TalkingDonkeys

In 2006 there will be a strong chance for Dems to win a majority of upcoming Governors' races...and the Democratic Governor's Association (DGA) is the official party organization co-ordinainting the attack. Help them out this year...

Here is the WSJ article...

Republicans May Lose Grip on Statehouses
Term Limits, Tax Backlash Could Provide
An Opportunity for Democrats in 2006

"...The math is not in our favor this cycle," said Mr. Romney, who recently became chairman of the Republican Governors Association. Republicans hold 28 seats overall, including 22 of the 36 up for election. In pivotal states such as Ohio, Florida, California and Colorado, they are girding for battles. Three Democrats have declared their intention to run for Massachusetts governor.

Democrats will have to work to hold some current seats as well -- in Iowa, where Gov. Tom Vilsack is retiring; Michigan; and Wisconsin. But gubernatorial races may be a better opportunity for the party than the Congressional contests in which redistricting has limited the number of competitive House seats. Winning governorships may also be more beneficial to Democrats chances' of taking back the White House.

"If we're going to win in '08, strengthening the Democratic party shouldn't be through Washington, but through the states," says Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico. He heads the Democratic Governors Association and, like Mr. Romney, is exploring a presidential run...

Republican gubernatorial struggles are only somewhat related to the party's other national problems: President Bush's weakened standing, policy setbacks, intraparty bickering and ethics scandals. At least eight Republican governors aren't seeking re-election because of term limits or other reasons. Mr. Romney predicts Democrats could win between three to six of those seats.

Technorati Tags: 2006 Governors

An excellent overview of the 7 targeted races Senator Schumer highlighted as key in retaking the Senate over at the Daily Kos...

As a reminder, the States are:

Arizona
Missouri
Montana
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Tennessee

Dkos poster Rippe writes: "The big picture is this: 33 of the 100 Senate seats are up for grabs in 2006. 14 of them are Republican-held, 14 are Democrat-held, and 5 are open (additional retirements may change that).

Of course, Republicans hold a 55-44 majority in the Senate, with the one independent (the retiring Jeffords) voting with the Democrats. A Democratic net gain of 6 seats in 2006 would give us a 50-50 split. Of course, Democratic strategists would prefer to net 7 new seats in order to represent a clean Dem majority of 51."

After a good summary of the different races, that really should be read in full, he concludes:

"...Assuming that 14 hours of research and writing buys me the right to have an opinion, here's my take on these 7 races.

EXCELLENT SHOT:

Montana
Ohio
Pennsylvania

GOOD SHOT:

Missouri
Rhode Island

WE'LL NEED TO WORK HARDER:

Arizona
Tennessee"

Here is to a New Years Resolution of helping create a national, distributed, grassroots force fighting to take these states back!

Technorati Tags: 2006 senate

Two worthwhile "Political Year in Review" articles that are worth your attention:

One from the progressive think tank "Drum Major Institute" and a key quote in this was:

"When 2005 began, PresidentGeorge W. Bush claimed a mandate after his victory over Senator John Kerry. As 2005 drew to a close, the President’s job approval rating was in the mid 30s, the lowest since he moved to the White House.
What changed?

This was the year of the Great Unveiling, in which what many knew to be true was unavoidably evidenced to the rest of the world. 2005 revealed essential truths about America, both in its pain and in its promise...

...despite a concerted effort by the conservative right to present government as the enemy, Americans intuitively understand their relationship to their public institutions. We rely on government to maintain our infrastructure, from the roads of Colorado to the levees of Louisiana. We rely on government for effective leadership, not the kind of cronyism revealed by President Bush’s choice of unqualified administrators like former FEMA head Michael Brown. We rely on government to provide insurance so we can grow old in dignity, as the President learned when Americans soundly rejected his 2005 attempt to privatize Social Security...No matter how you slice it, 2005 changed America.

Also check out the Century Foundations Best and Worst in Public Policy in 2005... As with the DMI report it does a good job of covering things that I missed or forgot but are worthy of remembering...both good and bad.

Case in point, a story definitely in the "good" camp that I had glossed over this year (and was reminded of by both articles) is the Illinois health coverage for all Children, set up by Democratic Governor Blogojevitch. It covers virtually all of the 250,000 Illinois children who previously were without any health care.

Any other good political "Year in Review" articles you liked? Good Predictions for 2006?

Technorati Tags: Year in Review

Everybody:

December 31st is the FEC end of year filing deadline for House and Senate candidates.
These really do matter, and before this key date, I updated my actblue pages to show some of the races I've supported, and would recommend that you look at as well...

Francine Busby (CA-50)
$
Lindy Scott (IL-06)
$
Jim Pederson (AZ-Sen)
$
Jon Tester (MT-Sen)
$
Bob Casey (PA-Sen)
$
Paul Hackett (OH-Sen)
$
Bill Nelson (FL-Sen)
$

There are MANY others that are worthy and that I'll be digging into for 06, but these are the ones that for many reasons caught my eye this year.

But if you are thinking of giving as part of a New Years resolution, or just something you meant to do before '05 ends, I strongly recommend getting it in today or before tommorow's deadline.

A lot of strategy happens based on the publicly reported amounts the candidates raise each quarter, it makes a difference!

A great statement against unchecked Presidential power:

"We have long since made clear that a state of war is not a blank check for the president when it comes to the rights of the Nation’s citizens…Whatever power the United States Constitution envisions for the Executive in its exchanges with… enemy organizations in times of conflict, it most assuredly envisions a role for all three branches when individual liberties are at stake....It is during our most challenging and uncertain moments . . . that we must preserve our commitment at home to the principles for which we fight abroad."

-- Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day Oconner, 2004

From the Slacktivist blog, on the adminstrations wiretapping of US citizens without a warrant:

"The White House's claim, essentially, is this: The president may do whatever he sees fit in order to keep the country safe. For some, those last seven words justify and legitimize the unlimited powergrab of the first eight. But many of us cannot accept the beginning of that sentence -- "the president may do whatever he sees fit" -- regardless of what follows.

Those of us who reject that claim call ourselves "democrats" or "republicans" -- words that refer to forms of government in which the leaders are accountable to the people and to the rule of law, and therefore may not simply do whatever they see fit."

Hey everybody, hope you had a good Christmas, and holiday season so far...

After a week of a pretty ugly cold, I followed that up by work travel (to Tokyo) and then family vacation...

But now am back and looking forward to the new year...

Tim

New Year's Democratic Senate Strategy, as quoted by the AP news report:

"Schumer, the head of Senate Democrats' campaign efforts, said Tuesday he is focusing on seven states where he believes they can take GOP-held Senate seats in 2006: Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, Montana, Tennessee, and Arizona.

"If the stars align right we could actually take back the Senate," Schumer said.

The Senate currently has 55 Republicans, 44 Democrats and one Democratic-voting independent. In 2006, there are five open Senate seats, as well as 14 Democratic senators seeking re-election and 14 Republicans seeking re-election.

Schumer heads the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which had more than $22 million available according to their last fundraising report. That's more than double the cash available to their counterparts in the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

...Schumer is also trying to pare his party's message down to a few straightforward ideas. "Mostly, it's the meat and potato issues: Save Social Security. Fix prescription drugs. Energy independence," he said."

Work travel followed by being sick. Bleh. Will post more once I'm better....

But this seemed to timely and important not to post.... The Democratic agenda for nationalizing the 2006 races is just starting to emerge, and you still have time to inject your beliefs, values and priorities into the mix...

From the DSCC:

"Visit our website to endorse the Democratic agenda. Plus, if you think something is missing from our list of priorities, you can tell us what specific issues are most important to you. We'll use the feedback we receive over the next 11 months before Election Day. Please join our new campaign today.

http://www.dscc.org/priorities"