Texas, Maine fall off DSCC's pick-up list

[brooklynite]

Source: Politico

Seven months ago, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee rolled out a list of six states it saw as potential pick-up opportunities in 2012.

But during a morning roundtable with reporters Thursday at the Third Way, the executive director of the DSCC notably dropped two of those states from the list.

...snip...

The Democrats have yet to attract a top tier candidate against Sen. Olympia Snowe, who they had hoped would face a insurgent primary challenge.

And their highly touted recruit in Texas, former NATO commander Ricardo Sanchez, hasn't gained much media or financial traction since his announcement in May. During the last fundraising quarter, he raised just $83,000, compared to the $2.6 million that frontrunning Republican David Dewhurst reported.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/blogs/davidcatanese/

---

I spoke at length with Gen. Sanchez about his campaign this summer and had high hopes, but it sounds as if both he and the TX Democratic Party have problems to deal with.

[LiberalFighter]

1. Why do they have Third Wave involved?

They don't represent the best interests of the Democratic Party.

[brooklynite]

2. If you can get an progressive elected state-wide in Texas...

...be my guest. Otherwise, a not-insignificant portion of Democratic voters are more moderate than you are.

[dtexdem]

8. A majority of the American people are to the left of Third Slave.

Texas is a toughie; but I want nothing to do with anything out of that bunch.

[CrackersMcGee]

15. "An idealist believes the short run doesn't count. A cynic believes the long run doesn't matter.

A realist believes that what is done or left undone in the short run determines the long run.”
~ Sydney J. Harris

[No Elephants]

18. By that standard, I am a realist. (And therefore, I like that standard, LOL)

[No Elephants]

19. The key is get good sound bites, stick to issues and avoid labels.

The word "liberal" is death, thanks to both Parties. But more people polled will choose liberal alternatives if you leave off the label. And the sound bites are to make sure the Rethugs don't convince anyone that Social Security means you are an un-American communist.

BTW, one of the problems liberals have being elected is that the Party itself doesn't back them unless they are already incumbents.

And then, there are those voting machines.

[No Elephants]

20. The key is get good sound bites, stick to issues and avoid labels.

The word "liberal" is death, thanks to both Parties. But more people polled will choose liberal alternatives if you leave off the label. And the sound bites are to make sure the Rethugs don't convince anyone that Social Security means you are an un-American communist.

BTW, one of the problems liberals have being elected is that the Party itself doesn't back them unless they are already incumbents.

And then, there are those voting machines.

[The Philosopher]

3. So...

They chose a candidate for us and then turned their back?

[UTUSN]

4. Yeah, somehow they thought Abu Ghraib was a big vote draw n/t

[No Elephants]

25. Or thought a Hispanic military male would be a good choice for Texas.

IMO, Dems should go back to ideas that help working peopleand stop focusing so much on identity politics.

Hey, I can dream.

[brooklynite]

5. Did you have an alternative?

I get calls from lots of prospective candidates. Haven't heard from anyone up in Maine.

[pscot]

6. Remember, this is from Politico

They aren't an unbiased reporter. They have a dog in this fight.

[Zorra]

7. Why was the executive director of DSSC meeting with the Third Way party?

They are the main third party that is a threat to us in 2012.

They slaughtered us in 2010.

[SteveM]

9. Does 3rd Waive occupy same offices as No Labels?...

In the auto parts trade, "no labels" would mean "white box;" i.e., parts shipped in a white box with only a tracking number; low grade stuff from an unknown source, short life-span.

[Doremus]

16. 3rd Wave occupies the same office as the RNC n /t

[SteveM]

30. saves rent money.

[No Elephants]

21. Rahm headed the committee that chose a ton of candidates for the House for the 2006 election.

And somewhere along the line, Schumer became god knows what.

[Gman]

10. The myriad of problems with the Tx Democratic Party has to be fixed

before anything positive is going to happen. I don't see that for at least the next 4 - 6 years at the very earliest.

[Yupster]

11. Realistically I see Massachusetts

as an almost certain pickup.

Nevada should be at least 50-50.

Other than that, I can't really see a win unless the presidential race turns into a landslide.

On the other side it's tough. Dems are defending 23 seats versus 10 for Repubs.

Montana may already be a lost cause. Nebraska probably is too whether Nelson runs or not.

Virginia and Missouri both probably 50-50. Is Wisconsin safe now?

Looks like a 1-2 seat loss assuming a close race at the top.

[No Elephants]

22. FWIW, I don't think unseating Brown will be a cake walk.

I live in Boston.

[mainer]

12. Olympia Snowe is unbeatable in Maine

Because she is a moderate, and Maine is a moderate state.

There are far worse Republicans in the Senate. Plus, Maine has two Democratic House members.

[Jim Lane]

17. It's worth putting up a strong Dem in case Snowe gets Tea Partied in the primary. (n/t)

[No Elephants]

23. That begs the question of why a moderate Democrat could not beat her then.

Moderate Republicans are not the be all and end all of "moderate."

If you want to say that she is unbeatable because Maine is a moderate Republican state and she is a modern Republican, that would be different.

[Gormy Cuss]

26. Name the moderate Democrat.

I think that's the problem -- there isn't one throwing her/his hat into the ring against Snowe. BTW, Maine is a moderate state, not a moderate Republican state. Moderate Democrats get elected all the time.
There'd be one in the governor's chair now if it weren't for the three-way race between two moderate and a tea bagger. LePage won with less than 40% of the votes.

[bahrbearian]

13. Where is Howard Dean when you need him?

[Exultant Democracy]

14. Words out of my mouth. It seems to me that if you were playing to win you would have Dean in

now if you aim isn't to win then not having Dean at the helm makes sense. Then you just have to wonder why they don't want to win big.

[brooklynite]

27. You DO understand that the DNC Chair has no role in Senate and House races...

...and especially not in Candidate selection?

[Exultant Democracy]

28. Wow you couldn't be more wrong. Dean's 50 state campaign gets 100% credit for 2006

and the huge wins we made that year in the house and the Senate. The chairman of the party sets the tone. Rahm who was running the DCCC tried to shut the 50 state program down but Dean went ahead with it anyway. I was there in 2006 organizing volunteers in 5 swing states and countless swing districts and I know exactly how huge a role Dean had in the Senate and House races.

[No Elephants]

24. I don't think the Howard Dean of 2011 is the Howard Dean of 2004 or 2006..

[bahrbearian]

29. What about in 2008, he headed the DNC and ran a 50 state strategy