Missy and I just got home from a fun evening with our friends Maureen and Mike. We were at a driving range called TopGolf, the most high-tech golf experience you could possibly imagine. Each player’s golf balls have microchips embedded in them, allowing a computer at each station to track the distance and accuracy of every shot. I’ve never experienced anything like it before. And the best part is they serve beer! I can’t wait to go back.
John Hawkins at Right Wing News says that “when Lincoln Chafee contacted me and offered to buy Right Wing News so he would have a built in audience for his new blog, I took it very seriously. Then, when I heard how much he was offering, well, all I can say is, you would have taken the money, too.” Let’s hope this is one really awful April Fools’ Day joke.
Karl Rove and his Republican cohorts have Rep. Henry Waxman (D.-Calif.) to thank for sharing with the world the GOP’s 2008 election playbook. Waxman’s crusade against General Services Administrator Lurita Doan has shifted focus to the role of Rove and deputy Scott Jennings, who gave a presentation about Democrat targets and vulnerable Republicans to GSA employees.
Waxman has posted the 28-page presentation on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee website — revealing the GOP’s early outlook on House, Senate and gubernatorial races. The Politico’s David Mark and Josh Kraushaar wrote about it yesterday, and I’ve compiled several tables below.
HOUSE: This first table includes the top 20 House Democrat targets that Republicans are eying for 2008. Most of these Democrats were narrowly elected in 2006 and are seen as vulnerable because they either faced weak Republican opponents or won in districts carried by President Bush (B/C ‘04).
District
Candidate
B/C '04
DEM '06
TX-22
Lampson
64%
52%
FL-16
Mahoney
54%
49%
CA-11
McNerney
54%
53%
OH-18
Space
57%
62%
IN-09
Hill
59%
50%
PA-10
Carney
60%
53%
PA-08
Murphy
48%
50%
KS-02
Boyda
59%
51%
PA-07
Sestak
47%
56%
IN-08
Ellsworth
62%
61%
NC-11
Shuler
57%
54%
TX-23
Rodriguez
57%
54%
WI-08
Kagan
55%
51%
GA-08
Marshall
61%
51%
IN-02
Donnelly
56%
54%
GA-12
Barrow
50%
50%
PA-04
Altmire
55%
52%
NY-19
Hall
54%
53%
NY-20
Gillibrand
54%
53%
SD-AL
Herseth
60%
69%
The House Republicans in this table are on the GOP’s “priority defense” list. The candidates marked with an asterisk (*) may not seek re-election.
District
Candidate
B/C '04
GOP '06
PA-06
Gerlach
48%
51%
FL-13
Buchanan
56%
50%
NC-08
Hayes
54%
50%
NM-01
Wilson
48%
50%
CO-04
Musgrave
58%
46%
IL-06
Roskam
53%
51%
CT-04
Shays
46%
51%
OH-02
Schmidt
64%
51%
VA-02
Drake
58%
51%
WY-AL
Cubin*
69%
48%
CA-04
Doolittle
61%
49%
NV-03
Porter
50%
48%
NY-25
Walsh
48%
51%
OH-15
Pryce
50%
51%
NY-29
Kuhl
57%
52%
NJ-07
Ferguson
53%
49%
MI-09
Knollenger*
51%
52%
The following House Republicans are on the GOP’s “secondary defense” list. As noted by the many asterisks, several may opt not to run. Two on the list (Jindal and Hunter) are already pursuing another political office.
District
Candidate
B/C '04
GOP '06
AK-AL
Young*
61%
57%
CA-24
Gallegly*
56%
62%
CA-25
McKeon*
59%
60%
CA-41
Lewis*
62%
67%
CA-42
Miller
62%
N/A
CA-52
Hunter**
61%
65%
DE-AL
Castle*
46%
57%
FL-10
Young*
51%
66%
IL-10
Kirk
47%
53%
IL-14
Hastert*
56%
60%
KY-02
Lewis
65%
55%
LA-01
Jindal**
71%
88%
MD-06
Bartlett*
65%
59%
MI-03
Ehlers*
59%
63%
MI-07
Walberg
54%
51%
NC-09
Myrick*
63%
67%
OH-16
Regula*
54%
59%
PA-15
Dent
50%
53%
VA-11
Davis*
50%
55%
SENATE: This list includes the Senate Democrats who the GOP will target in 2006. A few candidates on this list might consider retiring. Others are seen as weak because they represent traditionally Republican states.
State
Candidate
B/C '04
DEM '02
AR
Pryor
54%
54%
IA
Harkin
50%
54%
LA
Landrieu
57%
52%
MT
Baucus
59%
63%
NJ
Lautenberg
46%
54%
SD
Johnson
60%
50%
These Senate Republican seats are considered the most vulnerable.
State
Candidate
B/C '04
GOP '02
CO
Open
52%
51%
ME
Collins
45%
59%
MN
Coleman
48%
50%
MS
Cochran
60%
85%
NH
Sununu
49%
51%
NM
Domenici
50%
65%
OR
Smith
48%
56%
VA
Warner
54%
84%
GOVERNORS: There are three gubernatorial races in 2007 and several more in 2008. The states marked with an asterisk (*) will take place this year. This first list includes top Democrat targets.
State
Candidate
B/C '04
DEM '03/'04
LA*
Open
57%
52%
MT
Schweitzer
59%
50%
NC
Open
56%
56%
WA
Gregorie
46%
49%
This list includes the GOP’s most vulnerable governorships.
In my latest Townhall column, I write about the notoriously secretive Congressional Research Service, a legislative agency that’s decided it no longer needs to track pork-barrel spending now that Democrats are in charge of Congress. Sen. Tom Coburn smells something fishy.
Last week on our trip to Ithaca, my wife told our friend Dan Tillapaugh how much she enjoys the animal pictures I post on Bluey Blog. I mentioned one shot of a squirrel that I particularly enjoyed but hadn’t posted yet. Personally, I prefer the scenic shots of the countryside or cities. However, my readers have spoken. I promise to use more animal shots in the future.
My good friend David All is quoted in this Washington Post article about John Edwards’ obsession with social networking sites. Well, it may not be Edwards himself who is addicted to Facebook, Flickr and 20-some other socnets. Turns out that it was his wife, Elizabeth, who is responsible for blazing a trail for the most tech-savvy presidential candidate.
The Washington Post’s Susan Kinzie writes about Georgetown’s mascot, Jack, the Hoyas’ famous bulldog. I grew to love Jack when my brother was a student at Georgetown. We had several encounters with him on campus, the most notable coming at Matt’s graduation last May (above photo). For a better look at Jack, check out this photo.
C. Jane Stewart says the former Tennessee senator and “Law & Order” actor is no Ronald Reagan. In fact, she says Thompson is positioning himself to be John McCain’s running mate. Ouch.