Here is the next Battleground - Senate Races 2006

[Red State Rebel]

There are 33 Senate seats up for election in 2006. 16 are Republican, 16 are Democrate and 1 Independent

They have weaknesses, we have weaknesses. We need to asses these situations realistically and figure out where we should focus to return control of the Senate to the Democratic party. My biggest concern is we have at least 3 of our top Democratic Senators who are approaching retirement age - Feinstein, Kennedy and Byrd. These are all in pretty safe areas, losing them would be a terrible blow to our side. We need to keep an eye on what is happening with these Senators over the next few years.

We need to be prepared for this fight which means stop focusing on last week and start focusing on 2006! No suprises this time!

If you have any observations on any of these races - you may be more familiar with some than I am - please post them.

Republican:

Bill Frist - TN (will be retiring after his 2nd term - if we can get Harold Ford to run for this seat, we could take it)
Richard Lugar - IN
Trent Lott - MS - Safe unless he decides to retire
Orin Hatch - UT - Save for GOP whether he runs or not.
Kay Bailey Hutchison - Might run for TX Governor
Jim Talent - MO - Could be a weak spot for repubs
Rick Santorum - Probably pretty safe for R
Conrad Burns - MT - Probably pretty safe for R
Lincoln Chaffee - RI - Safe
Mike DeWine - OH - Pretty Safe
George Allen - VA - Pretty Safe
Olympia Snow - ME - Pretty Safe
Jon Kyl - AZ - Safe
John Ensign - NV - Safe
Craig Thomas - WY - Safe

Democrats:
Dianne Feinstein - CA - She will be 73 by election day - will she retire or run for CA Gov?
Ted Kennedy - MA - He will be almost 75 by election day - ?? Still pretty safe D
Robert Byrd - WV - He will be 88 by election day - will he retire? Still leans D even if he does.
Herb Kohl - WI - He is getting older also, but will probably say at it.
Jeff Bingaman - NM - Safe
Mark Dayton - MN - could be weak for us - Rep Kennedy may run against him - need do watch this one.
Bill Nelson - FL - Katherine Harris could run for this spot and it could be a nasty fight.
Debbie Stabenow - MI - Pretty Safe
Hillary Clinton - NY - Could be she doesn't run to prepare for Presidential run in 2008. Probably
pretty safe D even if she does.
Joe Lieberman - CT - Safe
Tom Carper - DE - Safe
Daniel Akaka - HI - Safe
Maria Cantwell - WA - Safe
Jon Corzine - NJ - Safe
Kent Conrad - ND - Safe
Paul Sarbanes - MD - Safe

Jim Jeffords - VT - You KNOW the Repubs are going to try to get revenge!

[livinbella]

1. If there is still BBV we will lose!

We gotta start at the beginning.
Those fucking machines go to go.

[Prodemsouth]

2. Corzine is thinking about running for Governor.

n/t

[Jersey Devil]

5. Are you hearing Menendez too?

He would also turn around the Hudson County Cuban vote to Democrat

[Jersey Devil]

3. In NJ, Corzine will be gov and my bet is Menendez (D) vs Schundler

the former Mayor of Jersey City who was elected as a Repub on a ballot that had something like 6 candidates on it when he got a plurality of votes. JC is extremely Demo. He also ran for gov against McGreevy and may decide to run again for gov against corzine.

[rabid_nerd]

4. SANTORUM IS NOT SAFE - It is definately a LEAN DEM TAKEOVER

are you NUTS?

Pennsylvania Democrats did THEIR job in 2000, in 2002, AND in 2004, we can do it again in 2006.

Spector vs. Hoeffel was not doable, especially with the AFL-CIO stabbing Joe in the back.

Look for former state Treasurer (and Republican) Democrat Barbara Hafer, Treasurer Elect Bob Casey Jr., Governor Rendell as our first tier "easy win" candidates.

Bob Casey in particular would walk to a senate seat in November.

[cali]

6. I don't care if Snowe is safe

or a moderate repubs, Mainers need to work their butts off to get rid of her. Angus King, ex-guv, Independent should run. Same goes for Chafee. Get the repubs out of blue states. No quarter.
I don't think Sanctimonious Sanctorum is all that safe. We need to go after him vigorously and viciously. Corzine probably won't run. We need a strong candidate there. And although the repubs thirst for revenge against Jeffords, they're plumb out of luck. He's enormously popular here. They'll probably try and run businessman Tarrant, the CEO of IDX. He's about the best they have here. He won't win. I don't even think Howard Dean could beat Jim.

[Lugnut]

7. Luzerne, Carbon & Schuylkill Cos

In PA are switching from the one-arm bandit voting machines to electonic systems.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6423664/

The goal is to have these machines installed and ready for voting in time for the 2006 elections. PA might be stuck with creepy Ricky for another term by legitimate voting methods. I'd hate to see him get elected by fraud.

[tandot]

8. We should start digging up the dirt on them and also donate $ to Dems

I am in CA but would give some money to Democrats in other states who need help to beat their Republican opponents.

[coloradodem2005]

9. Get Santorum

Expose him for the wretch that he is. When Spector was talking about Tomey, he said that Tomey makes Santorum look like a liberal. Spector does not respect Santorum. That is what I got out of it. I want the man on dog out.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

10. We must challenge EVERY Rethug. Snow and Chaffee better get...

to our side or they will be taken out of the Senate. We need their seats. Maine is Blue and it should have a Blue Senator!!!

[Red State Rebel]

11. What frightens me most...

So many people here are still so obsessed with the Presidential election that they are still being defensive about something that we can't win instead of taking the offense on the things we can do.