A Night At The Congressional Races
Here's tonight's run-down on the Congressional races.
Minnesota GOP Accused Of Playing Up Racial Angle In House Race
Now this is awkward. The Minnesota Dems are circulating this tracker video of a state GOP press conference from Tuesday, in which reporters asked some very tough questions about wether the party was using race as an issue in saying that their House candidate Erik Paulsen better fits the "demographic" of the district than Democrat Ashwin Madia, who is Indian-American:
"I'm just saying from a demographic standpoint, Erik Paulsen fits the district very well," said state party chairman Ron Carey. A spokesperson for the state party declined to speak to Election Central when approached for comment.
Endangered GOP Senator Links Himself To Ted Kennedy In New Ad
Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR), who has fallen behind in the polls against Democrat Jeff Merkley in this blue state, has this new ad touting his support for gay rights -- and his work with Ted Kennedy on the issue:
Smith has previously run ads tying himself in with Barack Obama and John Kerry -- the latter of whom he'd previously called a socialist back in 2004.
Poll: Dems Could Pick Up Deep-Red New Mexico House Seat
A new Research 2000 poll in the deep-red Second District in New Mexico finds Harry Teague (D) leading Ed Tinsley (R) for the open seat of Rep. Steve Pearce (R), who is running for the Senate. The numbers: Teague 47%, Tinsley 43%, with a ±5% margin of error. Dems would love to win this for two big reasons: It's a district that has been in GOP hands since 1980, and furthermore Tinsley is an ultra-conservative candidate who said at a debate that the anti-Iraq War Teague wants to cut our soldiers' throats.
Poll: Shaheen Retakes Lead In New Hampshire Senate Race
A new Rasmussen poll shows Senate candidate Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) leading incumbent Sen. John Sununu (R) 50%-45%, a big turnaround from last week's Rasmussen poll showing Sununu with a seven-point lead. It's possible that last week's poll was simply a fluke, as virtually all the other polls of this race have shown Shaheen ahead by anywhere between five and ten points.
Dems Keep Playing Up Social Security Amid Market Crisis
The DCCC has another ad going after Republicans for wanting to put Social SEcurity money in the stock market. This one targets Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI), who is facing a strong challenger from Democrat Mark Schauer:
"Socialism -- what Congressman Tim Walberg called Social Security, even though Michigan seniors depend on it," The announcer says.
Dem Ad Blasts GOP Candidate As Former Bush Yes-Man
The DCCC has this ad against former Rep. Jeb Bradley (R-NH), who lost re-election in 2006 in a stunning upset against Democrat Carol Shea-Porter, and who now narrowly leads Shea-Porter in the polls:
"In Congress, Jeb Bradley voted with George Bush up to 85% of the time," the announcer says. Shea-Porter is easily one of the most endangered House Dems this cycle, so expect her campaign and the Dems to hammer the Bradley=Bush message for the next month.
Folks,
Flood TPM with demands that they take this picture off of their front page. If they do not get the message, they will leave it up all weekend. They should never have posted it, in the first place.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/images/obama-who-large.png
October 3, 2008 6:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Re: the MN Republican racism - the party, from its national HQ on down, has been demonstrably (if not always overtly) racist since the Nixon days. (And who ever thought those of us who remember him could possibly be nostalgic for the weasel?)
So for them to make such statements at a presser is no surprise. That they have not made more such comments more often is the surprise.
It's going to be an ugly few weeks in the runup to Election Day. Brace yourselves, and be ready for the fight.
October 3, 2008 6:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hate of a thousand white hot stars towards Gordon Smith and Norm Coleman . . . May they both end their days in small crap-hole towns, broke and penniless, after over-long fruitless lives.
The are both recessivist shits that can't even own their own stench.
October 3, 2008 6:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here's to seeing both those assholes hit the pavement in search of new 'opportunities' on November 5.
~
October 3, 2008 8:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Political crossdressing seems to be in style for the Bush republicans. Now their for the middle class, the working men and women, education, alternative energy, sound trade policy, sounds good until we review the record...
October 3, 2008 7:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
For years the Minnesota Republican party was populated by moderate country club types from the western suburbs and people from the rural farming communities whose families were Republicans dating back to the Civil War.
In the 70's a number of pro-life Catholics left the Democratic Party and moved over to the Republican party. The established Repubs welcomed them and figured they could use them as workers and get their votes, but never give them any real power and influence in the party. But they were used to having influence in the Democratic Party.
With the rise of right wing fundamentalism, they came into the GOP and allied with the pro-life Catholics. The old line, moderate Republicans were eventually purged from the party, moving it way far right with people like Ron Carey and Geoff Michel.
The district is currently represented by Jim Ramstad, one of the last hold-overs from the old moderate wing of the party. Ramstad is retiring, and because that district has been trending more blue in the last couple of elections, they are in real danger of losing it. Madia is from a part of the district that's more working to lower middle class, and is of Indian (from India) descent. Michel is a state senator representing a more affluent area, but one that's been voting more blue in state and national races.
Hence the "demographic" attack. I'm not in that district, but I'm guessing that the GOP's internal numbers must be causing them some problems.
It also could be a reflection of state politics. The Minnesota State Senate has a veto-proof Dem majority, but the State House of Representatives is just a few seats away, and they are probably worried about Obama and Madia helping to carry some down ticket races.
October 3, 2008 10:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why is Al Franken having such trouble against Norm Coleman?
October 3, 2008 11:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
We could run a dozen separate threads on Franken and Coleman, but one reason that is on-topic for this thread is that Coleman has carried the banner for the old-school country-club Republicans in Minnesota...he's got one end, and Tim Pawlenty the other. Which is hilarious when you consider Norm's background, and his days as a student activist at Hofstra, but then he's always run on the Opportunism ticket.
Third District trivia...Ashwin Madia is an Iraqi War Vet, with two years in Baghdad as a Marine JAG. No previous political experience, in contrast to Erik Paulsen, who used to have Tim Pawlenty's old job as Majority Leader in St. Paul.
This is the only open seat in the Mn delegation, and the only U.S. House race here with serious money being spent on advertising (sigh). Michelle Bachman is vulnerable and a wingnut kook, but she managed to raise her national profile with the bailout oppo. And in 2nd District, Kline is feeling safe enough to have voted for the bailout both times.
The demographic angle is going to fall flat. Obama beat Clinton 2 to 1 in the caucus, despite the "better" demographic fit, and he's going to beat McCain by double digits next month. And his coattails will carry Madia in with him. Might even be long enough to carry Al into the Senate, too (bringing this response full circle).
October 4, 2008 5:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
Maui Mom, that's a good question. Today's Minnesota Poll in the Star Tribune shows Franken with 43%, Coleman with 34%, and the Independent Party candidate, Dean Barkley, with 18%.
Coleman has been running really brutal personal attack ads against Franken, but Al has pretty much stayed away from personally attacking Norm. He's running ads on Norm's record and ties with Bush, but nothing personal.
Minnesotans generally don't like personal attacks (Minnesota Nice, ya know). When Paul Wellstone ran against Rudy Boschwitz, the race turned around on a letter Rudy sent out to Jews in the twin cities area suggesting that he (Rudy) was the better Jew. When the letter hit the newspapers, that turned it around for Paul.
Dean Barkley was appointed by Jesse Ventura to fill Paul's seat after he died, and is seen as a pretty reasonable guy by most Minnesotans. The poll this morning seemed to indicate that Barkley was drawing more from Coleman than Franken.
I think most Minnesotans have had enough of Coleman, but they're just a bit nervous about Franken. But Al is working hard and connecting with the voters, and hopefully it's paying off. A lot depends if the strong DFL voters up on Minnesota's Iron Range in the northern third of the state are OK with him (and with Obama). But the Rangers loved Paul Wellstone, and would have walked off a cliff for him, and Al's been working hard up there the last couple of years to gain their trust.
Feel free to send his campaign a few bucks if you can afford it. I'm sure he could use it.
October 4, 2008 11:57 AM | Reply | Permalink