2008 House

Some Democrats may be just now waking up to the fact that there is huge frustration over high energy prices and they see danger in allowing too much time without addressing this issue. Specifically, Harry Reid and Dick Durbin:

"I'm open to drilling and responsible production," Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin told The Wall Street Journal, adding that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid could also support the move.

However, Durbin said his support for opening new areas to drilling was contingent on setting requirements that oil and gas companies begin production within a specified time frame on acreage they have leased from the government.

Steny Hoyer in the house is trying as well:

Following weeks of bashing by Republicans who criticize Democrats for opposing an expansion of offshore oil drilling and opening part of an Alaskan wildlife reserve to production, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer tried to put Democrats squarely on the side of more domestic oil production.

Speaking to reporters, Hoyer said, "Let's be clear: Democrats support increasing the domestic production of petroleum and other energy resources."

...

Democratic leaders also hammered away at the U.S. oil industry, saying it is doing little with the leases it already holds to drill on 68 million acres in the lower 48 states. Under the Democratic bill, such lease holders would have to "use it or lose it," Hoyer said.

I don't know, the oil industry has been laughing off the use it or lose it line, saying if there was oil on those properties, they'd be drilling like there is no tomorrow. So it sounds to me as if the Steny Hoyer is all in favor of drilling where there's no oil and not drilling where the oil is. (ANWR, Oil Shale, and offshore). They may be able to hang on with rhetorical flourishes like this, but it's clear that the Republicans think they've found an issue they will ride to November on.

And as the weather gets colder and the first fillups for fuel oil tanks happen in the northern states, the GOP could well be right. The Democrats are at least now signalling that they recognize this as an issue, but they'd rather not give any ground just yet and have to choose between the environment and keeping their seats.

UPDATE

Put Jim Webb in the category of Drilling Dems.

It often seems there are few things agreed on when it comes to politics. But this year - whether it be the historical support Barack Obama has received on the campaign trail, the distance John McCain is trying to put between himself and President Bush on many issues to convince us a vote for him is not a vote for "more of the same," or the ousting of many congressional incumbent Republicans around the country - I think we can all agree that "CHANGE" is a good a theme as any in this year's elections.

So if any of you Democratic or Republican convention planners need a good theme song this year, I've got one for you: "It's Your Life" by 23-year-old Francesca Battistelli.

Battistelli, a Native New Yorker who now lives in Nashville, is like a breath of fresh air amid a political process becoming more filled with rancor every day. "It's Your Life" was influenced, in part, by the importance of this year's election and the need for everyone to get up and get involved in changing their own lives and the state of our country. She has a debut performance in New York City Tuesday, July 8. Details after the jump.

Here's what Battistelli tells Political Machine:

"Voting is so important, and it distinguishes our country from others in the world where so many people don't have a voice. It's a way to be heard and contribute to creating a better future on a local and national level.

The outlook must be bleak for the GOP if that's what they're wishing for in November. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on CNN:

Rick Moran is glum about GOP chances to flip the house back.

But then came the scramble for the exits among House Republicans and that vision proved to be nothing but a mirage. Like a bunch of theatergoers leaving at the end of the second act of a really bad show, a parade of GOP Congressmen appeared before the cameras, and one by one over the ensuing months announced their retirement. The list grew to include 22 members - many of them long-serving Congressmen who found themselves facing a well funded, and enthusiastic Democratic challenger for the first time in many years.

...

The math is frightening. With 28 seats up for grabs in 2008 on top of the 18 seat majority currently held by Democrats, there is a very good chance that Democrats, for all practical purposes, could win enough seats this year that the GOP would be a minority party for the next decade - and perhaps beyond. When 98% of incumbents in the House are victorious and redistricting looms in 2012, the chances of Republicans overcoming a 40 or 50-seat Democratic majority in the next couple of election cycles are slim.

This is correct, but it shouldn't have surprised anyway. The only thing that bothers me about this post is the lack of a sense of history even 12 years ago. The same thing happened post 1994 when it was the GOP in the catbird seat. There were many Democrats that retired, and a few that became Republicans (Ben Nighthorse Campbell was one of the higher profile examples). Which of course sank the Democrat chances of retaking the house for what turned out to be 12 years in the wilderness.

Many of the GOP retirees, among them Deb Pryce in Ohio, stuck out longer than they planned to as a favor to the party to keep control. Once control was no longer an issue what was the point. The GOP will not get control back this cycle, but this wave of retirements is overall a good thing for the GOP (and any political party). Fresh blood, new ideas, new faces will ultimately lead to less time in the wilderness.

Another Republican has been ousted from Capitol Hill - although it doesn't appear this one got spanked for the same (anti-Bush, anti-Iraq war) reasons other GOP lawmakers around the country have this year. He's the third House incumbent to lose a primary this year.

U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon, a conservative lawmaker from Utah, lost his bid for a seventh term yesterday in primary because, essentially, he doesn't appear to be conservative enough for the state's 3rd District. He was beaten by newbie politico Jason Chaffetz, a former Brigham Young University football player who served as chief of staff for popular Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman. Cannon received 40% of the vote, while his opponent won 60%.

"We rocked the vote here in Utah and we rocked the Republican Party," Chaffetz told about 175 supporters gathered to celebrate the victory, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. "I think we've been given a mandate to return the Republican Party to its core conservative principles."

Even though Cannon is considered a strong conservative, Chaffetz blasted him on spending, energy, and immigration, in particular. AP notes that in 2003, Cannon sponsored a bill that would have allowed states to charge in-state tuition for children of illegal immigrants, and that instead of favoring tossing all illegal workers out of the country, he supported a guest-worker program.

Now that Vito Fossella will be out of the U.S. House come November, the Democrats are hoping to put one of their own in a seat that has been owned by a Republican for the last 28 years.

Fossella, who has served voters in the 13th congressional district of Staten Island and Brooklyn for over 10 years, announced he wouldn't seek re-election in November after he was arrested on drunken-driving charges in Virginia in May, and admitted that he had fathered a daughter, now 3, in an extramarital affair. Before his little announcement, he had been mentioned as a possible mayoral candidate in 2009.

The New York Times reports today that competition for Fossella's seat - the only Republican one in the entire New York delegation - will be fierce. Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, visited New York last week and endorsed City Councilman Michael E. McMahon; 12 NYC House members did the same. "We will do whatever is necessary to win this campaign," Van Hollen said.

Francis H. Powers, a deep-pocketed, retired Wall Street executive who was endorsed by the Staten Island Republican organization, will also open offices in the district. The politically untested candidate said he and the GOP would "spend whatever it takes for me to get myself elected." CongressionalQuarterly notes that Powers has been involved in GOP circles and is a former finance director for Fossella's House campaign committee. He previously served on the Metropolitan Transit Authority board but often gets a lot of grief from city residents over the mass transit system's performance and fares.

Earlier I told you about certain Democratic members of Congress who are staying as far away from Barack Obama as possible this election season. Well on the other side of the aisle there are a number of Republicans who won't be getting behind John McCain's candidacy. They've been dubbed the "new gang of 14," a reference to the group of lawmakers, including McCain, who broke with conservatives on President Bush's judicial nominations. Not surprisingly, most of them lean sharply right and aren't thrilled with McCain's stances on issues like campaign finance reform, immigration, taxes, etc. One man's maverick is another man's liberal. The Hill has a partial list:

Republican members who have not endorsed or publicly backed McCain include Sens. Chuck Hagel (Neb.) and Jeff Sessions (Ala.) and Reps. Jones, Peterson, John Doolittle (Calif.), Randy Forbes (Va.), Wayne Gilchrest (Md.), Virgil Goode (Va.), Tim Murphy (Pa.), Ron Paul (Texas), Ted Poe (Texas), Todd Tiahrt (Kan.), Dave Weldon (Fla.) and Frank Wolf (Va.). [Wolf contacted The Hill following publication of the article to correct his staff's error. His staff had said he has "yet to endorse McCain" and did not return follow-up phone calls this week].

Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado went as far as to say publicly, "I don't like McCain. I don't like him at all." But most of them make sure to underline the distinction between endorsing and supporting, saying while they won't take to the streets for McCain they do want a Republican in the White House, even if it's the wrong one.

There are a number of incumbent Democrats in Congress who aren't caught up in the throes of Obamamania. That's because their own re-election hopes may hinge on how much they're able to distance themselves from the presumptive Dem nominee:

Some are counting on Republican votes in their re-election bids. Some are newly minted and in rematches with 2006 opponents. Some may be wary of how their constituents will react to a black presidential candidate. Some, too, have made it a practice of distancing themselves from the national party, fearing the inevitable campaign ad that has their face morphing into Howard Dean, the party chairman, and Obama.

Rep. Dan Boren, the only congressional Democrat in Oklahoma, calls Obama "the most liberal senator" in Congress and says he has no plans to make a public endorsement.

"We're much more conservative" in eastern Oklahoma, Boren said. "I've got to reflect my district."

Boren's among about a dozen other lawmakers who won't be endorsing Senator Obama. But none of them are likely to back John McCain either. Most are in vulnerable seats in conservative districts and they've decided their best bet campaign tactic is to just lay low and not endorse any presidential candidate. As Georgia Rep. Jim Marshall puts it: "I don't think I need to get involved."

Rep. Paul Kanjorski is, as the Times-Tribune puts it, "getting a first-hand lesson in the hazards of the digital age." The Pennsylvania Democrat was approached by a blogger with a camera and asked to account for recent comments he made about the war in Iraq. Kanjorski is obviously flustered and when his temper runs out he's seen shoving the camera out of the way.

Kanjorski now finds himself for the second time in a month where no politician up for re-election wants to be: on the wrong side of a YouTube clip. Obviously his rival's camp is positively giddy over the mini-meltdown.


While it does appear the blogger has a point, I can't help but feel sorry for the congressman a little bit. It must be hard to resist the urge to slug an annoying dude shoving a camera in your face. Here's Kanjorski's official reaction to the brouhaha:

"I may have overreacted when this person stuck a camera in my face. But I feel like it was one of those 'gotcha' moments in politics, and my comments were misrepresented," Mr. Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, said in a statement.

Judge for yourself and tell us what you think. Was Kanjorski's reaction just or was he out of line?

Here's something you don't see every day, if ever. Scandal-plagued New York congressman Vito Fossella of Staten Island is stepping aside. The Republican running to replace him is a retired Wall Street exec and longtime GOP fundraiser named Francis H. Powers. And one of two Libertarian candidates gunning for the seat is Mr. Powers' son, Francis M. Powers!

The elder Mr. Powers, the Republican, is saying little about the possibility of running against his son. The younger Mr. Powers, the Libertarian, is far more outspoken.

"I'm not running against my father, I'm running against the Republican and Democratic candidates and any other candidate that comes down the pike," said the younger Mr. Powers, 47, who is known as Fran.

"This is not a personal thing regarding my father," said Fran Powers, a carpenter who also plays mandolin, guitar and keyboards with the band he leads, Box of Crayons. "This is a way for me to forward and highlight the Libertarian Party platform. I'm for a strong defense and noninvasive foreign policy as well as personal freedoms. You know, the Libertarian line."

Should make for an interesting Father's Day at the Powers household.