Blue America has a page devoted to progressives running for the U.S. Senate in 2016. There aren't many candidates so far; we're looking forward to adding Russ Feingold (D-WI) soon. But we know our endorsement list isn't going to get too long.
Patrick Murphy has a penchant for switching positions, parties, beliefs, values... everythingPatrick Murphy represents a swingy district-- the 18th district (all of Martin and St. Lucie counties and a chunk of northern Palm Beach County. Obama beat McCain there in 2008, 51% to 48% but lost to Romney in 2012, 52-48%. Obama won the state of Florida-- albeit narrowly-- in both elections.
I had an interesting call from an old friend at the DSCC this week. DSCC Chair Jon Tester and his top staffers wondered if they could get Alan Grayson to back down from a primary against Patrick Murphy. The meeting, though, went in an entirely different direction. "He's certainly a more impressive figure than Murphy." No one even tried talking him out of running.
The video above, from a Democratic congressional conference introducing an expansion of Social Security, includes statements by two Maryland congressmembers who are running for the Senate: one, Donna Edwards, who you expect to see at this kind of announcement, and one, Chris Van Hollen, who was forced into coming because of earlier support for the Simpson-Bowles proposals that would have cut Social Security benefits. Van Hollen's support for cutting Social Security-- while Donna Edwards fought tooth and nail against Simpson-Bowles-- has become an issue in the Maryland Senate race.
Last month, when Barbara Mikulski announced she wouldn't be seeking reelection to the Senate in 2016, Blue America began a Draft Donna Edwards campaign. It was very successful in terms of helping inspire a dozen other groups to jump in on behalf of Donna and in helping start the very tough campaign fundraising slog Donna will face, and, of course, in helping persuade Donna to give up a safe House seat and try for the much tougher Senate race.
Tom Cotton now claims he was just joking aroundAnyone who followed Cotton's single term in the House or his campaigns for the House and, last year, for the Senate already had a good idea about what they were dealing with: a manipulative extremist who will say or do anything to advance his childish far right-wing agenda. And he comes wrapped up in a Harvard education with a fancy magna cum laude bow, making it easy to assume he might know what he's talking about.
A new Mason-Dixon poll indicates that if Rubio seeks reelection, even the strong showing expected from Hillary Clinton in Florida probably won't help Democrats take his Senate seat-- or at least not New Dem "Democrats." Rubio is leading Debbie Wasserman Schultz 53-36% and Patrick Murphy 50-38%.
Maryland State Senator Jamie RaskinEveryone is looking at the scramble among Maryland Democrats to replace Barbara Mikulski in the U.S. Senate. But do you recall what happened when a bunch of House incumbents in Georgia found out that Saxby Chambliss had decided to retire from the Senate? 7 Republican congressmen started rumbling over the seat. In the end Tom Price, Rob Woodall, Lynn Westmoreland and Austin Scott decided-- wisely-- to back away.
