The House And Senate Picture

Just wanted to update the look of things in the Congress (outside of California this time):

• MN-Sen: Al Franken has surged ahead of Norm Coleman and looks like he's going to take this one in Minnesota. The Coleman campaign tried to drive up Franken's negatives over the summer by scrutinizing some ticky-tack tax statements, all of which had very simple explanations. This turned out to be a fatal mistake considering all of the skeletons in Coleman's financial closet, especially all the gifts he receives from lobbyists and contributors - his rent, his utility bills, and even his CLOTHING. This led to an excruciating press conference where his spokesman was resigned to repeating "The Senator has reported ever gift he's ever received" over and over. Wow, what a flameout.

• AK-Sen: In Alaska, however, I'm not nearly as sure of this one as I was. The prosecution has been so incompetent in the Ted Stevens corruption case that the judge tossed out key evidence and the defense will again call for a mistrial. If Stevens is exonerated, whether through mistrial or acquittal, there will be a significant rebound in his poll numbers, and he's already nearly even right now. This ad from the DSCC is good, but I'm not sure it'll be good enough. I think Mark Begich is in some trouble.

• NC-Sen: VoteVets is back. They've revived their wildly successful body armor ad and set their sights on Elizabeth Dole. It's just as powerful as it was in 2006.



Liddy Dole is toast.

• ME-Sen: Interesting happenings in Maine. Susan Collins was popular enough for national Democrats to kind of leave the Tom Allen challenge for dead, but the twists and turns in the economic picture makes any Republican toxic. Sensing the changing winds, Planned Parenthood, which has endorsed Collins in the past as a bone to throw to a Republican for a couple good votes, turned around and endorsed Allen. Recent polls are tightening and there really could be a late rush.

• GA-Sen: I knew the polls were very close in Georgia, and nobody deserves to lose more than Saxby Chambliss, who unleashed that shameful ad in 2002 relating Max Cleland to Saxby Chambliss, but I didn't know a lot about Jim Martin the person. Turns out he's a progressive in Georgia:

With little money, but with a lot of gumption, energy, and a truly progressive message, Jim Martin has closed to a dead-heat in this race. He is pro-choice, pro-gay rights (supports ENDA and LLEA), a consumer advocate, committed civil libertarian (with ACLU awards for his efforts), opposes FISA telecom immunity, opposes the war in Iraq, is a strong environmentalist, a strong labor guy, a strong supporter of affirmative action, and so on. He is also a Vietnam vet, so perhaps he's destined for a Chambliss Special, but we can get his back. This is the kind of Democrat we can't even get in some Blue states, yet running on an explicitly progressive agenda, has a chance to represent the great state of Georgia while ousting the odious Chambliss at the same time.

If he can pull it off, it would be a clarion call that progressives can win anywhere and Democrats shouldn't be afraid of standing up for their policies.

• House of Reps.: I can't keep up with all the developments in the House - that's what Howie Klein is for. But what is clear is that the Republicans have a ton of seats to defend, more every day, and not a lot of cash to do it. That's why their campaign arm, the NRCC, is taking out an $8 million dollar loan to compete. Wait, House Republicans can GET A LOAN? In this credit market?

ME-Sen: Iraq Explodes Into Maine's Senate Race

Iraq is still going to be the major issue in the 2008 election, no matter how everyone wants to forget about it. The contours may be different, but the issue is still Iraq. If we're not talking about withdrawal or 100 years of occupation, we may be talking about waste, fraud, abuse, private military contractors, and government corruption. The Bush Administration ignored corruption in Iraq and from contractors like Halliburton and Blackwater. And now, progressive Democrat Tom Allen is hammering Susan Collins for the same thing - failing to conduct oversight of the massive corruption and profit-taking from these corporations. She's been the chair or the ranking member of the chief oversight committee in the Senate during the entire war, and she hasn't done a damn thing to see to the efficient management of the war machine. This report on a local TV station in Portland is pretty devastating, and a credit to local journalism in its ferocity.



The Portland Press-Herald also weighed in about this. Allen is starting to break through, and the issue he's using is Iraq.

Allen, who would be a major improvement and would be both a "more" and "better" Democrat, is within striking distance. Races like this will be the difference between a robust Democratic caucus in the Senate and a filibuster-proof landslide.

ME-SEN: War Declared

Rep. Tom Allen has officially filed to challenge Susan Collins for Senate in what will be one of the better pickup opportunities for Democrats this cycle. And Collins went ahead and put a huge target on her back by employing Holy Joe Lieberman to help her raise cash.

Not only has Lieberman endorsed Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine.) -- one of Democrats' biggest targets in the 2008 cycle -- but he's planning to co-host a fundraiser for her on June 21 in Washington, D.C.

The event, which will be held in a Capitol Hill location still to be determined, will feature Lieberman and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) -- a very rare bipartisan fundraiser. Attendees are being asked to raise $3,000; $2,000 would come in the form of a political action committee donation while the other $1,000 would be a personal contribution, according to an electronic invite for the fundraiser obtained today by The Fix.

"Let's try to make this a bi-partisan tour de force," reads the invite.

Now we'll have a proxy war and a perceived opportunity to beat Lieberman. The Collins campaign really won't know what hit them.

Why Primarying Joe Lieberman Was A Blessing, STILL

People seem to forget that the goals in primarying Joe Lieberman were met, even though Ned Lamont is not currently the junior Senator from the state of Connecticut. Lieberman is no longer able to speak for the Democratic Party, which was the biggest problem. He stands outside it now as an independent, and therefore all the trouble he caused with going on Fox News and parroting right-wing talking points and undermining the party leadership are made moot. A PERFECT case in point is his endorsement of Susan Collins today in the 2008 Maine Senate race. Before his conversion to the Connecticut for Lieberman Party, a Democrat supporting a Republican, even a so-called moderate like Collins, would have been a negative for efforts to challenge her. Now, according to Collins' likely opponent Rep. Tom Allen, it's a tremendous opportunity:

Maine Democrats say the endorsement of Republican Sen. Susan Collins by Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman underscores a central argument in their challenge of the two-term senator next year: the war in Iraq. A political adviser for Democratic Rep. Tom Allen -- an unannounced but likely candidate against Collins -- said Lieberman's support for the war and Collins' support for the presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., tie her to the Bush administration's politically unpopular war policy. "I think the Lieberman endorsement is significant. For us, it's a gift," the Allen adviser said. "It paints a picture of Susan Collins with people like Lieberman and McCain, who support the war."

The war will be the defining issue of the 2008 campaign, sadly, and Collins is now yoked to the two most visible war defenders, both of whom are deeply disliked along with anyone else who tries to defend the indefensible occupation of Iraq. Lieberman's support is a double-edged sword in a way that it wouldn't have been if he were still a Democrat.

Allen still needs to catch up in the money race, but he's well-positioned to knock off yet another Republican incumbent. Thanks, Joementum!