Would you believe me if I told you that his opponent, just like his cousin’s in Colorado, is an oil man?! Yep, Republican Congressman Steven Pearce came from oil and then sold his oilfield services company in 2003 for $12 million, proving that he’s not only an oil man, he’s stupid. Imagine if he had sold it now? He voted against the Alternative Energy Tax Incentives Bill in March 2008 and opposed expanding government-funded healthcare to 6 million uninsured children. He opposed increasing the national minimum wage to $7.25 (or $15,000 a year). People don’t need $15,000 a year to live on! Oh, and he voted for the war. Let’s send Steven Pearce back to the oil business. What better time to continue his abuse of the American people!
VIRGINIA
Mark Warner
The Republican Senator and former Mr. Elizabeth Taylor has decided to retire this year. Though voting the wrong way most of his Senate career, he will be remembered for standing up to George W. Bush during the last couple years over the war in Iraq.
Running on the Democratic ticket to replace him is former Virginia governor Mark Warner. Under Mark Warner’s stewardship as governor, Virginia was hailed as “the best managed state in the nation” by Governing Magazine and the top state for educational opportunities for children by Education Week Magazine. Virginians gave Warner a 75 percent job approval rating when he left office as governor of Virginia in 2006. What politician gets that at the end of his term? The amazing thing is that when Warner took the helm, the Commonwealth had a $6 billion budget gap. Now, what kind of governor would leave Warner and the state with such a mess? Well, none other than Warner’s opponent in this year’s Senate election, former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore.
In a showdown between former Virginia governors, Jim Gilmore belongs in the flyweight division. Having burned through Virginia’s budget (and leaving it to Warner to set the state right again), Gilmore now wants a key to the vaults of the U.S. Treasury. What else does Happy Jim Gilmore have up his sleeve? A constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, immediate drilling for oil in ANWR, and putting conservatives on the bench.
Hopefully, Gilmore’s agenda will disappear as fast as Virginia’s taxpayers’ money did when he was governor.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Jeanne Shaheen
New Hampshire’s Republican incumbent senator, John E. Sununu, is younger than Barack Obama, but he votes in a way that would make his old man, John Sununu, George Bush I’s chief of staff, proud. He has voted against incentives for clean energy, against extending tuition deductions for college, and against expanding the child tax credit to more children. This last bill would not have cost the American people any more in taxes; the bill would have offset the additional expenses by closing tax loopholes for hedge fund managers (you know, the guys who are barely scraping by on their multimillion dollar pay checks) and delaying implementation of a tax break for multinational corporations. Well, whenever anyone suggests making the rich pay for something, that’s like waving a red cape in front of Sununu’s face. Screw the kids if my donors can’t upgrade their yachts this year!
But it’s not just the little ones that Sununu has it in for. According to the New Hampshire Alliance for Retired Americans, Sununu voted 9 out of 10 times against senior citizens on issues that affect them.
To the rescue rides the former three-term governor of New Hampshire, Democrat Jeanne Shaheen. She was well-liked when she ran the state and had a record of increasing health coverage for uninsured children, expanding access to public kindergarten, and protecting women’s reproductive rights. As governor of New Hampshire she signed a repeal of the state’s law making abortion a felony. Jeanne Shaheen also understands one of the most pressing issues facing many young families: “The majority of parents work, and it’s long past time our nation came to terms with this dynamic,” Shaheen says. “We need to make quality child-care affordable and give parents the peace of mind that comes with knowing their children are safe.”
When Jeanne Shaheen ran against Sununu in 2002, he narrowly defeated her for the Senate seat. All indications are that New Hampshire voters won’t make the same mistake twice.
MINNESOTA
Al Franken
Poor Norm Coleman. He’s the only person to benefit from the death of one of the most liberal members of the U.S. Senate. When Sen. Paul Wellstone’s plane went down while he was campaigning only weeks before the 2002 election, Coleman and the right-wing pundits mocked Wellstone’s funeral and, remarkably, rode that mean-spiritedness all the way to victory. Coleman is a Bush flunky through and through, voting with W. 90 percent of the time and staunchly supporting the Iraq War.
Presented now with a chance to redeem themselves—and to prove once again that Minnesotans have a great sense of humor (this is the state that elected a professional wrestler as governor in the ’90s)—the voters of Minnesota can elect the Democrat Al Franken as their new senator come November. Not many Senate candidates can list Saturday Night Live on their résumés, but Franken brings a lot more than sharp satirical skills to the political table. He’s a policy wonk, he does his homework, and his agenda includes climate-change legislation, universal healthcare, and withdrawing troops from Iraq. He’s also a wrestler. A real one. In high school in Hopkins, Minnesota, he was on his varsity wrestling team, and 35 years later he still had the moves to put a heckler at a Dean rally in a wrestling hold. Imagine Franken in the Senate. It’s just too cool, isn’t it? Each day can begin with the Pledge, a prayer, and a bit of stand-up from Al. If any Republicans get out of line, Al can put them in a half nelson. Will the state that gave us Bob Dylan, the Coen Brothers, and Garrison Keillor please send Al Franken to the Senate? I think it’s finally time for the Al Franken Decade.
OREGON
Jeff Merkley
Voters in Oregon used to elect Republicans who were to the left of most Democrats. Back in 1964, Oregon Senator Wayne Morse cast one of the two votes against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which sent the U.S. whole-hog into Vietnam. Sen. Mark Hatfield was another strong anti-war senator from Oregon who voted against the first Gulf War in Kuwait and Iraq.
But there is still one relic in the Senate from the Pacific Northwest, Oregon Senator Gordon Smith. Forgetting to retire this year like Allard and Domenici, Smith is running for re-election. And why not, when the oil and gas industry have kicked nearly $300,000 to you? Smith made his own fortune in that great American contribution to the world of fine cuisine—frozen food. His company, Smith Frozen Foods, has been fined by the DEQ at least three times for illegally discharging polluted wastewater into nearby waterways. Facing possible defeat in 2008, Smith has had an election year epiphany on climate change, announcing his support for capping greenhouse gas emissions—after twice voting against similar bills.
Let’s hope the brains of Oregonians aren’t filled with too many frozen peas come November. Because there is an excellent alternative to Gordon Smith on the ballot: Democratic challenger Jeff Merkley. Currently serving as the Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives, Merkley has taken Oregon down one of the most progressive paths in the nation. The Eugene Register-Guard described the 2007 session of the Oregon House under Merkley’s leadership as “the most productive in recent memory, with important achievements in the areas of education funding, civil rights, consumer protection and budgetary stability.” Merkley opposes the war, supports universal healthcare, and will take action to combat global warming. He will be a huge addition to improving things in the U.S. Senate.
MAINE
Tom Allen
It’s tough to have to say goodbye to a Republican we like a lot of the time. But, as when we had to bid farewell to liberal Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island in 2006 (because in the end, it is all about which party can get 60 votes), we will have to bid a gracious adieu to Senator Susan Collins of Maine in this election. Collins is considered by many colleagues on her side of the aisle to be a Republican in name only, as she is pro-choice, pro-stem cell research, and doesn’t always make tax cuts her hig
hest priority. Nonetheless, Senator Collins voted for the war in Iraq, and as we said with Hillary, that’s the deal-breaker.
Her Democratic opponent is Congressman Tom Allen. This 12-year veteran of the House of Representatives is in tune with the independent values of the people in this border state. The League of Conservation Voters and the Defenders of the Wildlife Action Fund both gave Allen top ratings. Allen has worked to reduce prescription drug prices for seniors and supports withdrawing troops from Iraq. He has introduced a number of bills intended to make healthcare more affordable for individuals and businesses, including the Small Business Health Plans Act, the Enhanced Healthcare for All Act, and the Long-Term Quality Care and Modernization Act. As a member of the House, he authored a bill banning the export of mercury. He voted against giving U.S. spy agencies expanded eavesdropping power and opposed President Bush’s troop build-up in Iraq.
ALASKA
Mark Begich
There is no greater need to remove someone from our U.S. Senate than the Republican senator from Alaska, Sen. Ted Stevens. He’s the longest-serving Republican in Senate history. That alone should be grounds for sending him back to the North Pole. If you remember, Stevens is the senator who tried to push through the federal pork funding for his “bridge to nowhere” in Alaska. He’s a rabid right-winger and so that can mean only one thing. No, he has not been arrested in an airport restroom. Rather, the FBI is investigating him for corruption charges in a scandal involving an oil company. This influence peddling case has already seen the conviction of several Alaskan businessmen and state officials.
Stevens’ Democratic challenger is the five-term mayor of Anchorage, Mark Begich. Not under investigation for anything, not wanting to build a bridge to Juneau, Begich is strongly opposed to Bush’s No Child Left Behind education policy—calling it a “disaster in Alaska”—and supports an education policy that brings control of schools back to local communities. Begich is also a staunch defender of his constituents’ civil liberties and promises to work to remedy the encroachments on Alaskans’ constitutional rights, citing everything from “warrantless wiretapping, to the assault on habeas corpus, to the pursuit of REAL ID cards and retroactive immunity for telecom companies that illegally helped the federal government spy on innocent Americans.”
MISSISSIPPI
Ronnie Musgrove
Woo-wee, it’s special election time in Mississippi! Thanks to Trent Lott, who resigned in 2007. (The first rat off the sinking ship is usually the one with the best hairpiece. Lott couldn’t simply wait for the election a year later to retire, he wanted out quick.)
The Republican governor of Mississippi appointed Rep. Roger Wicker to the Senate after Trent Lott cut and ran. It hasn’t taken Wicker long to establish that he puts the interests of businesses before those of American workers. Representing a state in which women make only 73 cents for every dollar earned by men (lower than the national average), Roger Wicker voted against legislation that would have clearly established the rights of employees, including women and minorities, to sue their employers for wage discrimination under existing anti-discrimination laws. Perhaps Wicker believes women should be happy that men let them work outside of the home. As a Congressman, Wicker also opposed decreasing the interest rate on student loans from 6.4 percent to 3.4 percent over a five-year period while at the same time voting against an effort to repeal 2004 tax cuts for oil companies.
Nonetheless, as Wicker has not been elected by the people, he must now stand for election in November. And he has to face no less than the popular former Democratic governor of Mississippi, Ronnie Musgrove. While governor, Musgrove managed to balance Mississippi’s budget and at the same time increase education funding—no easy feat in perhaps the poorest state in the nation. Every child in Mississippi can thank former Governor Musgrove for putting an Internet connection in his or her classroom. He has a proven track record of bringing jobs to Mississippi and keeping a tight rein on government spending—something Republicans say they do but don’t.
Is it possible for Mississippi to send a Democrat to the U.S. Senate? Perhaps this year anything can happen.
NORTH CAROLINA
Kay Hagan
People seem to like Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC). I prefer to think of it as pity. After all she’s got a guy who’s hooked on Viagra chasing her every night. Just as she reached an age where she could relax at night, enjoy a nice bath, a glass of wine, and a good book, she and millions of other older women in the world now have husbands with four-hour erections wanting some immediate attention. Is this fair? Haven’t they done enough—raising the kids, keeping the home together, balancing the checkbook, picking up after everybody and their friggin’ mess? Just when they reach an age when they’re trying to get a little peace and quiet—and yes, still have a roll in the hay every now and then—along comes a little pill that has Old Bob still going strong at 3am. “C’mon, Lizzie—one more time! I’m Bob Dole, dammit!”
When she isn’t beating back an out-of-control wanker, Senator Elizabeth Dole has been voting with George W. Bush 92 percent of the time! That alone should be reason enough for her removal. What’s it going to take, North Carolina?
How ’bout Democratic challenger Kay Hagan? As a state senator for 9 years, Kay Hagan has created innovative tools for economic development, invested in technology and infrastructure to help develop the next century’s medicine and jobs, passed some of the nation’s toughest predatory lending laws, and supported education funding at all levels. She’d be an excellent replacement for Elizabeth Dole. As a going away gift, someone should get Mrs. Dole a ten-foot pole.
OKLAHOMA
Andrew Rice
There is no delicate way to describe the insanity that lives inside the mind of the Republican incumbent from Oklahoma, James M. Inhofe. With one hand he makes a fist and loudly proclaims that global warming is not caused by humans. With the other hand he accepts hundreds of thousands of dollars from the oil and gas industry. His views on marriage, sexuality, and education are equally antediluvian. He once boasted before the Senate, “I’m really proud to say that in the recorded history of our family, we’ve never had a divorce or any kind of homosexual relationship.” Isn’t that nice!
Inhofe’s Democratic challenger is Andrew Rice. Rice committed his life to public service after his brother died in the World Trade Center attacks. He has been a state senator since 2005, and during that time he voted in support of the poor and championed legislation for children and the uninsured. Rice has worked for the Texas Freedom Network, a nonprofit organization focused on countering the influence of the religious right on public policy decisions, and he founded the Progressive Alliance, an Oklahoma outfit dedicated to advancing “progressive, fair-minded and constitutional solutions to public policy problems.” He has also tried his hand at documentary filmmaking, creating a film focused on the AIDS pandemic in India.
KENTUCKY
Bruce Lunsford
Shortly after businessman Bruce Lunsford won the Democratic nomination, polling showed him only 5 points behind the Senate’s highest ranking Republican—none other than Mitch McConnell. Clearly, the Bluegrass state is seeing red about McConnell’s record.
As Minority Leader, McConnell has worked tirelessly in defense of President Bush’s Iraq War policy and the status quo, voting with Bush and the GOP approximately 95 percent of the time. And why shouldn’t he? In an interview on Face the Nation in 2007, Senator McConnell called himself “the strongest supporter of the president you could find in the Senate.” Yet while he supports Bush’s plan of keeping soldiers in Iraq, McConnell doesn’t seem to want to offer them much in the way of gratitude when they return home. He has voted against the 21st Century GI bill, which increases college funding for our service men and women, and he twice voted against increasing healthcare funding for veterans.
Vying for McConnell’s seat is Bruce Lunsford, a businessman and former Commerce Secretary for the state of Kentucky. Lunsford promises to work to expand the Sta
te Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to cover all children (McConnell has opposed expanding the program’s coverage). He also pledges to overhaul Bush’s No Child Left Behind education policy, saying he will “oppose all attempts to privatize Social Security, fight to guarantee that corporations make good on their pension promises to workers, and push to lower prescription drug prices.”
That’s it for the United States Senate. Easy, huh? Not really. This effort is going to take each one of us. But it can be done.
Thirty House Seats We Can Win
Three long-held Republican congressional seats. Three special elections. Three stunning losses to the Democrats. That’s what’s already happened in 2008, and it is an omen of good things to come.
Republicans started worrying in early March, when physicist and Democrat Bill Foster beat out Republican dairyman Jim Oberweis in what was thought to have been a Republican stronghold in Illinois. The seat, vacated by former GOP House Speaker Dennis Hastert, had been in Republican hands for 20 years. Foster, who took 53 percent of the vote, even won the majority of the votes in parts of the district that essentially never vote for a Democrat. The district re-elected Hastert in 2006 with 60 percent of the vote, and gave Bush 55 percent of the vote in 2004. The reversal is nothing short of stunning.
Foster ran his campaign on a few key issues, including withdrawing from Iraq, tax breaks for the middle class, and enacting a system of universal healthcare. He also was clearly running a campaign of change with regard to how the Bush administration has handled issues of national security, arguing against giving immunity to telephone companies that spied on American citizens and against warrantless wiretapping.
Mike's Election Guide Page 10
