2014 congressional races

With the Republicans threatening to shut the government down if they don't get their way on a laundry list of their pet projects, the richest Democrat in Congress, Virginia Senator Mark Warner, magnanimously offered up a "compromise" Saturday morning: “Democrats are gonna have to give on entitlements." By that he means "let's throw some poor people and seniors under the bus and cut back on Medicare and Social Security." Warner is reported to have a net worth of at least $88.5 million, possibly a g

Far right Republican Congressman Gary Miller (CA) was basically redistricted out of office... except he managed to win a very blue district because of a quirk in California's new election law that found him running against a fellow Republican in the general, all the Democrats having eliminated each other in a crowded open primary. Obama had won what is now CA-31 (Colton Loma Linda, San Bernardino, Redlands, Rancho Cucamonga) with 122,691 votes (57%) against McCain's 89,376 (41%) in 2008. Last year Obama scored another 57-41% victory in the district, taking 118,043.

New Hampshire has two House districts. The first district, represented by Carol Shea-Porter, is most of the eastern part of the state, including Manchester, Portsmouth and Dover. The second district, represented by Anne Kuster, encompasses the western and northern parts of the state from Nashua and Concord to Keene and Dixville Notch. NH-02 is strongly Democratic with a PVI of D+3. Obama beat McCain there 56-43% and beat Romney 54-44%. Last year Kuster beat the Republican incumbent, mainstream conservative Charlie Bass 168,954 (50%) to 151,858 (45%).

The Republican base is restive. They're also dumber than a pile of dog poop. In a recent poll, half the participants were asked if they support Obamacare and the other half if they support the Affordable Care Act.

Republican civil war comes to Sacramento CountyMonday I went to a public forum with three of L.A.'s most progressive congressmembers, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Janice Hahn and our old friend Judy Chu.

Kline hates everyone-- young and old!Steve Israel was never a businessman-- nor a farmer. He's always worked in politics. He doesn't know how to make long term plans or how to initiative and follow through on long term goals. He can't see beyond the quarter or, off on his furthest horizon, the cycle. And the DCCC chair isn't the only near-sighted Democrat in power. The whole party is blinkered by strategists who never see the value of long-term planning.

If I were to tell you that "the answer is Jeb Bush," could you guess what the question might be?by KenAs regular readers know, here at DWT we're not big fans of washingtonpost.com's "Fix"-master, Chris Cillizza, that fearless champion of Village-sanctified reality, and in a moment I'm going to offer an example of why.For now, while I'm not going to make a big point of urging you to read his post "Republican Party could learn a lot

Disasters are good for the media. Disasters drive up ratings and allow increases in ad rates. And in the world of professional fundraisers... there's gold in them thar hills-- lots of it. Yesterday one wag tweeted that a GOP House leadership aide, presumably someone from Cantor's office, accused unhinged Texas Senator Ted Cruz of being the head of a left-wing cabal to destroy the Republican Party from within. Karl Rove may be thinking along the same lines!

The last time-- the 41st time-- the House voted to defund Obamacare, every single Republican voted yes, making each one a potential target for an "engaged" DCCC. There was a slight glitch. The Republicans are calling it a "bipartisan vote." Why?

The GOP-- or at least the Ted Cruz/Teabagger wing of the Republican Party-- seems determined to run on a platform of repealing Obamacare next year. Polls show something between a quarter and a third of Americans embrace that position. The problem, for the Republican Party, is that all of the embracers are GOP primary voters.