
Please leave your comments, including your top 5 races.
