Carol Shea-Porter

This anti-Frank Guinta ad (above) that the DCCC is running in the Manchester, Portsmouth and Rochester media markets of eastern New Hampshire is meant to show voters that Guinta is "outside New Hampshire’s mainstream." Fortunately Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter runs her own campaign and ignores the DCCC sand their messaging. This is a third-rate self-referencing ad that might work among Beltway partisans but says little to regular New Hampshire voters.

Anne and Carol, New Hampshire Democrats with different approachesLast year, as early New Hampshire congressional polling began showing up, we saw an interesting trend.

Rep Carol Shea-Porter (D) and Dan Innis (R)So far this year, Blue America has only backed two incumbents on a special page designed for true-blue progressives who need electoral help this cycle. Each of them is an independent-minded and stalwart fighter for equality and for a shining progressive vision of America.

If you come to DWT on any kind of a regular basis, you probably know I'm not a big Obama fan. In fact, voted for Jill Stein in 2012. But one area where President Obama has managed to move the ball forward, in the face of unrelenting and concerted Republican opposition, has been in regard to LGBT equality. Who would have thought back in 2008 we would come so far!

All too often "bipartisan" has come to mean Democrats being led down the path to slaughter by transpartisan conservatives. It's not just Republicans who are screwing working families… it's also the Republican wing of the Democratic Party-- the Blue Dogs, New Dems and their fellow travelers, like Steny Hoyer and Steve Israel.

Yesterday Reid Wilson made the point at the Washington Post that there appears to be a Republican wave building that could increase the GOP majority in the House and win them control of the Senate. Obama's popularity is sinking, the Obamacare website is making the entire healthcare reform agenda look like a mess, and the huge Democratic advantage in the generic congressional polling numbers of last month have turned into a bizarre preference for the GOP.

If you're a regular DWT reader, you know better. Of course, virtually every Republican in Congress is a full on shill for Wall Street. It's part of their DNA. But it's part of the DNA of a significant chunk of the Democratic congressional caucus as well. When it comes to catering to Wall Street there is virtually no difference whatsoever between Republicans and New Dems. Yesterday, 70 Wall Street-oriented Democrats voted with all but 3 Republicans to pass H.R. 992, an amendment to gut a piece of the Dodd-Frank financial reform consumer protection act.

Many progressives fear that conservative Democrats are working with Boehner, McConnell and the Republicans to undermine the inviolability of Social Security-- the Third Rail aspect-- by including Chained CPI in a so-called "Grand Bargain" which would see the GOP give a tiny bit on taxes-- raising taxes on the rich slightly which could be easily lowered as soon as they regain power-- in return for forever decoupling Social Security from the Third Rail.

Anne Kuster ran for Congress twice-- both times as a grassroots progressive and both times with super-prioritized support from progressive organizations both in New Hampshire and nationally, despite having worked as a Big Pharma lobbyist. In 2010, she lost her first race, 48-47% against conservative incumbent Charlie Bass. Two years later, in the 2012 rematch, and with President Obama's coattails in play, Kuster beat Bass 50-46%.

Aside from Progressive Caucus leaders Alan Grayson, Raul Grijalva and Keith Ellison, who are all relatively safe for reelection, Blue AMerica has only endorsed 2 House incumbents so far this cycle.