Wednesday’s political round-up

April 6, 2005

Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:

* Rick “Man on Dog” Santorum sounded downright panicky in an email fundraising pitch last week. “I must have you working with me to stand against the Big Money leftists,” Santorum wrote. “Now that the Democratic National Committee has declared me its No. 1 target for the next election I expect Soros and others on the left, like insurance billionaire Peter Lewis, to pump millions and millions of dollars into Pennsylvania to support whoever runs against me.” Paranoia aside, Santorum estimates he’ll need to raise almost $20 million before November 2006, which is about the only accurate thing in the letter.

* For those looking for possible Dem candidates in 2008, don’t overlook Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, who is talking openly about the race. ”To the extent that you can run for president post-2006, I would take a look at it,” Rendell told the Boston Globe.

* In an odd twist in the Arkansas governor’s race, former Rep. Asa Hutchinson (R) may run into an unforeseen stumbling block: state residency requirements. Though Hutchinson is an Arkansas native who represented the state in Congress, has lived out of the state for more than three years — and the Arkansas Constitution requires governors to be residents of Arkansas for seven years. Hutchinson said he meets the requirement; Dems aren’t so sure.

* House Republicans still consider Rep. Melissa Bean (D-Ill.) one of the chamber’s most vulnerable incumbent Dems, but they still can’t recruit a strong challenger to run against her.

* Gearing up for next year’s open Senate race in Minnesota, Rep. Mark Kennedy (R) is impressing the GOP after having raised $510,000 in the first quarter of 2005. Among the Dems, however, Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar said she raked in $580,000 for her campaign in only six weeks of trying.

* Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) is up for re-election next year, but Dems are having trouble recruiting a top-tier rival. Party leaders are turning to former state Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa and current state Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, but Titus plans on running in a different race, saying she would for governor in 2006 “unless I’m hit by a bus.”

* A month after a strange race for Colorado Democratic chairman, former party head Chris Gates is no longer challenging the results of the election.

* With Rep. Jim Davis (D) running for governor in Florida, the race is on to fill the seat. Hillsborough County Commissioner Kathy Castor (D), daughter of 2004 Senate nominee Betty Castor (D), announced this week she will run.

* And finally, in the kind of campaign news I wish was a joke but isn’t, Justin Jeffre, a former member of boyband 98 Degrees, wants to be Cincinnati’s next mayor. “I am serious about this, and I intend to win,” Jeffre, 32, said last week. He’s so serious, in fact, he’s invited VH1 to follow his campaign for a new reality series. VH1 officials have said no decision has been made on his proposal. Jeffre will run as an independent.

There might be a reason Dems are finding it hard to get a challenger for Ensign–he and Harry Reid have supposedly become good friends. Ensign didn’t openly campaign against Reid in 2004, so Reid may return the favor.

It’s too bad, though … Ensign’s voting record is way out of place in a purple state.

  • Hmmmm, Santorum needs 20 million, eh? George Allen just floated a letter here in Virginia claiming he needs the exact same amount to fend off a challenge from current Gov. Mark Warner. Allen’s letter could be described as panicky as well if for no other reason than Warner hasn’t said word one about running for the Senate.

    I guess 20 mil is the official total for the next round of senate runs…thekeez

  • This announcement obviously has a certain amount of ‘snicker factor’ working against it, but frankly I see it as a positive thing. The man is 32 years old, a boy no longer, but young enough to possibly appeal to younger voters about whom everyone complains so much for not being engaged in the political process.

    If a former B-grade actor can become president, why can’t a former boy band member become mayor of Cincinnati? Seems fair to me. 🙂

  • Unfortunately you’re probably right about Nevada. However, no matter who we recruit, he or she will probably lose, if only because of incumbency and a lack of bitterness between the parties in Nevada; this is how we keep most of our Plains seats (in my opinion). Also, Nevada should have been a little redder in the last election; Yucca Mountain probably accounted for about 3 or 4 percent for Kerry, although it is definitely still ripe for the picking in 08 (certainly more than Arizona).

    Melissa Bean is in a better position than most freshman congressmen; she won by a relatively comfortable margin for someone unseating an incumbent, and Illinois (even the suburbs) is only going to become more blue.

    By the way, the site, and, in particular the round-up, is awesome.

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