Redstate

...he's a minority Republican running in a deep-blue State. I am a MD Republican, and I forgive him for this. :)

I'll also note that Cardin is humorless and not very interesting - I'm allowed; the man's my Representative, alas - so we'll see how this goes down.

Moe

The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC.

Considering that up here in Michigan, in a nominally blue state, Debbie Stabenow doesn't identify herself as "Democrat for Senator" or whatever, this whole HE DIDN'T SAY WHAT PARTY HE'S IN! is just a cheap, petty canard.

Cardin doesn't even identify himself as a Democrat on his homepage. Heh.

I'm surprised there has been a kossack revolt to make him put Democrat somewhere on the front page. I expect there will be one as soon as a kossack diary covers it.

OTOH, not many Rs care whether Steele puts Republican on his site. As for me, I think Mr. Steele would make an impressive and inspiring Senator. If he ran as an Indy, I'd think the same thing. That's why it doesn't bother me if he never talks about his party. I'd vote for the man himself, not the party (if only I lived in MD).

Social Security Choice - Club For Growth

I would be very happy for it to be in Maryland. Two close races and two good candidates. (Saul, if you are reading this, I would also be happy for it to be in Michigan. I have relatives in both states).

Quentin Langley
Editor of http://www.quentinlangley.net

I know it's a state level election that I am refraining from voting in (there's no difference between Eichelberger and Morris), but I'd like to donate that vote to Steele. He could use it.

And if I can't cross state lines with my vote, then I'd like Irey to have it...

"Always be honest with yourself even if you are honest with no one else...
...It helps you keep track of your lies..."
--Myself

Quentin Langley
Editor of http://www.quentinlangley.net

Democrats seem obsessed with making sure their candidates mention their party. That's all well and good. But Republicans aren't nearly as worried about the label as winning. Nonetheless, Democrats (and the media, especially the WaPo) seem to apply the Democrats concerns to Republicans. It does not bother Republican voters that he doesn't mention his party. It may help him win moderate and independent voters who dislike partisan politics. Cardin seems to be using a strategy that hopes maximize angry Democrat turnout will overcome any gains Steele makes among independents. That's a fine strategy and is probably likely to work. And it does call for Cardin to point out every chance he gets that he's a D.

Steele's strategy does not. He wants to unite Republicans and Independents (and conservative Democrats, especially black ones) in a coalition to win. That means not buying in to the the partisan game. You can criticize him, but don't act like you're doing it on behalf of Republicans. Of course Ds are upset that Steele is winning over the middle, but Rs aren't so worried.

It's not news that a politician purposefully tries to reach voters who dislike both parties. Ds seem obsessed with it this cycle for their candidates, but that doesn't explain why people are applying that obsession to R candidates.

And I'm still waiting for the WaPo article on Nelson (NE) forgetting to include his party in his ads.

Social Security Choice - Club For Growth

Yeah, and I have to deal with Nelson being one of my senators, unfortunately. And the recent polls haven't been encouraging regarding that race. I'm touting Ricketts as much as I can, but the blowhard info that Ben puts out there seems to be resonating more than I would have expected. Hopefully, the people in this state can see past Nelson's election year politics, but unfortunately, I think they've bought into him too much. It was good to see Rove here campaigning for Ricketts, at least. Keep praying and keeping on keeping on in this one!

Republican attorney in a Red State, with, unfortunately, a moderately conservative Democrat and a moderately liberal (in terms of foreign policy) Republican for my Senators.

He has done well at voting R on contentious issues including judges, the war, and abortion. I think Ricketts would make an awesome Senator. And as I wrote in a story about a month ago, I think Chuck Hagel (R-NE) is the most likely place to see a primary challenge in 2008. There are a lot of big NE GOPers who could do it successfully (Osborne, Ricketts, Heinneman, Johanns).

Social Security Choice - Club For Growth

I definitely would agree with that. However, I think it's already a done deal that Hagel has set his sights bigger. I think he's already decided he's running for president. And I'd be surprised if anybody but Johanns takes on that other seat. I tend to think that's why Johanns agreed to go to Washington. And I think Heineman will wait for Nelson's seat to come up again. I really hate it for Pete, because I think he'd be great in any spot. At some point, it wouldn't surprise me to see Maurstad, Johanns first lieutenant governor who has been dutifully serving in Dept of Homeland Security and FEMA out west, and helped set up security for '02 Winter Games, come back and run for state office as well.

Republican attorney in a Red State, with, unfortunately, a moderately conservative Democrat and a moderately liberal (in terms of foreign policy) Republican for my Senators.

Has there been a recent real (non-Red Star) poll on this race? Their polling is about as accurate and trustworthy as the LA Times polling. They make even Zogby look good by comparison.
---
"I am a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more I have of it." -- Thomas Jefferson

And they look bad from an R perspective although not as bad as the discredited polls at the paper.

Here is a good roundup. There is a table of the polls under the graph. Click on an individual poll to take it off the graph. I do this for all Zobgy (internet) polls. You can also take off the MN star polls. It still looks dim for Kennedy.

Social Security Choice - Club For Growth

is toast. He's been down double digits in every single poll for months.

---

This is my sig.
There are many like it.
But this one is mine.

And here we have a textbook example of what they call on the Internet 'trolling' for hostile replies.

Stick to Slashdot.
--
If you're seeing shades of gray, it's because you're not looking close enough to see the black and white dots.

He's rather well known as a kossite who posts here (and IIRC has worked with RedState on freedom of speech issues for blogs at the FTC). He's not hiding his identity at all. He is being provocative, but that is different than trolling.

Social Security Choice - Club For Growth

The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC.

But what you just said IS the classic Internet definition of trolling: being provocative for its own sake.

He's not dishonest, but that comment was as trolly as they come.
--
If you're seeing shades of gray, it's because you're not looking close enough to see the black and white dots.

. . . I'd have left off the smiley face, and advocated something silly, like "conservatives need to abandon this race and focus on giving Rick Santorum more money."

I knew there was a reason we kept you around... ;)

I don't discuss policy views here or my own beliefs -- but process and electoral politics, sure, and I try to be respectful.

In answer to the general gripe above -- yes, I get annoyed when Dems refused to stand behind the party in their ads in all but the reddest states. The guy who's challenging in Idaho? He can omit the party label. Otherwise, Dems do need to rebuild the brand name.

I understand that and it's great that Ds feel that way about their candidates. I, however, find it humorous that they seem to apply that standard to Republican candidates when we don't really care that much. And that doesn't really bug me as much as it amuses me when it comes from bloggers. But watching the WaPo write whole articles on the thesis "Steele hides party label" or "Steele misleads voters by having Democratic supporters" is frustrating. Steele highlights his support in Democratic communities and a kossite lead charge that it shows he is "trying to look like a Democrat" somehow makes it into a MSM article.

Steele is trying to look like he is above partisan politics, which is much different than looking like he is a Democrat. I applaud his efforts. I'd love to see more people appealing to the center from both parties. Hopefully a few successes (Kean, McGavick, Steele, Chafee, Nelson (NE), and Ford) will lead others to reach out to the middle more. Of course if Menendez, Cardin, Laffey/Whitehouse, and others win it will reinforce the bitter partisan setup that turns off the exact voters that Steele is trying to reach.

Social Security Choice - Club For Growth

1. Is "he's hiding his party" a fair critique? Sure. Dems want to do it to Republicans in states where the President is unpopular. As to when we do it to our own, it's where we believe that our challengers are being chicken-bleep, and where we want to rebuild the party's image (Democrat=Change=Good) and they're not helping. And it's at the core of Markos' argument -- voters respect confidence, and respect principled beliefs, and being wishy-washy doesn't work anymore.

2. It's a heck of a thing to root for centrism when conservatism itself isn't looking quite so appealing to the electorate. But 2004 demonstrated that you don't have to appeal to the center to win -- the President certainly didn't (at least not like he tried in 2000), and if you have strong beliefs, I don't know what, exactly, is appealing about centrism.

3. For what it's worth, I don't think the Dems win back the Senate this year, and it's because of NJ. I can see them winning PA-OH-MT-RI, probably TN and maybe VA or MO to make six, but Corzine's coronation of Menendez over, say, Codey may prove costly.

Should we be asking Elliot Spitzer the same thing? During his primary he never mentioned what party he belonged to. Was he ashamed?

My criticizing Spitzer's reelection campaign is worth as much effort as your going after Olympia Snowe. For what it's worth, those Spitzer ads are some of the most intriguing this cycle.

I'm not cheering for "centrism." I like to see politicians try to win over the center. I would love to see another Reagan. He united the conservatives and the center with a vision that was unarguably from the right. I want to see politicians winning people over rather than scaring them away. I think Michael Steele is the perfect example of someone who is reaching out and talking to people who have been ignored or taken for granted. I want to encourage that.

As for the Senate make-up, our prognostications are similar. Although I think Ds have a better chance in MO than TN.

Social Security Choice - Club For Growth