2008 Governor

When all else fails, hire someone to take out a kneecap. From Jake Tapper:

l just spoke with a Democratic Party official, who asked for anonymity so as to speak candidly, who said we in the media are all missing the point of this Democratic fight.

The delegate math is difficult for Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, the official said. But it's not a question of CAN she achieve it. Of course she can, the official said.

...

She will have to "break his back," the official said. She will have to destroy Obama, make Obama completely unacceptable.

I have my doubts. Oh, no doubts about Hillary's willingness to be a Tonya Harding, or her willingness to send out Bill or anyone else to play Jeff Gilooly. No, my doubts center more around if she can destroy Obama. If she had a dealbreaker for Barack, it would have been deployed by now.

The time to do so would have been super Tuesday or sooner. As much as I'm enjoying the thought, I think Obama's too strong and even slimy dirty attacks will reach a point of diminishing returns for Hillary. She can bring him down, but she won't be able to push herself up.

Check out the accompanying "article," if you aren't too tired of reading about politics to bother.

It wasn't at all surprising to me that there is a sophisticated volunteer organization dedicated to drafting Al Gore for the Democratic presidential nomination. And it is sophisticated, according to the website: they have 2354 volunteers and 271 groups. And with the continuing reluctance to whole heartedly embrace Hillary Clinton and much dissatisfaction over alternatives Edwards, Obama, Richardson and the rest. Al Gore is the only one who could turn this race upside down.

Since his election as Montana's Governor in 2004, Brian Schweitzer has been a poster boy for the Western Democratic movement -- supposedly a new breed of Democrats, more comfortable in Wranglers and Carhartt jackets than three piece suits. For a while, it looked like Schweitzer's popularity in his home state, combined with his significant fundraising prowess, had scared away all would-be challengers. But these past weeks have seen the emergence of a potentially strong candidate: State Senator Roy Brown of Billings.

Whoa, folks. This is a political blog. And it is Election Day in a few states. Dave already talked about three races to watch. But he missed a few key ones -- especially ones that will determine strategies for 2008. In Virginia, Kentucky, Oregon, and a handful of other places, statewide races, legislative fights, and ballot measures will tell us a ton about how the parties plan to duke it out in 2008.

First stop Virginia. Look out Republicans, this state has been trending bluer and bluer lately. That explains why local Republicans are looking to the hot issue of immigration as an election firewall. If the strategy works, expect to see it go even more national next year. If it doesn't, it is back to the drawing board for the GOP.

Next stop: Kentucky.

Ohio Congressional District 15 is parts of Columbus proper and the suburbs surrounding. It was engineered in 2000 to be a safe Republican district but population shifts in the years since have altered the demographics so that it's more friendly to Democrats. In 2006 veteran congresswoman Deb Pryce barely, and I mean by the skin of her teeth, beat back a challenge to Mary Jo Kilroy.

For years, it has seemed likely that the upcoming Washington Governor's race, a rematch between Governor Christine Gregoire and her 2004 opponent Dino Rossi, would be a blowout race. Consider the evidence: Gregoire's victory took something like 3 counts and when all was said and done, she won by 179 votes; Rossi effectively positioned himself as the wronged moderate in a ticket-splitting state -- think a Gore rerun in 2004 if 9/11 had never happened; and Rossi has been raising and campaigning through "Forward Washington" a front-group he set up to keep his name in the papers (Forward WA is not related to 'Forward Montana' -- the non-profit I work for, which is not a Dino Rossi front group).

To boot, Gregoire's approval is barely above 50% -- so shouldn't she be nervous?

The Associated Press is reporting that GOP Congressman Bobby Jindal won Saturday's election for Governor of Louisiana. Jindal, who beat 11 other contenders, becomes the first non-white governor since Reconstruction.