The Republicans have fielded a formidable candidate in former Maricopa County Treasurer David Schweikert to run against Harry Mitchell in 2008. Schweikert plans to announce his candidacy in Arizona CD5 tomorrow. Harry will need our help next time around. Hopefully he will give us some help in preventing warrantless eavesdropping on U.S. citizens and in denying immunity to telecommunications firms that have engaged in illegal eavesdropping.
An unpredictable group of House and Senate freshman Democrats could determine the outcome of the latest debate over President Bush's foreign-intelligence surveillance program, after they backed a six-month interim bill in August and are now torn over supporting new bills moving through Congress.
Most of these Democrats hail from conservative-leaning districts and states, where there is the perception that Democrats are weaker on national security issues than Republicans. After supporting the White House-backed interim bill last summer, however, a number of the freshmen encountered a strong backlash from Democratic voters and groups concerned over the new authority that the Bush administration won to wiretap Americans without court warrants.
"They're vulnerable because they're from red states, and they got elected by two percent, one percent, three percent," said Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), the Judiciary Committee chairman and cosponsor of the House Democrats' foreign intelligence surveillance bill. The measure could hit the House floor this week.
"They're a little skittish about this," he said, and called it "a problem" for Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
Holding together freshmen is one major problem facing House and Senate Democratic leaders, who are trying to walk a tightrope in reconciling diverging views within their caucuses while attempting to appease their base and look strong on terrorism.
The House and Senate freshman Democrats were largely united on the Democratic leadership-backed measures that failed in August. But they split sharply on the GOP-backed Protect America Act (PAA), which followed the failed Democratic legislation. Most of the Democrats blame the White House for putting them in a tough spot by proposing language that the administration said was desperately needed as Congress was preparing to adjourn for August.
Some said they only voted for the measure knowing that it would expire in February.
In those votes just before the August recess, 12 of the 41 Democrats who backed the PAA were freshmen. At least eight of those 12 Democrats could face tough battles next year. On the Senate side, four first-term Democratic senators supported the PAA, helping the measure attract exactly 60 votes - the number needed for passage.
Upcoming votes in both chambers are expected to be cliffhangers, making all votes that the freshmen cast crucial to the outcome of the debate. The House bill is likely to spark a partisan flap, but the measure moving through the Senate has the potential to rip the Democratic caucus apart.
...
In the first test vote of the new bill, Democrats clearly won over their freshmen when the House approved on Oct. 17 by a 223-196 a closed rule that would limit amendments to the bill sponsored by Conyers and Intelligence Chairman Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas), known by its acronym as the RESTORE Act. There were just three Democratic defectors: Reps. Heath Shuler (N.C.), Baron Hill (Ind.) and Nick Lampson (Texas). All are freshmen who could face tough 2008 elections, and they supported the PAA.
Republicans could win over more freshmen yet. Earlier this month, skittish House leaders had to pull the vote on the underlying bill after Republicans offered a motion to recommit stating that the proposed changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) would not apply to al Qaeda. Had the motion passed, it would have effectively killed the bill, and aides said a number of freshmen and members of the conservative Democratic blue-dog coalition would have likely sided with Republicans had the motion come to a vote.
Other freshman House Democrats who voted for the PAA - Ciro Rodriguez (Texas), Chris Carney (Pa.), Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Brad Ellsworth (Ind.), Harry Mitchell (Ariz.), Zack Space (Ohio), Charlie Wilson (Ohio) and Tim Walz (Minn.) - have either said they were still weighing whether to vote for the Democratic bill or would not respond to requests for comment.
Help Harry make up his mind to stand up for the Constitution.
The Arizona Capitol Times has confirmed that the rumors are true. State Senate President Tim Bee has, in fact, hired Republican consultant and dirty trickster Nathan Sproul. It is widely believed that Bee intends to challenge Gabrielle Giffords in CD8, although Bee has not yet announced that he is running for U.S. Congress.
The Arizona Democratic Party says it is looking into whether Senate President Tim Bee is violating the state's resign-to-run law by "stockpiling" money to challenge U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in the 8th Congressional District.
Be on the lookout for election fraud in CD8 next time around. It's Sproul's specialty.
"I will not be seeking reelection to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2008. I am honored and thankful to serve Arizona’s 1st District and appreciate all that we have accomplished together over the past 6 years," Renzi said in a statement released by his office.
CQ Politics has an interesting article about Arizona CD1.
Renzi's fundraising efforts or lack thereof, make it appear that Renzi will not be seeking reelection to Congress. Names bandied about to replace Renzi on the Republican side: Former Arizona Senate President Ken Bennett and rancher Steve Pierce. Potential candidates on the Democratic side: Arizona State Representative Ann Kirkpatrick, former television news reporter Mary Kim Titla, director of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality Steve Owens, attorney Howard M. Shanker, and businessman George Cordova.
Republicans are holding tight waiting to see if Renzi will give up the ghost. On the Democratic side, Ann Kirkpatrick has already resigned her seat in the Arizona House and announced her candidacy for Congress in CD1.
Here's Al Gore in January of 2006 speaking at the American Constitution Society. He lays out the themes of his new book "Assault on Reason" before he started writing it.
In the coming weeks I will be making the case for drafting Al Gore to run for the White House in 2008.
The next president should be a man of vision and competence to repair the damage done to our Constitution and our country. Someone not tied so closely to parties or industries. Someone with a sense of responsiblity to not just our country but to the entire world. (I know a little dramatic.)
I don't expect everyone to jump on the Al Gore celebrity bandwagon, so I'll attempt to show the man and his growth into the man who should be in the White House. You know, for the children. LOL!
Watch and get a feel for the man when he was in the White House. This is a video of an interview Al Gore did with Charlie Rose in 1994.
MBryan wrote a great piece about political cowardice in the new Democratic Congress. He is pretty pissed, and not alone, in feeling that the Dems have shown cowardice in not immediately going after Bush's scalp by impeachment and not cutting off funds for the failed war in Iraq.
Whether you agree that the Dems should follow the blitzkrieg strategy and take no prisoners immediately on impeachment or slow roast the bastard and expose all the crimes of the Admin. so that the public is totally on board, is what the debate is all about.
Certainly, the Iraq situation is a different story altogether. Every day we debate, more American's die. As Michael, and 70% of the country says, we need to get the hell out of there NOW!
Since the Congress can't seem to understand the polls, by which they normally live and die, we need to treat them like first graders. Let's set our opinions to music to make it easy to understand.
Why am I not shocked that Kyl fights for Big Business over the poor people who wash their pots and clean their bathrooms? Because he doesn't keep it a secret. He's proud of his position and it makes me sick.
The Senate even added tax credits for "small" business! That's what he wanted right? Maybe they didn't add in foot massages for CEO's?
The patron Saint of Mavericks' is running hard for the big chair in the White House and he's trying to bury the competition before the game gets going. He's going at chief rival Mitt Romney like Tonya Harding on Nancy Kerrigan!
The Republican Governors Association a group headed by Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney,was holding thier annual conference at the Doral Golf Resort and Spa in Doral, Florida. I guess McCain just happened to be in the neighborhood, so he decided to stop by; and hold competeing meetings AND a dinner for McCain backers AT A CLOSE BY RESORT!
McCain claimed he was just checking in with his buddies. I'm sure he does it every year right?
Anyway Adam Nagourney writes that this was a pretty somber event in that the GOP governor's roster shrunk from 28 to 22 this election. HeeHee!
But don't worry Ken Mehlman put everyone at ease by saying, "Duh, I don't know? Rove told me we were winning!"
Not really, he actually said, "We can't simply write this election off as preordained, as the natural order of things to be automatically rectified in two years," Mr. Mehlman said, warning that the party has to figure out ways to increase its appeal.
Hey Ken, you can't put lipstick on a PIG and make it look pretty! It's still a pig.
Drinking Liberally Tempe is on for tomorrow at Casey Moore's so spread the word. Young Dems are Welcome! Old ones too! AZ Congress Watchers, Geo's, TruthSeekers, Random Musers, Tucson Bloggers, Tea totalers, come one, come all!
I Tim O will buy a round at 7:00, and that ain't no Bull!
Sam Coppersmith is a former Congressman and is currently on staff with Harry Mitchell for the transition to Washington, DC. All of that is well and good... as are the countless other things I am sure he has done for the common good.
There's a "reverse Robin Hood" aspect to income tax credits, because better-off taxpayers can take advantage, while those just getting by can't. But that's the way it is, so if you can, whoosh yourself through several Arizona tax loopholes before Dec. 31.
HOW TO HELP
First, contribute to a "private school tuition organization" this year, and become eligible for an Arizona income tax credit in April. The credit limit is now $500 for individuals and $1,000 for married couples.
Contribute to a private school tuition organization?
That's helping?
What the hell kind of Democrat sends public money to private schools?
But now that I think about it, over at my currently-malfuncitoning blog (www.shutupandteach.org) I had a commenter tell me about some of Dean's misappropriations during the last election.
If the techs at my ISP can resuscitate my blog, I will see if I can find that comment.
No not Mo Udall! Loren, his Granddaughter! She diagnosed with Lupus which is one of the diseases where Embryonic Stem Cell Research has shown promise in potential cures.
I saw this ad while waiting for my lunch at a restaurant. It was playing to during Regis or something like that.
Good ad, not necessarily with the star power of MJF but the Mo Udall name is still well known with natives.
Polling for Public Stem Cell Funding has support currently at close to 60%.
The wingnuts over at "The Sonoran Alliance" don't like it one bit! Let them know how much you love it!
(I keep promoiting this so it gets some play and because Leftyblogs has not been picking it up on the AZ frontpage.
BARNEY FRANK IS DOING IT! ASK ED PASTOR FOR SOME LOVE!
http://www.barneyfrank.net/node/145 - promoted by TimO)
Visit MyDD for info on the "Use it or Lose it!" Campaign! Here is the rundown on how we can get "safe" AZ candidates to use some of their cash to help other races in AZ.
Forgive me Chris Bowers for copying the whole post but I have limited time and this is important.
Over the past three days, we fired some warning shots across the bow of ultra-safe House Democrats who are hoarding campaign cash despite having either no Republican challenger, or token Republican challengers. By our count, this comes to over $50,000,000 we could use to extend the playing field outside of our top twenty-five targets. Today, with the help of MoveOn.org and several other blogs, the campaign moves into high gear.
Here is what we want: the 70 ultra-safe Democrats on our list to give 30% of their September 30th cash on hand directly to Democratic challengers, or directly to the DCCC. We then want them to post a statement on their websites, or issue a press release, explaining why they feel said donations are so important this year. In return, they will receive a much better chance of a Democratic House majority, and the adoring love of the netroots. If they do not this give this money, it will become more difficult to achieve a House majority, and they might also face some recurring questions about why they did not give when our candidates needed it the most, and when our target list was deeper than it has been in a generation. If they don't give and we don't win a majority then, well, that will really look bad in the future.
There are only fifteen days left in this election cycle. Time to purchase new media is running out. The longer we wait to purchase new media, the more expensive it will get. Many field campaigns in districts outside of the top twenty five are skeleton crews starved for cash, and will struggle compared to the Republican GOTV machine. We have an extremely rare opportunity in dozens of districts, and we have to make it count--now. I want nothing more than to laud praise onto generous Democrats, such as Barney Frank, who has already donated more than 30% of his $800K+ September 30th cash on hand to the DCCC. I want both money and praise to flow. I want to help build up the image of new netroots heroes, and believe me I will do just that when Democrats start giving. But our time is short. The election ends in just fifteen days.
Call the ultra-safe Democrats in your state on this list. When you call, you will be told that these Democrats have already given money to Democratic challengers and party committees. Don't be daunted: Here are several ways to respond:
* Tell them that you know they have already given this cycle, but our target list hasn't been this deep--60-70 Republicans seats!--in over twenty years, and it needs to be fully funded, so they need to give more. * Tell them the grassroots have never given this much before, and safe Democratic incumbents need to do the same. * Tell them the DCCC and the DNC are taking out loans of more than $10 million in order to fund seats that have not been competitive in a decade. * Tell them the time to buy new media is running out, and with every passing day, media buys will become more expensive for our candidates.
Remember, you won't be alone when you call. Thousands are joining you around the nation. Call ultra-safe Democratic House incumbents in your state today. Tell them you will sing their praises far and wide when they give 30%. Tell them we have to use this money, or we could lose these elections. It really is that simple.
Help Chris Bowers Google Bomb the 2006 midterm elections.
The idea is to utilize Google Adwords and simultaneous, widespread embedded hyperlinks in order to drive as many voters as possible toward the most damning, non-partisan article written on the Republican candidate in key US Senate and House races. The campaign will run from Tuesday, October 24th until Tuesday, November 7th.
Articles have already been compiled for 70 key races. Three of them are in Arizona.
Targeted Races in Arizona
AZ-Sen Kyl, Jon
AZ-01 Renzi, Rick
AZ-05 Hayworth, J. D.
What you need to do:
Post the selected articles on your blog. All further discussion of the Republican candidates in question on all participating blogs should include an embedded hyperlink that will increase the Google search rank of the article on the given candidate.
Rumor has it that Rep. Rick Renzi (R, AZ-01) may soon be added to the growing list of indicted Congressmen.
Apparently the U.S. Attorney's office of Arizona is possibly sitting on an indictment of Renzi regarding one of his pay-to-play deals until after the November 7th election. Last week, the Phoenix New Times called a 2005 land swap deal that benefitted one of Renzi's former business partners "a very strange coincidence."
An AP reporter discovered that Renzi may be indicted for income tax fraud and a related charge to the bribery.
Renzi has been interviewed by the FBI.
Renzi has already been in the news for corruption for some time--Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington (CREW) has listed him as one of the most corrupt members of Congress for two years running, and he was previously investigated for campaign finance violations by the Federal Election Commission.
Rumor has it that Rep. 