Wednesday’s political round-up

March 1, 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:

* The DNC initially sent out letters to more than 30 cities, giving them an overview and finding out their level of interest in hosting the 2008 convention. The 11 finalists, announced yesterday, are Anaheim, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, New Orleans, New York, Orlando, Phoenix, and San Antonio.

* Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) received some good news and some bad news yesterday, which coincidentally came from the same announcement. Rep. Chris Shays (R-Conn.) said he would not only vote for Lieberman in November, but he’d also encourage other Republicans in Connecticut to do the same. The good news for Lieberman is it’s a high-profile endorsement from a well-known in-state figure. The bad news is it reinforces the concerns that Lieberman has strayed too far from his Democratic base.

* Yesterday, we noted Rep. Mark Kennedy (R) slipping in Minnesota’s Senate race; today we find Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) facing a similar problem. In a new Rasmussen poll, Pawlenty trails Attorney General Mike Hatch (D), 45% to 40%, despite a three-point Pawlenty lead last month. Similarly, Pawlenty is now tied with State Senator Steve Kelley (D), 42% to 42%, though Pawlenty led Kelley last month by nine points.

* Kos noted earlier this week that an internal poll in Arizona’s 5th Congressional District shows Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R) in a surprisingly weak position going into his re-election fight. The poll has apparently gotten some attention from Dem leaders, who are suddenly taking the race seriously. Larry King, a Scottsdale consultant and a judge pro tem for the town of Paradise Valley and the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation Tribal Court, has already announced, but in the hopes of finding an even more high-profile Dem candidate, party officials are talking to State Sen. Harry Mitchell (D) and former State Sen. Chuck Blanchard (D).

* And in 2008 news, National Journal’s Chuck Todd reported this morning that a “prominent” pollster in New Hampshire shows Sen. Hillary Clinton with just a “single digit lead” over former Sen. John Edwards in the first primary state.

For the ’08 convention site, the Democrats probably should strike every name off the list except for Minneapolis, Denver, Phoenix and possibly Orlando. Any site in Texas, or New Orleans, would present an irresistable temptation to stage a three-day Bush-bash, which will not help us win next time; Anaheim and Detroit are pointless, Las Vegas will ensure hostile press coverage as the media buffoons delightedly regurgitate easy RNC talking points.

As a New Yorker who had to suffer through those bastards using our tragedy to congratulate themselves in 2004, I’d be pleased to see the convention here (and to get all that tourist money into our city’s economy), but it wouldn’t help the Dems win. Minnesota, Colorado, Arizona and Florida are all states that should be in play, though, and I think it would help the Democrats just to get off the coasts. Honestly, I’d probably vote for Denver, with Mpls a close second.

  • Before deciding – what would be the point behind a specific pick? I’m unclear as to what is looked-for. Is there anything politically useful in deciding which city to hold the convention?

    Would holding the convention in Orlando help us win votes in any elections there? I don’t know but I don’t see how.

    That said, I see Minneapolis as a strong choice because it counters much of the right-wing rhetoric that has tried to marginalize us as those effete, latte-sipping big city liberals of the coast. Minneapolis reminds us that the party still matters in much of the revered heartland.

    I’m not sure how I feel about New Orleans. To do so would require putting New Orleans reconstruction on the national platform, big time, and maybe the Dems should do just that.

  • Context helps frame coverage. The RNC in New York two years ago ensured that the talk would be all-9/11, all-security all the time. (My hope was that the Democrats might counterattack by pointing out the disastrousconsequences of Republican rule to cities in areas like education, affordable housing and community development, but that evidently wasn’t to be… perhaps because Democrats mostly hate or ignore urban needs too.)

    Just getting the Democrats off the coasts might counter perceptions of us as a latte-sipping liberal elite party; putting the DNC in a place like Denver or Orlando might facilitate greater discussion of economic development issues, or how to handle the various challenges of immigration without recourse to either xenophobia or creating a new class of retail/food service sharecroppers. Does it help win the state? I don’t know, but my guess is that it has a slight positive impact. Maybe in Florida or the increasingly competitive Colorado, it’s close enough to tip us into the win column.

  • Following up on Yesterday’s Round-Up post, wherein Iowa candidate Blouin (anti-choice) was applauded here for choosing a pro-choice running mate, all I can say is “not so fast.”

    I was concerned but too busy yesterday to note that she is an insurance executive teamed with a former state Econ Development director who is already seen as too cozy with business, to beholden to the establishment, and too conservative on choice (not to mention that it would be nice — since the R’s have coalesced behind a single candidate who has lots of money if we could end our primary and stop spending our money Dem-versus-Dem).

    But the big news in Iowa today is the proposed running mate has been registered R numerous times in the past 5 years, gave money to the Rethug who knocked off Iowa’s revered Democratic Rep. Neal Smith, and, from private sources today I hear that campaign finance records will shoe she has frequently given money to Rethugs — including in past races for Governor, the very ticket she is now on.

    Balanced tickets have their upsides, but this seems a little too much party balance within a single individual to be a good choice for a Democratic statewide ticket. I kinda like my D’s to be D’s.

  • I think ARZ or DEN are great choices for the Dems. These are traditional Red states that are trending Blue more and more. We can win in the mountain states and having our convention there only reinforces that.

  • Does Phoenix risk turning into a McCain face-time fest?
    I think I’d vote Denver first, Minneapolis second, New Orleans third (hammer on Bush’s incompetence re Katrina and how that relates to other subjects), and maybe Dallas fourth to show we aren’t scared to go into his turf.

    Anaheim and Orlando are just bad late-night jokes waiting to happen about the Mickey Mouse convention and whathaveyou.

  • Anybody dumb enough to have a big convention in DizzyWorld, aka Anaheim, deserves the gridlock they’ll be in.

    I would vote Denver or Minneapolis, because they’re much easier to get around in (as someone who grew up in Denver Way Back When, downtown Denver now is truly something to behold in the field of Urban Redevelopment That Actually Makes Things Better Than Before, and might give some of these bozos some good ideas. Doing it in Minneapolis means Al Franken might help keep them not only on-course but amused.

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