Tuesday’s political round-up

February 7, 2006

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:

* Connecticut businessman Ned Lamont (D) continues to look like a serious candidate to take on Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D) in a primary fight this year. Yesterday, Lamont named a campaign manager, formed a campaign committee, and began to search for a campaign headquarters.

* In Oklahoma, Gov. Brad Henry (D) not only enjoys a strong 76% approval rating, he also enjoys a big lead over his likely GOP rival, Rep. Ernest Istook (R), 58% to 31%.

* In a setback for Dem recruiting in Colorado, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper (D) announced yesterday that he will not run for governor this year. The announcement boosts former Attorney General Bill Ritter’s chances of securing the Dem nomination, though several would-be candidates were waiting to see what Hickenlooper decided to do. The top GOP candidates are Marc Holtzman and Rep. Bob Beauprez.

* Jack Carter, an investment consultant in Las Vegas and the son of the former president, kicked off his campaign against Sen. John Ensign (R) yesterday, calling for a return to “our American values.” “The singular difference between the junior senator and me is he works for the Bush administration and I want to work for Nevada,” Carter said at a union hall outside Las Vegas, accompanied by his parents, former President Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter. This is Carter’s first attempt at public office. To date, he is the only Dem in the race, though Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman is also eyeing a campaign.

* Rhode Island Secretary of State Matt Brown (D) has been an underdog for months against in his Senate primary fight against former state Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse (D), but Brown is touting a new internal poll that shows him in the lead. According to the poll, Brown is ahead of Whitehouse, 38% to 36%, with the rest still undecided. The winner will take on Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R), unless he’s defeated in his own primary fight against Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey (R).

Judging by the controversy section in Oscar Goodman’s Wikipedia page, Jack Carter might be a much better Senate candidate. Of course, I don’t rule out the possibility that opponents could be libeling him, since anybody can edit Wikipedia. And, of course, I’m not a Nevadan.

  • If there is a Republican that you want to stay in the Senate it is Lincoln Chaffee. On top of being a VERY moderate Republican, he is the son of the late Sen. John Chaffee, who by all standards was an excellent public servant and a common sense politician.

  • If there is a Republican that you want to stay in the Senate it is Lincoln Chaffee. On top of being a VERY moderate Republican, he is the son of the late Sen. John Chaffee, who by all standards was an excellent public servant and a common sense politician.

    I don’t think any Dem questions Chafee’s moderation, but the problem is his choice of party. Chafee is a Republican who votes for the Senate’s Republican leadership and allows Republicans to control the commitee process. Why would a Dem want that?

  • With Bush, Rove, and DeLay running Washington, the northeast has to throw out every Republican we can. And we will–throw them out–until there is respect for the opposition party. Democrats are tired of Chafee and Santorum et al being “enablers” for megalomaniac Republicans; they are tired of being “steamrolled” by the “cracker brigade.”

  • Well, Santorum is definitely getting the boot, but we won’t be able to budge Chafee, his approval ratings are too high. Which is a good thing anyway. See Comment #2.

  • I don’t think any Dem questions Chafee’s moderation, but the problem is his choice of party.

    I may be reading to much into comment #2, but I think the point was that while a Dem is preferable to Chafee, Chafee is preferable to the other GOP candidate. If I’m right, I agree with the commentor, but would only stress that our number 1 priority is for Dems to win the senate, not to hope for moderate republicans.

  • We should all hope Laffey(Chafee’s uber-conservative opponent) wins the Republican nomination, because if he does then the seat is definently ours in Nov. As it stands, Chafee is definently the frontrunner in the general.

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