We had a pretty good night on election night in the Northeast. We cleaned house. We nailed 1 GOP Senator, 6 House of Reps Districts, 1 State Senate and held on to all of the State Senates, State Houses, US House Reps and US Senators we had coming into this cycle.
That the Northeast is rapidly realigning towards team Blue is undeniable!
But the work my friends has merely begun. Forget the bunkum about us being irretrievably on defense in 2010 come below the fold to see who should be in our sights in 2010 as we stay on offense in the Northeast........
The Northeast (Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island & Vermont) has been sharply trending towards the Democratic party for some years now. Increasingly at a State and Federal level Republicans are finding it harder to get elected in the Northeast, be they conservatives or moderates, particularly in statewide races. And this years election seems certain to thin out their ranks even further.
We now have 7/9 Governors, 14/18 Senators and 51/65 House Districts!
Below the line for a look at the 14 GOP held House Races in the Northeast in 2008.
In the last couple days, there have been several posts across the blogosphere citing what various candidates running for Congress have said on FISA and retroactive immunity for the telecoms. But so far, it's been all over the map. I'll try to corral all their statements into this diary, so you can see who the "good guys" are.
First, let's start off with the current House and Senate members who voted against this bill. They do deserve credit, as it's their jobs on the line.
Follow me below the fold to see the dozens of Democratic challengers who are standing up for the Constitution, and are against this FISA bill and retroactive immunity.
Chris Cillizza's Friday House Line: MN-03 drops from 12 to 15, NJ-07 moves up from 9 to 7 and WA-08 moves up to #17 from 19 even after a SurveyUSA poll this week showing Dave Reichert leading among likely voters 51% - 45% in WA-08.
Cilliza's counting on a strong Obama showing in WA-08 (a D+2 district) to propel Burner to victory. I still wonder if community ties trump ideology and resume - even in a potential realignment year. However, the numbers and a strong Obama ground game may work in Burner's favor in this district.
MN-03, an R+1 district drops from 12 to 15 and Republican Erik Paulsen gets a big boost from Stu Rothenberg in Roll Call. Writes Cilliza:
15. Minnesota's 3rd (Open seat, R): There's no tougher grader of candidates for Congress than Stu Rothenberg. So when Stu praises a candidate, we listen. Of Republican Erik Paulsen, Stu wrote: "I wouldn't say my interview with Erik Paulsen went well. I'd say it was spectacular." (Stu's column at Roll Call is subscriber-only.) WOW. Paulsen, a sitting state senator, has drawn similar reviews from Republican strategists who believe he is one of the most able candidates they have fielded this cycle. (The Fix has not yet met him -- hint, hint.) Democrats nominated Ashwin Madia, an Iraq vet and first-time candidate. (Previous ranking: 12)
This race started out as a #3 race on the Friday House Line when Congressman Jim Ramstad announced his retirement last fall. Recently, noted Republican operative and opposition researcher Michael Brodkorb joined the Paulsen team.
What do these three districts have in common? All three are currently represented by Republicans and have solid pockets of high information voters, creative class professionals and symbolic analysts. They are suburban in nature and boast a healthy dose of diversity be it geographic, economic, ethnic or racial. Obama should do quite well in these districts and has already scored impressive caucus victories in both Minnesota and Washington State.
These districts and their congressional representatives also hold the key to a progressive governing coalition in an Obama administration. Much as southern democrats and Bush Dogs have held the key to democratic legislation and progressive progress over the last generation, suburban congressional democrats will exert crucial influence in energy policy, transportation, immigration, healthcare, telecommunications and technology policy over the next decade.
Over the next several weeks we will explore these districts and their candidates. We’ll examine current polling data where it exists, look at current patterns of representation and the strengths and weaknesses of the democratic challengers in each district (MN-03 and NJ-07 are open seats due to retirements by republican congressman).
Democrats Work and WesPAC have launched a contest to determine which Congressional district General Wes Clark is going to visit this summer.
This won't be an ordinary visit. General Clark will travel to one Congressional district where a Democratic challenger is fighting to change the direction of our country to work side-by-side with area Democrats to make a positive impact through community service. We want you to tell us where we should put our values into action.
You can cast your vote here: http://democratswork.org/index.php?page=display&id;=140
So as we've established by now, Darrell Issa thinks very little of 9/11 rescue workers and would prefer that the federal government not concern itself with their welfare. Cause according to him, 9/11 is not and presumably was not a national issue. We've also established that he has no qualms about throwing federal money around on local pork as long as it benefits him directly. So the next logical question for me is "oh hey, are there any familiar names that don't mind taking Darrell Issa's money?" As you may or may not know, Darrell Issa is filthy rich. So he's spread a lot of money around on Republicans and conservative causes. So as it turns out, there are quite a lot of Republicans currently running around the Capitol funded in part by Darrell Issa (partial list):
As an anti-spam measure, there is a 24-hour waiting period after registering before new users can comment. blog advertising is good for you
blog advertising is good for you
