Do you feel confident about your 06 Senate race?

[usregimechange]

Please don't vote if you don't have a race in your state. How do you feel about your chances from polls, etc?

[usregimechange]

1. In MO, if McCaskill runs it will be very close, if she doesn't not good

Her web-site:
http://www.claireonline.com/

[nickinSTL]

38. I agree...I hope she runs

Talent is beatable, with a decent Dem, and I think McCaskill could do it.

If we get stuck with some no-name...we could still win, if they've got the ability to compete financially and are able to come across well, but I think McCaskill would be a strong candidate.

[Catch22Dem]

2. I can tell you it won't happen in OK next year

Inhofe will win again.

[swag]

3. Not about my state, but I'm feeling better about Montana all the time

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1686731

This is a strong pick-up opportunity.

[CatholicEdHead]

4. Feel good that Klobochar or Wetterling can beat Mark Kennedy

for Dayton's soon to be old spot.

[usregimechange]

5. I thought Dayton was running again? ??? What up?

[HockeyMom]

6. Hillary will win

No Contest.

[tomg]

14. Hillary will win in a walk, but

I could only put good, because I'm getting pretty ticked at her move to the center.

[ChiciB1]

7. Bill Nelson Against Katherine "Cruella" Harris!

Nelson is so DINO, I dare say she won't be a match. And I think Rover has cut her loose.

Not that I'm thrilled with Nelson in any way either. But the lesser of two evils... I'm saying it's going Democrat! And the witch will finally learn what it means to be "mmmeeeelllltttinnng"!

But then, I never thought she could have taken the race away from Jan Schneider either. Of course, that was 2004 and I think she's played her game and they've taken the ball away from her. I don't think she actually "won" last time out, BUT, well this IS Florida!

There was yet another article that was critical of her in our local paper on Sunday! I posted it early, she was complaining that too many people are jumping on her about her make-up! Having seen her in person, she ain't no beauty like she thinks she is! AND SHE DOES WEAR BLUE EYE SHADOW!!!

[wakeme2008]

8. If Harris runs against Nelson

Nelson will win. Harris has too many negatives and Repug lite Nelson works both sides of the axle.

[ChiciB1]

13. He SURE Does,,,

Sidled up to Martinez a few days after the election!! YUK!!

Where are our Lawtons and Grahams?? Sure they weren't burning Liberals, but at least you knew they were on the Democrats side!

[LittleClarkie]

9. Herb Kohl is there for as long as he wants to be

Sorta like Sensenbrenner, unfortunately.

[AntiCoup2K4]

10. I'm reasonably sure Cantwell will be re-elected

Though I'm not at all sure she deserves to be.

[baron j]

26. My thoughts exactly!

She is a corporate sell-out.

[progressive_realist]

28. Yeah. She doesn't exactly fire up the base.

Not too popular among the progressives here. I'd replace her with a Patty Murray clone in a heartbeat if that were possible. But she'll do, I guess. I don't think it would be wise to challenge her in the primary because that might leave an opening for the snake-oil salesman Dino Rossi to slip into office.

[VADem11]

11. Allen

will most likely win though he could face a good challenge.

[starroute]

12. Pennsylvania -- and Santorum is so toast

Gives me the warm fuzzies just thinking about it. :-)

[terrya]

31. This is the race that I really want us to win.

I want us to take control of the Senate, of course.

But I especially am hopeful for this one. I sincerely hope that the good people of your state throws the trash out on November 2nd, 2006. :-)

[ArtVandaley]

15. Live in Ohio. I'll feel good if . . .

somebody decides to frikkin challenge DeWine!!!

Sherodd Brown, get off your ass and get in the race. DeWine is very vulnerable, all Ohio republicans are now. Be part of the solution.

[usregimechange]

17. Hackett?

[ArtVandaley]

22. I think he should take another stab at the House

Then possibly run for Senate in 2010, when Voinavich's term ends. He's still young, and running a statewide race could be a lot for him to handle. But I would happily support him if he ran.

[OzarkDem]

42. Sherrod's great

but I worry that we would end up losing his House seat to the R's if he won the senate seat. He's done a great job of taking care of his district, but it could easily be won by a Repub.

[Catchawave]

16. This poll should be 100% GREAT...com'on....

...get to work...Here ya go:

http://www.gwu.edu/%7Eaction/2008/2006races.html

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

18. Time for Kyl's connections to DeLay , admin

to help bring an end to his Senate career.

Not counting on it.

[mconvente]

19. NJ looks pretty good in 06.

We'll support Corzine definitely for governor and Pallone should be good for senate in 2006.

[newswolf56]

20. Not good. The GOPorkers have specifically targeted...

Maria Cantwell for elimination -- she is by far the brightest and best of our two Senators -- and it will be an infinitely vicious, unprecedentedly nasty campaign. Had Cantwell not voted for CAFTA and thereby demonstrated her abject servitude to the oligarchy, I believe she would have been a shoe-in, but tens of thousands of enraged Labor Democrats and other Washingtonian Leftists will now abandon her: a few will vote for third-party candidates, most won't bother to vote at all. Once more, the Democrats manifest their suicide syndrome: the party killing itself by again energizing the same judgment that beat Gore and Kerry: "the only significant difference between the Democrats and the Republicans is that the Republicans are less likely to take my guns." (Rossi's near-win in the 2004 gubernatorial election -- this in vivid contrast to easy Democratic victories in nearly all other Washington races -- was entirely due to pro-gun Democrats voting to protect their rights of firearms ownership and self-defense against Gregoire's perceived anti-gun radicalism.)

It would be wonderful if the party put up a genuine Dean/Edwards Leftist in the 2006 primary -- I think she would win, especially given the women's vote. But the pseudo-Leftists from Seattle -- ever the obedient servants of the oligarchy -- will never allow it, preferring as always style over substance. And, alas, I doubt even the women's vote will make up the difference for Cantwell: abortion rights hardly matter when you've been unemployed so long you can no longer afford to pay a doctor, much less buy the overpriced gas you need to get to the polls. Especially when the Democrat you'd normally vote for has already betrayed you by endorsing outsourcing, downsizing and union-busting. Hence the huge stay-home, none-of-the-above vote, which the GOPorkers believe will hand the election to a closet Christofascist, one carefully chosen (of course) to appear as a moderate.

[usregimechange]

21. Interesting... The others from your state were more confident.

[newswolf56]

23. I've covered one aspect or another of Washington state politics...

across more than four decades and believe my assessment is accurate -- at least based on what is known at this point in the process. A new Democratic senatorial candidate -- a genuine Leftist who is not a bought-and-paid-for lackey of the plutocrats (and there are several such Democrats in state and local governance) -- would radically alter the entire political equation.

The electorate here is not so much unpredictable as genuinely independent -- and often instinctively libertarian/Leftist. For example, the defeat of Slade Gorton by Cantwell in 2000 was more a negative reaction to the GOP's takeover by the Christofascists (as manifest in the Ellen Craswell and Linda Smith candidacies) than either a repudiation of Gorton's policies (he was one of the last of the truly moderate Republicans) or an endorsement of Cantwell's proposals. Washington state voters will also radically withhold their votes if they think they are being conned. Remember what Harry Truman's postmaster general used to say: "the 47 states and the Soviet of Washington."

[progressive_realist]

29. I'm not so negative about her chances.

I agree with everything you said, except the part about Democrats withholding their votes. That may be true for some party activists, because she definitely isn't a progressive. But for most voters, I think she is a cipher. She hasn't made much of a splash about anything during her term. It will be difficult for the Republicans to find a good angle to attack her from, especially if they are running a "moderate" like Rossi or Dunn.

Unless, of course, Cantwell does something really stupid like taking a public anti-gun stance. Then all bets are off.

I'm curious, though. Who else do you have in mind, more progressive but still electable? A couple names ran through my head, but no one who would be likely to run.

[newswolf56]

41. One name that immediately comes to mind is Ron Sims, who had...

genuinely fierce organized labor support in the '04 gubernatorial primary. He is also one of the very few Washington politicians who truly grasps the dire need for mass transport -- specifically rapid transit: transit that's powered by electricity and runs on rails.

(Sims' gubernatorial demand for desperately needed tax reform foundered on Washingtonians' ultimate {and very rational} skepticism about their own politicians -- that if a state income tax were enacted, the politicians would break any promises to lower or abolish other, more regressive taxes -- with the result the taxpayers would end up shelling out twice as much money: an especially dire prospect in a state already viciously oppressed by constant economic insecurity.)

Sims ran for the Senate once before, this in 1994. He lost to Slade Gorton by 11.5 percent (947,821 to 752,352), but Sims was considered never more than a sacrificial candidate -- a Democratic placeholder in the race against a then-hugely popular (moderate) Republican incumbent.

[Ladyhawk]

24. Feinstein is a DINO.

I wish someone would oust her.

[NuttyFluffers]

35. i'm open to options if the party offers one up.

i'm rather tired of her and willing to cash her in for something better.

[mvd]

25. I feel great

I think Casey Jr. will win by double digits. He has a lot of Santorum sound bites to go on already. Casey Jr. isn't my ideal candidate, but I'll be behind him fully in his quest to unseat Santorum.

[last_texas_dem]

27. Nah

For whatever reason, they seem to love ol' Kay Bailey in TX. If she had opted out of the Senate race and decided to challenge Goodhair for Governor, I'd think the Dems might have a shot. But, at least for now and for several years to come, TX is just too red to be helped. The last time we had an open Senate seat ('02) we lost by double digits even with a much better candidate (Dem Ron Kirk vs. Cornyn).

This just doesn't look like the year for the Dems to win a TX Senate seat. We may have a longshot chance at taking the Governorship, mainly due to the immense amount that Rick Perry sucks, and I think we may have a shot at knocking off Cornyn in '08, considering he currently has the lowest approval rating of any Senator.

[NoPasaran]

32. Agree

KBH would have to eat a baby panda on live TV to make it a close race.

[kid a]

30. nope

[ticapnews]

33. Not a chance...

Looking at the resume of the lone candidate who has announced against Olympia Snowe I realize that she is only slightly more qualified than I am (and no, I am not qualified :P) It's like The West Wing episode where Sam realizes Democrats are running A) a guy who has had four heart attacks B) a guy who lost a race for city council and C) a guy who paid his filing fee by emptying his piggy bank. Our candidate lost in the primaries for Congress and Governor and then lost a state Senate election five years ago. Her claim to fame is that she was an aide to Congressman Tom Andrews for five minutes 12 years ago. She has also been the head of the Democratic Party in the thriving metropolis of Dixmont for three years.

No other Democrats have gotten into the race, and none seem all that eager to. Any serious candidates are going to wait to challenge Susan Collins in 2008 (although she pledged when she was elected to only serve two terms; she already has made plans to break that pledge)

Rather than focus on the US Senate, we're going to have to pour all of our energy into re-electing the governor and sustaining our majorities in the Legislature.

[Donna Zen]

36. Sitting here looking for Jean's card:

Yes, you are correct, Snowe's a shoe-in. It is too bad really because Snowe actually does "vote trade" with the DINOs to save her butt. It certainly would be a hoot to turn one of Maine's Organic Farmers loose on Washington.

Jean told me that she needs to raise about 1.5 million.

Collins needed to be taken out by Pingree in 2002. Pingree is exactly what the people in Maine "say they want" they just don't pay much attention.

Tom Allen should be in the Senate!

My representative, Michaud, should have a pretty easy race this time. I spoke with him the other day. We agreed that holding the state house is going to be beyond tough. Even the teachers don't want to vote for Baldacci.

[Clark2008]

34. It depends on who the Republicans put up.

If they put up Van Hilleary, which I'm hoping for, then we have a good chance in Tennessee. Hilleary is a fundie nut who could easily be beaten after Schiavo and the threat of the overturn of Roe v. Wade.

However, if, for some reason, the fundies don't come out in force in the primaries and they put up Bob Corker, then I fear Harold Ford won't have a chance. Corker's pretty moderate.

But, I'd be OK with Corker. He's pro-choice, at least.

[election_2004]

43. What about Kurita vs. Corker?

I've heard that some progressives prefer Rosalind Kurita over Harold Ford.

[cyn2]

37. Here in Maine it's Olympia Snowe...

and she has lots of support. She's been a good senator. Not sure who the Dem. candidate will be.

[Le Taz Hot]

39. Horrible

because it's Feinstein and she's a shoe-in. At 72 I thought for sure she wouldn't run again but there is a war on and therefore huge profits to be made. :grr:

[Liberal Ohioan]

40. Anyone but DeWine

[ZombieNixon]

44. NM-Bingaman's a shoe-in

I don't even know who the Repub candidate might be. Statewide Republican organization in this state is crap, while the Dems have the Richardson machine.

[paineinthearse]

45. Great - Ted Kennedy vs who cares?

Shoe-in for re-election.