Steve Israel and his new DCCC "chairman"Probably the two top recommendations of the Republican Party's official autopsy gf the Romney campaign were that the party had to make itself more attractive to Latinos and more attractive to young voters. The response from the Republican party base was not just hostile... it was the emergence of Herr Trumpf.
Tom O’Halleran, a 70 year old conservative Republican, served in the Arizona House from 2001 to 2006 and then served in the state Senate until 2009, when he lost his primary to fringe nut Steve Pierce.
Will Herr Trumpf schlong the Republican Party?Herr Trumpf fired a warning shot-- a heavy calibre one-- over the bow of congressional Republicans. So far not a single member of the House or Senate has endorsed him. And some-- like Bob Dold (IL), David Jolly (FL) and Carlos Curbelo (FL)-- have actually said they won't vote for him if he's the party nominee. His opponents, however all have congressmen and senators coming out for them. Herr takes those endorsements as rebukes.
Not long ago a NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll asked respondents about their own incumbent Member of Congress: "In the next election for U.S. Congress, do you feel that your representative deserves to be reelected, or do you think that it is time to give a new person a chance?" Only 35% thought their Member had earned reelection. 57% said it is time for a new person.
Once Rahm Emanuel got the power to fire Howard Dean as DNC chair-- the first catastrophic decision of the Obama presidency-- replacing him with 2 consecutive talentless sieves-- first Tim Kaine and then, much worse, Debbie Wasserman Schultz-- and scrapping Dean's 50-state strategy, it was apparent the Republican Party would have a free-hand in scores of districts where they could be challenged over the long term and that Washington would no longer
This morning I spoke to an old friend, a prominent and well-off progressive attorney who lives in a red-leaning swing district with a low-profile, relatively inoffensive-- albeit very right-wing-- Republican congressman. He ran against the congressman once but, largely due to typical duplicity and incompetence from Steve Israel and the DCCC, he ended the cycle by saying he would never run again.
DCCCThere is a natural tendency for the Beltway trade press to never offend the two party establishments and their committees that exercise so much control of access and information. It was the same way in the music industry. So you never read any criticism of the party hacks that run the NRCC or the DCCC, the NRSC or the DSCC.
Steve Israel was trying to sell his own toxic brand of snake oil in Syracuse last nightAs we've been explaining-- basically, since 2005 or '06-- that the DCCC's governing strategies about recruitment and support are fatally flawed. Picking Republican-lite candidates who, if they manage to win in a presidential year, and then vote with the GOP on core issues ,is not a good idea.
There are definitely some big changes coming due to the judicial redistricting in Florida, likely among them will be the end of House careers for several conservatives: Carlos Curbelo who finds himself in a neatly blue district and will be facing Annette Taddeo, who can probably beat him; Daniel Webster, who also finds himself in a Democratic district he can't win, certainly not in a presidential year (although he is probably going to move to FL-06 and try i
