September 05, 2006

Blogometer PM Extra II: House Edition

CO 05: Hefley's Revenge?

Jonathan Singer at MyDD looks at AP reports that retiring Rep. Joel Hefley (R) may endorse ex-USAF officer Jay Fawcett (D) over state Sen. Doug Lamborn (R) and comments:

While Hefley's clear opposition to Lamborn will no doubt do at least some harm to Lamborn's candidacy, a Hefley endorsement of Fawcett could turn this race upside-down and give the Democrats yet another potential pick-up opportunity. Make no mistake, even with an endorsement from Hefley, Fawcett would have a difficult time; that said, the race in Colorado's fifth district would be more clearly competitive in November and make the Democratic establishment at least take some notice -- something the Netroots are already doing.

CT 04: There Is No Other Issue In CT

Matt Stoller at MyDD has video of '04 nominee/Westport Selectwoman Diane Farrell's (D) latest ad and likes what he sees:

This is a good ad. It hits Shays squarely where he's vulnerable, on Iraq and on his ties to Bush. Shays has recently moved to the left on Iraq, but voters do not trust Republicans when they move left on this issue. Farrell can simply point to Shays and his record, and demand that he denounce Bush, which Shays will not be able to do. ... If Farrell keeps this up, Chris Shays could be in trouble. I especially like the use of 'open-ended war'. Thank you Senator Lieberman, for running a horrible primary campaign. Now Farrell can run on the war without you hanging like a chain around her neck. Instead you get to weight down Chris Shays.

CT 05: Johnson = Lieberman = Iraq = Bad

Greg Sargent at TPM Cafe passes along a fundraising email for State Sen. Chris Murphy (D) from cable exec Ned Lamont (D):

Republican Nancy Johnson and Lieberman Party candidate Joe Lieberman have a lot in common these days. They share a "stay the course" message on the war in Iraq... I'm sure Chris never thought he'd have to run against Joe Lieberman's GOP-GOTV operation. But just like we'll defeat Senator Lieberman again in November, with your support, we'll help elect Chris Murphy as well.

Sargent comments: "It's a pretty interesting dynamic, isn't it? Lamont slams GOPer Johnson by tying her to a longtime Dem (Lieberman) -- which in turn enhances Lamont's own credibility with the Dem base. What a mess."

IL 06: Maybe Pols Should Just Stay Out of Uniforms

Matt Stoller at MyDD has photos of Iraq war veteran Tammy Duckworth's (D) latest mail piece which he describes as "xenophobic and unpersuasive" and asks his readers: "Didn't we learn in 2002 and 2004 that uniforms don't convince people that Democrats make good Republicans?" Stoller takes some heat in the comment section for his attack on the piece, but argues in response that there are better ways for Dems to talk about immigration than the way Duckworth did in her mailing:

If the goal of this mail piece is to turn off Republican voters who are worried about Duckworth's moderate stance on immigration, the right message is to attack Roskam and the Republican Party's credibility on the issue. The conservative base is quite upset that the GOP hasn't been able to get anything done on immigration, and if you are able to convince them that both parties are the same, you can drive down GOP turnout. Which is a more persuasive argument to a right-winger? Bush and the Republicans aren't conservative enough and can't get anything done, or Tammy Duckworth is a hardliner on immigration even though she backs McCain-Kennedy and will vote for Nancy Pelosi for Speaker.

Posted by Conn Carroll at September 5, 2006 03:50 PM