Meet your new US Senator from New Mexico... Tom takes Domenici's seat away from the Repubs... and he has good genes. This is Tom's dad, Stewart... a legend in the West...
completing rim's work. the senator from virginia, mark warner (god willing to ensure no jinx) http://www.markwarner2008.com
I already did Begich in the Stevens thread. I'll get to Shaheen soon enough. Man, the Dem bench is getting deep with talent. I don't expect any of these folks (maybe excepting Warner) to ever run for President, but there is definitely some talent amongst the new Dems that will serve the country well for a number of years.
In a bit of a surprise the Minneapolis Startribune (called the Star and Sickle by some) has endorsed Republican Norm Coleman over AL Franken and Independent Dean Barkley. http://www.startribune.com/opinion/editorials/33243874.html Editorial: Norm Coleman for Senate Count this newspaper among the Minnesota voices that long for a lessening of partisan polarization and a return to constructive problem-solving in Washington. If demonization of the partisan opposition continues to be the political coin of this realm, effectiveness of American democracy will be diminished. Independent judgment, exercised on behalf of the best interests of the country and state, is what we hope to see from our U.S. senators. With that hope in mind, this newspaper recommends the reelection of Republican U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman. The more independent, pragmatic Coleman emerged when he helped speed money to Minneapolis for a new Interstate 35W bridge; when he promoted tax credits for renewable energy investment; when he pushed for larger Pell Grants for needy college students; when he stood up to President Bush on extending publicly subsidized health insurance, including MinnesotaCare, to more poor children and their parents. He showed good judgment most recently when, despite a tide of constituent opposition, he voted to authorize spending $700 billion to inject capital into banks and thaw a credit freeze. He rightly judged that quick action was needed to avert serious damage to the nation's economy. Coleman didn't begin his Senate service as an agent of bipartisanship. But that's the note on which he wound up his six-year term and which he has sounded repeatedly in his reelection campaign. We like the trend we've seen and believe Coleman is capable of taking it further. As a second-termer in what is likely to be a smaller Republican Senate minority, Coleman may be in line for a more visible and important role than he has yet played. He could be one of a handful of moderate Republican gatekeepers, through whom majority-backed bills must pass in order to achieve the 60 votes required to end Senate debate. He would be positioned to provide a check on Democratic excesses and pull policy to the center. He could even find himself allied with a Democratic president in reining in the spending ambitions of congressional Democrats. By the same token, a more senior Sen. Coleman would have standing to tug his own party in a less rigid direction. It is with that end in mind that he says he is interested in seeking a campaign leadership post in his party's Senate caucus. Coleman appears to have discovered -- belatedly, but better late than never -- the counterproductivity of harshly negative campaigning. As a former Democrat, two-term St. Paul mayor and three-time candidate for statewide office in this progressive state, Coleman has learned -- sometimes the hard way -- what Minnesotans want and expect of their political leaders. The leadership qualities that he has developed ought to matter more in this year's election than at other times, when issues might count for more. The world is changing rapidly. Today's issues may not be tomorrow's. We bank our hope for a less polarized America with Coleman, despite accord with DFL challenger Al Franken on some important issues. However, we consider his recommendation for a "no" vote on the economic bailout package the wrong call at the wrong time. Franken is a gifted communicator. His best-selling books skewering the Bush administration and the Republican right helped revitalize the Democratic Party when it was on the ropes. He's an effective critic. It isn't as easy to envision him as a constructive force for bipartisan legislation. Dean Barkley, the Independence Party candidate, places commendable emphasis on reducing the national debt. After Sen. Paul Wellstone's death, Barkley briefly held the seat Coleman holds now, and served well in that exceptional time. But the better indicator of how he would function over a six-year term isn't those 60 days but the four years of Jesse Ventura's governorship. Barkley was Ventura's closest political adviser, and a cabinet member. It's hard to point to a lasting imprint Barkley made in those years. In a year when the word "maverick" has become a comedic cue, it's probably just as well that Coleman has not claimed it as his label. But the word fits the independence Coleman has lately displayed in the Senate. He has begun to be "the Minnesota maverick." With our endorsement comes a plea for more of the same. As a second-termer in what is likely to be a smaller Republican Senate minority, Coleman may be in line for a more visible and important role than he has yet played. He could be one of a handful of moderate Republican gatekeepers, through whom majority-backed bills must pass in order to achieve the 60 votes required to end Senate debate. He would be positioned to provide a check on Democratic excesses and pull policy to the center. He could even find himself allied with a Democratic president in reining in the spending ambitions of congressional Democrats. By the same token, a more senior Sen. Coleman would have standing to tug his own party in a less rigid direction. It is with that end in mind that he says he is interested in seeking a campaign leadership post in his party's Senate caucus. Coleman appears to have discovered -- belatedly, but better late than never -- the counterproductivity of harshly negative campaigning. As a former Democrat, two-term St. Paul mayor and three-time candidate for statewide office in this progressive state, Coleman has learned -- sometimes the hard way -- what Minnesotans want and expect of their political leaders. The leadership qualities that he has developed ought to matter more in this year's election than at other times, when issues might count for more. The world is changing rapidly. Today's issues may not be tomorrow's. We bank our hope for a less polarized America with Coleman, despite accord with DFL challenger Al Franken on some important issues. However, we consider his recommendation for a "no" vote on the economic bailout package the wrong call at the wrong time. Franken is a gifted communicator. His best-selling books skewering the Bush administration and the Republican right helped revitalize the Democratic Party when it was on the ropes. He's an effective critic. It isn't as easy to envision him as a constructive force for bipartisan legislation. Dean Barkley, the Independence Party candidate, places commendable emphasis on reducing the national debt. After Sen. Paul Wellstone's death, Barkley briefly held the seat Coleman holds now, and served well in that exceptional time. But the better indicator of how he would function over a six-year term isn't those 60 days but the four years of Jesse Ventura's governorship. Barkley was Ventura's closest political adviser, and a cabinet member. It's hard to point to a lasting imprint Barkley made in those years. Also the St. Paul Pioneer press has endorsed Coleman.
we need it too. biden and kennedy will be gone. byrd will be gone. and obama could have been big and obviously now (hopefully) become potus. i really hope clinton will take the role of kennedy. that would be awesome.
I hope he wins. He seems like a relative moderate (at least from what I know of him) and would be good for the GOP. Franken is a bit out there, in my opinion. I really dislike that as the Dems gain more control over the legislature, the people being kicked out tend to be the moderate Republicans. It just shifts the GOP to being more and more extreme, which ultimately isn't healthy for the country.
Cry me a river. Repubs intentionally set out to knock off moderate Dems over the last 8 years and replace them with wingers. Let them sit in their own filth until the entire party decides it is time for a change. Coleman is not going to be the agent of that change but a Senator Franken might help spur that reevaluation of party principles.
No kidding. Save your sorrow for the Democratic congressmen raped and pillaged in Texas by that GOP you are suddenly sorry for, Major. Yes, those conservative-fiscally/progressive-socially Democratic congressmen whose Republican districts were rewritten out of existence by DeLay/Craddick/Perry/Rove and company, despite the fact that their voters in those Republican districts liked them and kept reelecting them. Different political party, different political philosophy, but even worse. At least the voters of the Republicans you feel "sorry for" can vote yea or nay... they weren't deprived of their choice. So yes, cry us a freakin' river.
When it comes to moderation Coleman is like a player in his contract year. Early in his term Coleman was pretty much a shill for the Bush Admin and the RNC including being the official Republican spokesperson during the 2004 Democratic national convention. Coleman too while saying that he decried negative ads, including the ones run by the RNSC, didn't stop him from running negative ads, until they appeared to backfire on him, or is that keeping him from planning on running the RNSC if he wins reelection. Norm Coleman is a moderate in terms of how many times he's flip flopped. As an independent candidate who ran against him in 1998 said "Norm Coleman was once a Democrat, now he's a Republican. Is from the East Coast but says he's a Minnesotan. I wouldn't be surprised if Norm once was a black woman." All of that above said though I am going to be voting for Dean Barkley and I hope many Democrats join me. While I still hold out some hope that Barkley might win at this point for all of Coleman's flip flops and opportunism Al Franken isn't any better, possibly worse, and like you I don't want to see the Democrats get 60 Senators.
I don't see what the Texas mess has to do with Franken vs. Coleman. Every candidate is unique - and I'm not simply going to root for all Dems regardless of their quality. I really dislike Franken - he's an angry partisan hack from what I can tell. He doesn't bring anything useful to the table except another Dem vote. I'm interested in moderate solutions to the problems facing us, and I don't consider Dem ideas fundamentally any better then Rep ideas - just the parties themselves right now are very different. Dems are being led by moderates, while Reps are being led by idiots. If you kick the moderates out, then that problem gets worse. You end up with an entrenched loony right that will only increase the partisan bickering. And if the Dems get 60, they will overreach as any party does when they get full control, and we'll all regret it in 2010 or 2012 (as we saw with both Bush and Clinton). The Dems built there majority with moderate conservative Dems in traditionally conservative distries. If you want them to stay a majority party, you should be rooting for a solid moderate GOP influence that encourages bipartisan solutions.
That's disappointing. I don't follow Minnesota politics much, so I was just going on what I've read of Coleman.
Sorry if I'm not sharing your fantasy, Major. Frankly, I'm not sure what you want. Whatever it is, it certainly doesn't exist in Texas.
