Blogswarm - Online Political News Magazine

Three months ago, nobody thought Ginny Schrader had a chance of winning in Pennsylvania's 8th Congressional District. Ginny was running against a popular, pro-choice Republican, because she wanted to talk about the issues and realized Democrats need to win decisively in the 8th CD for Kerry to capture PA's 21 Electoral Votes.

Daily Kos - Mon Jul 19th, 2004 at 20:43:28 GMT
Mr. Liberal: Breaking News: GOP Congressman Greenwood (PA-08) Leaving Congress This Year.

I just read this at PoliticsPA.com and in a breaking news e-mail from RollCall.com. Congressman Jim Greenwood, a moderate Republican in Pennsylvania's 8th Congressional district, just announced he will not seek reelection this year, instead removing his name from the ballot. The Democrat, Virginia "Ginny" Schrader, is an attorney who has just $7,000 in the bank as of June 30th. Greenwood's district voted for Gore in 2000 by a decent amount, and the GOP is now scrambling for a replacement.

Schrader's website is http://www.ginnyschrader.com/ . A good place to contribute to would be at ACTBLUE at http://actblue.com/list/Schrader , as it will track the donations recieved for the campaign.

I would suggest that we get involved ASAP. This seat is a Democratic-leaning one, and is too good to miss. Schrader is a liberal-to-moderate, pro-choice Democrat. In addition, she supports civil unions and is against Bush's positions on Iraq and the Patriot Act. She is an attorney who ran for State Rep. in 2002 and lost by a respectable margin.

This is completely out of left field, folks, and it gives us another opportunity for a pickup. Ginny Schrader is the luckiest candidate in the nation today, but can her luck hold?

Daily Kos - Tue Jul 20th, 2004 at 01:20:09 GMT
Kos: PA-08: Ginny update

I just spoke with Virginia "Ginny" Schrader, and the news is spectacular. Between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. ET, her campaign has raised $14K online. Some from Daily Kos, some from other sources. This is a blogosphere-wide phenomenon.

She also going to be our candidate heading into November. And more importantly, she hasn't been asked by any prominent local or state Dems to step aside for someone else. That doesn't mean that the party can't change its mind once it has analyzed the situation with a sober mind, but 1) Ginny has put her entire life on hold for this race, and isn't about to drop it, and 2) the money coming in tonight will act as insurance, helping put to rest the "she can't raise money" excuse they might otherwise deploy.

Despite her limited resources, Ginny has already assembled a staff of two full-timers and a host of full-time volunteers, and has been receiving the enthusiastic help of local Dean groups (including one across state lines in New Jersey). I'm not sure if the Philly for Dean people are helping out, but that was one of the best Dean groups in the country. Hopefully they'll lend a hand. Especially since, given the ridiculously expensive Philly media market, her campaign plans on running a heavy ground operation.

Her campaign has already done joint canvassing with the local Kerry effort, and ACT is active in the area. It's going to be a battleground district for the presidential race, and their heavy emphasis on the ground game should have positive repercussions up and down the ticket. Spectacular news indeed.

Update: I originally wrote that Ginny had five paid staffers. My mistake, I misheard. It's actually two, but the new cash already has them looking to beef up their staff.

Swing State Project - Monday, July 19, 2004
DavidNYC: Help Ginny Schrader in PA-8

As you probably know, my election-year mantra is "Make Them Sweat:" Contest every race, and fight hard in each one. We won't win them all, but we'll make life a hell of a lot tougher for the other side. Just check out what Richard Morrison has managed to do down in Texas: For the first time in ages, I'm told, Tom DeLay is actually nervous enough that he's opened up a campaign office. (And not one, but two!)

The best part about following this strategy is that every once in a while, you get supremely lucky. And that, folks, has happened today. The blogosphere (led by DKos) has been abuzz with the news that Rep. Jim Greenwood, a "moderate" Republican representing Pennsylvania's 8th Congressional District (Philly suburbs), has decided to retire.

This is a district which went narrowly for both Gore and Rendell. In short, it's a race we can definitely win, now that it's been thrown wide open. And you already know how important a swing state PA is, and how crucial it is for us to drive up turnout in the heavily Democratic Philadelphia region.

Our candidate, Ginny Schrader, looks good on paper in all aspects but one: She's very low on funds. We can make a huge difference overnight if we chip in to help her out - and we can also scare off any Republicans who might consider entering this race now. Imagine the headlines tomorrow or the next day if the blogosphere rapid-response network can toss Ginny some serious coin. I've seldom suggested donating to a particular candidate, but the special nature of this situation makes it impossible to pass up.

I suggest donating via ActBlue, which makes it much easier to track where donations come from. (And don't worry, ActBlue gives 100% of all donations to the campaigns.) I've already made a contribution - I hope you can make one, too.

Let's go, Ginny!

P.S. I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict that as Bush's situation looks more dire, and the prospects for Democrats to retake the Presidency and Congress look better and better, more Republicans will start announcing their retirements. If you're in your 60s, say, and facing the possibility of returning to D.C. in the minority party, the warm embrace of your grandkids - and that cushy lobbying job in the private sector - start to look very tempting.

UPDATE: Kos just informed us that Ginny's campaign raised an astounding $14,000 online in just four hours tonight. This is going to be a big story.

Stakeholder -Monday, July 19, 2004 at 4:59 PM
Jesse Lee: Greenwood Out in PA-8?

politicspa.com:
Sources tell PoliticsPA that Congressman Jim Greenwood will end his re-election bid and retire. This sets off a scramble within the Bucks County GOP to find a suitable replacement. According the her most recent Federal Elections Commission report, the Democratic PA8 nominee, Virginia Schrader, has $7,741 cash on hand.

Check back for details.

Hate to see ya go.

Update: Reader Jason rightly admonishes us for not posting a link to Greenwood's opponent, Ginny Schrader. Go pay her a visit, and may Jason forgive us as it is our regular practice to do so, I simply got called into a meeting as it was happening.

Update II: The good folks at ActBlue write in comments-
We've set up a page at ActBlue to track donations to Ginny Schraeder. You can give here:
http://actblue.com/list/schrader

I'm doing periodic updates of how much people are giving on the comments thread on dkos and also on the web page.

MyDD - Tue Jul 20th, 2004 at 12:42:44 AM EST
Jerome Armstrong: The way of the blogosphere

There's an interesting thing happening. You could feel it growing from this morning, and kos and I were talking back and forth about the possibility. You just can't prepare for these things. It's like a mob blog or something. Neat stuff has happened since the story broke earlier by Yellin on Daily Kos, and Bowers here on MyDD.

The progressive & lefty blogosphere has been on fire all day today for Virginia "Ginny" Schrader, with probably nearly $20K raised so far today. If the campaign plays the news right, they will be able to propel the amount quite a bit higher, even into the six-digit numbers. Though most of the contributions have been rocketing through Daily Kos visits, there's a number of other sites trumpeting the blogosphere's bounty of cash on Ginny's candidacy. Pennsylvania's Atrios did a "drive by" post yesterday, Steve Gilliard has a post about it, Our Congress, the Swing State Project, and Blog For America just posted about the story.  Heck, even though the DCCC's official spokesperson is totally clueless ("Speed declined to comment on whether Schrader could -- or even would -- be replaced with another candidate") at least the Stakeholder can see what's happening, good work Jesse Lee.

While the DCCC states that "we're watching developments closely and are optimistic should the seat open up," the blogosphere is leading the way. The DCCC will come around, so likely will a Dean (Bakers) Dozen endorsement, and EMILY to make some bread.

Heading to Boston to cover the Democratic convention next week as a blogger, I've gotten more than a few reporters calling to ask about blogs and some are really trying to figure out what's happening, to get a handle on it... Well, look no further, this is live.

MyDD - Mon Jul 19th, 2004 at 05:48:33 PM EST
Chris Bowers: Ginny Schrader for Congress, PA-8

Democrats have just caught a remarkable break. James Greenwood, the Republican congressman from PA-8 (Bucks county, northern Philadelphia suburbs) has decided not run for re-election. This leaves Virginia "Ginny" Schrader with an excellent chance to win in this slightly lean-Dem district. In 2000, it went for Gore 50.7-46.9-2.4. This is exactly the sort of luck that Democrats need to pounce on in order to take back the House sooner, rather than in 2012.

I have never asked you to do this before, but today I am asking. Donate to Ginny Schrader today. Thus far, she has only raised $13,191, but that is going to change. Add $.02 to your donation so they know it came from MyDD.

If you need to check out Scharder's issue page first, be my guest. I do not think you will be disappointed. I am going to take a strong personal interest in this race. Go Ginny!

Update(Jerome): I chipped in $50 and my 2 cents toward Ginny. The philly burb has more on the story. Come on everyone, she's in the race to stay, she's the kind of progressive we want to elect, and all she's lacking is the funds to win this race. It's a Democratic district, Gore/Nader got 54% in the new redistricted 8th. Hit it.

Daily Kos - Tue Jul 20th, 2004 at 07:10:00 GMT
Kos: DCCC Fails Schrader

It's this sort of bullshit that keeps pushing me further away from the party committess:

This is a very good opportunity for a Democratic pickup. This a district that is every day becoming Democratic," said Greg Speed, spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

"Bucks County was carried by [Gov.] Ed Rendell [D-Pa.] by over 50,000 votes. We're watching developments closely and are optimistic should the seat open up," Speed said.

Speed declined to comment on whether Schrader could -- or even would -- be replaced with another candidate.

What these DCCC should realize is that you never, NEVER, talk down a candidate. Now, assuming Schrader is staying in the race as promised, Speed has made it look as though she's second choice. That given the chance, the DCCC would've preferred someone else in the race.

Well, if the fucking DCCC wanted someone else in the race, they should've recruited that person to begin with. But from where I'm sitting, Ginny is doing just fine. She has great creds, and has been working the district tirelessly over the last few months. And that $7,000 in the bank has taken a turn for the better over the last 8 hours, no thanks to the geniuses at the D-trip who have handicapped the Democrats into long-time minority status.

Let them try to touch her. Just let them.

The rules are changing. The party committees no longer have unquestioned control over such decisions. We now have a voice, and I'm taking this chance to flex ours.

As Jerome notes, Ginny is now a bona-fide blogosphere celebrity. Keep an eye on Technorati to gauge how the story spreads.

Update: Perfect example of what I'm pissed about. As the story breaks, Jesse Lee enthusiastically blogs the outpouring of support for Schrader over at the DCCC blog, linking to the ActBlue fundraising page and all. Then, a few hours later, he is forced toe the party line:

I know a lot of folks are wondering about our candidate situation, but if Greg Speed has no comment, nor do I - sorry.

The way to respond to the reporter's question whether the party would seek a replacement candidate would've been to say, "We look forward to working with Schrader to pull the district into the Democratic column." And then, they could've done whatever backroom maneouvering they felt necessary, however unsavory that might be.

But refusing to end speculation that the party may try to replace Ginny simply harms her efforts. Especially considering they can't force her off the ticket and she doesn't intend to go.

Update: Much of the commentary runs along the lines of, "well, maybe the reporter misinterpreted Speed" when writing that "no comment" line. Well, that's the nice thing about having a blog. The DCCC could easily clarify their position at the Stakeholder. Instead, they merely reinforced the "no comment" line.

I also cleaned up some of the language in this post.

---

Four days later, Salon: At the speed of blog:

After a Republican congressman resigned unexpectedly, a lefty blogger called for readers to send money to his opponent -- and the cash poured in.

On Monday afternoon, July 19, Stephen Yellin, a 16-year-old politics junkie and frequent contributor to the lefty blog Daily Kos, noticed an intriguing development in Pennsylvania's 8th Congressional District, an area to the north of Philadelphia. The Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call was reporting that Jim Greenwood, the district's popular, moderate Republican congressman, had unexpectedly decided not to seek reelection, meaning that his House seat was now up for grabs. This is the sort of news that sets partisans like Yellin jumping for joy, and so, of course, he blogged about it.

"I would suggest that we get involved ASAP," Yellin, who goes by the handle MrLiberal on Daily Kos, wrote. Virginia "Ginny" Schrader, the Democrat running for the open seat, "supports civil unions and is against Bush's positions on Iraq and the Patriot Act," he noted approvingly. But she was woefully low on cash -- as of June 30, Schrader had only $7,000 in the bank. Yellin implored Daily Kos' politically obsessed readers to change that situation: "This is completely out of left field, folks, and it gives us another opportunity for a pickup," he wrote. "Ginny Schrader is the luckiest candidate in the nation today, but can her luck hold?"

What happened next was beyond anything that Yellin had expected. ...

Schrader on Act Blue:

Atrios

Kos

MyDD + SSP

PowerWomen 

Mr. Liberal 

Note: this doesn't include the early money Ginny Schrader raised online.

*Links to Ginny's Website were added to the above quotes.

Publicly, Republicans sound confident of their chances against Ginny Schrader. But the numbers don't lie.

The National Republican Congressional Committee so far has spent $1.7 million on the race -- more than on any other House election in Pennsylvania. Its funding signals the party's concern the seat could swing to Schrader, and its intention to keep it for the GOP. By comparison, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has only been able to afford to spend about $930,000 to assist Schrader.

"Only" $930K? That's not chump change, and given the flood of money the NRCC is dumping into the race, they're not feeling to good about it.

Monday, October 18, 2004

Message From Bob Brigham

Bob Brigham works for Dean Dozen candidate Ginny Schrader in Pennsylvania.

Three months ago, few people thought Dean Dozen candidate Ginny Schrader had a chance of winning in Pennsylvania's 8th Congressional District. But this first time candidate and grandmother was running anyway against a popular, pro-choice Republican because she wanted to talk about the issues and realized Democrats needed to perform well in her suburban district for John Kerry to win Pennsylvania's 21 electoral votes.

Then, in July, the Republican incumbent withdrew from the race and was replaced by a relatively unknown, anti-choice Republican. Immediately, the internet grassroots sprang to action to support Ginny and dampen speculation that Ginny might be replaced by a "more electable" candidate. This surge of net roots support persuaded the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to get behind Ginny, and her contest is now one of the DCCC's top targeted races. Her Pennsylvania district is now crucial to talking back the House, Senate and the White House

Ginny ran to talk about the issues and she continues her focus on women's choice, the war in Iraq, health care and jobs. Her opponent's strong opposition to abortion rights is out of touch with the views of this suburban Philadelphia district, and polling has shown that up to 43% of her opponent's supporters may abandon him if they learn of his extreme views on this issue.

Ginny Schrader's campaign provides one of the best examples of why Democrats need to run candidates in every race in every state. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on Thursday that the National Republican Party has already contributed $520,000 for TV ads and polling for Ginny's vulnerable opponent. Ginny's district is part one of the most expensive media markets in the country so continued support from the grassroots will be essential for Ginny to get her message out.

If you are looking for Congressional races in which your support can make a difference, please consider helping Ginny Schrader win a seat in the House of Representatives.

—Bob Brigham
Schrader for Congress

Posted by Guest Writer at 02:02 PM

I made it very plain. We will not have an all-volunteer army.

One of the Joint Chiefs and Bush's own administrator in Iraq have both said that we will need tens of thousands more troops to stabilize the country. We have been misled about this war from the beginning. About nuclear weapons, about the cost, and about the progress being made. Now they say we won't need a draft. We cannot afford to take their word for it.

I demand to know how
George Bush plans
to guard the homeland,
protect against threats abroad,
and stabilize and occupy Iraq
-- without resorting to a draft.

As in 2000, I am one of the people responsible for making final decisions about the Democratic Party's swing state efforts. Yesterday, Al Gore wrote you about the painful choices his campaign faced due to a lack of resources during the final weeks. It brought back some bad memories.

In 2000, we didn't have what we needed to compete everywhere, and were forced into difficult choices. I still believe that going for it in Florida and scaling back in Ohio was the right decision -- nonetheless it was a decision that we shouldn't have been forced to make. I'm convinced to this day that if the Democratic Party had the resources we needed during the last two weeks, George W. Bush would never have become president.

Make a contribution before tomorrow's deadline:

https://www.democrats.org/support/kerry.html

I hope you'll understand if I'm a little intense about asking you to act before our Saturday morning meeting where we will make key spending decisions. The last thing we can afford is to leave John Kerry and other candidates without the support they need in these final two weeks.

I've known John Kerry for 20 years. I have seen him in the final weeks of some incredibly tough campaigns and can tell you firsthand that he is the best closer in American politics. I'm asking you to help today by telling you the same thing I told the Kerry campaign field organizers in December 2003 as we entered the homestretch of the Iowa caucuses:

If we run a campaign that's as good as our candidate, we will win.

https://www.democrats.org/support/kerry.html

In one swing state after another, we have the best organizers in America, an extraordinary corps of volunteers, and unbelievable energy. It's going to take all of that to win. We come back to you for contributions time and time again because we don't have the same big money contributors as the Republicans -- only you can provide us with the resources we need as we race to the finish line. Believe me when I tell you that your decision to act will give John Kerry and the Democratic Party the winning edge in these closing days.

Tonight is the deadline -- help put us over the top now.

Thank you,

Michael Whouley
General Election Strategist

	• Million for a Majority • Road Trip for a New Majority • Races to Watch: On the Cusp of Victory • News From the Blog

Special Issue: Election Countdown
Welcome to this special pre-election edition of @Stake. With just 18 days before an election James Carville termed "perhaps the most important since the Civil War," we will focus on ways that each of us can make a significant difference. (We also have developments about some races we've been watching, as well as blog links to other stories).

@Stake launched one year ago this month with this explanation: "In 1948, President Harry S. Truman, underdog to GOP candidate Thomas Dewey, faced a small crowd of voters in Massachusetts: 'You have a stake in this election. It will affect your job, your chance to get a raise, your chance to get a better home...It will mean the difference between moving ahead and moving backward.' The focus of his speech was condemning the "Do Nothing Congress," coincidentally the last time that Republicans controlled the U.S. House of Representatives. "

In that same Inaugural issue we reported: "Welcome to American government with Republicans like George W. Bush and Tom DeLay in control. In just one week, key reports revealed that median household incomes have gone down, the poverty rate has gone up, and the number of uninsured Americans has risen dramatically."

Between now and November 2nd, we should remember a quote favored by another Democratic president, John F. Kennedy: Don't Get Mad, Get Even! We'll show you how to do just that so that we can celebrate Democratic victories on November 2nd.

Million for a Majority

In the last two weeks, Congressional Republicans have been shocked as the DCCC brought the fight to them on an even larger scale, unveiling new TV and radio ads, launching direct mail campaigns, and unleashing phone banks and grassroots organizers in states like Texas, New York, Louisiana, Colorado, Washington, South Dakota, Georgia, Connecticut, Arizona, Kentucky, Washington, Minnesota, North Carolina and more.

Our "Million for a Majority" campaign will put even more races into play in these final days. We have already raised more than $632,000 - so we have less than $400,000 to go. But we are out of time. We need your help TODAY!

There are a number of ways you can help.

Make a secure donation towards that million dollar mark. It takes a gain of 12 seats to restore a Democratic majority. Whether you can give just $1 per seat ($12), $3 per seat ($36), or more every dollar that you contribute is urgently needed.

Host a House Party on October 24th, and get your friends and family to help us make the mark. It's as easy as inviting a handful of friends over to watch a movie. But instead, you will take part in a conference call and last pre-election briefing with Nancy Pelosi and Al Gore.

Become a Majority Maker by inviting your own friends, family, and associates to contribute through your own personalized fundraising webpage. It's really easy. Just take a few minutes to sign-up and write your introductory greeting. We will provide you with the information updates and appeals you need to email interested people in your address book. You can use, edit, or add to what we send (or write your own messages entirely). Give your friends a chance to get involved in a way that only you can. We really need them.

Time is almost up, and the Majority is ripe for the picking. Don't look back and regret what else you could have done in these last days!

Road Trip for a New Majority

You may have heard the buzz about our "Million for a Majority" campaign, but what does this money go to? Aside from television ads and working directly with candidates, we also seal the deal with aggressive Get Out the Vote efforts (GOTV).

This weekend, we took around 40 people up to help Lois Murphy in Pennsylvania's 6th, who has been endorsed by the Sierra Club amongst many others. She is going to win, with our help.

If you want to get involved with these GOTV trips, head on over to Road Trip for a New Majority and sign up. If you would like to help us keep funding more of these, please give here.

In case you were worried, we pay for food, lodging and transportation. Please note the cheesesteak on the people below.

Here is a shot of everybody - Lois Murphy is in the center.

Here is some of the crew putting packets together at the hotel on Friday night.

These trips are happening in districts across the country, and make no mistake - they make the difference. We cleaned the Republicans' clocks in South Dakota, and in a race that was decided by only a couple thousand votes, the efforts of our hundreds of volunteers were an absolute necessity.

You can sign up at http://www.democraticaction.org/roadtrip/index.php.

If you can't go, please tell your friends by using this form: http://www.democraticaction.org/roadtrip/ftaf.php

Races to Watch: On the Cusp of Victory

GA-12: GA-12: The Max Tax... What's sillier than co-sponsoring a national sales tax of 30% (which still not enough to sustain current revenues) with 19 days left before an election? Doing so when your name fits so nicely into an easy-to-remember jingle. As you read this, Republican Max Burns, one of the most vulnerable in the country is being hammered for supporting Tom DeLay's pet obsession, a national sales tax to shift the tax burden even further from wealth to work. Burns was also compassionate enough to copy his AARP survey answers from the national talking points - sounds like a good fit for this Democratic district, right? Help us make sure Georgia families don't get burned by the Max Tax!

WA-08: Dave Ross Pulling Away... The popular radio and print journalist racked up his second key endorsement, this time from the Seattle Times, citing his "moderation and his broad sophistication on wider world issues." With a recent poll showing him 10 points up against and opponent who has never truly gotten off the ground, and endorsements from the districts two key papers, this seat is looking like a golden pick-up opportunity from the retiring Republican, Jennifer Dunn.

TX-17: Chet Edwards Endorsed... In a race that typifies the unexpected Republican headaches resulting from the Texas redistricting, Chet Edwards is teaching his opponent what it means to be a serious candidate, and The Star Telegram, which happens to be the dominant paper in Arlene Wohlgemuth's home area in the 17th District, recognized it: "At this time in history, Texas needs Edwards in Congress. His experience in national defense issues is important to the entire state, not just District 17."

CT-04: Shays Learning the Price of Loyalty... As GOP Leader Tom DeLay continues to be pummeled nationwide for his habitual ethics problems, Republicans have closed ranks around him hoping to stifle the damage. But that's a bit of a problem for faux-moderates like Chris Shays, who has spent the past year rebutting accusations from Democrat Dianne Farrell that he was a rubberstamp for DeLay. Shays was the first out of the box to call DeLay "a great majority leader" and then had to choke down a vote not to have an independent investigation. Between that and his complete lack of questioning of Bush's handling of Iraq, the "moderate" label could be a pretty hard sell this time around.

VA-02: Surprise Opportunity, Shameless Attacks... While Republicans attempt to squelch dissent by insisting that any criticism of their president or their party undermines our troops, it is they who consistently seem to produce stories like this one, written about in an editorial from the Virginia Pilot: "Anyone who doesn't back President Bush is soft on terror. Even a U.S. Marine who has put his life on the line in Iraq. So says 2nd District Republican congressional candidate Thelma Drake. In a flier that landed in mailboxes across Virginia Beach and Norfolk recently, Drake attacks her opponent, Democrat David Ashe, as 'weakening the war on terror,' because of his support for the man at the top of his ticket, presidential candidate John Kerry." This seat opened up unexpectedly when Republican Ed Schrock suddenly resigned, and Ashe has pounced on the opportunity, piercing through his opponent's typical Republican rhetoric and showing that simple Democratic message of fairness still resonates, even in Republican-leaning districts.

NE-01: The Return of Fiscal Sanity... After four years of Republicans screaming for tax cuts for the super-wealthy at any cost, a development in this Nebraska race gives a sign that voters and disinterested parties have had enough. When the NRCC tried to attack Democrat Matt Connealy on behalf of Republican Jeff Fortenberry for raising taxes to balance the budget in the state, Republican State Senate Speaker Curt Bromm stepped in to denounce the attacks as "disingenuous and unfair," noting that the Nebraska legislature did more budget cutting than it did tax increases. Voters across the country will be performing this kind of gut-check in a few weeks, and we're betting it won't be good news for the GOPers.

NC-11: Dead Heat... A new poll has this race within the margin of error, with 6% undecided who could easily break for Patsy Keever, a teacher and all-around admirable candidate who is challenging one of the most ethically troubling Members of the House, Charles Taylor.

KS-03: Dennis Moore Fends off Extremism Personified... Democrat Dennis Moore, always a top target of Republicans in this conservative district continues to stand on principle against Kris Kobach, a hero of extremists ranging from Jerry Falwell to anti-immigration nuts. Unfortunately, the Republicans have had this dream before, in which a right-wing zealot emerges from the primaries only to find himself well outside the mainstream and go down to defeat. So it was déjà vu all over again when a local columnist and leading moderate Republican, Steve Rose of The Sun endorsed Moore even as he endorsed Bush for President.

TX-22: Under the Radar, DeLay faces his Toughest Race in Years... Amidst a seemingly endless string of ethics problems, Tom DeLay is in unexpected danger. A local television station reports, "He may come across a scattering of other political signs of the times such as Bush-Cheney signs coexisting with Richard Morrison signs. Democrat Morrison has worked what is often considered the heartland of Republican voters, and some Bush voters say they will cross over. 'It's a fresh start and I think he can add a lot of new blood. He believes in bi-partisan working together. It's kind of an answer as to why there's two different representations in the signs,' says voter Tom Suter." The Morrison campaign has said that they have distributed a full 6,000 signs, in contrast to 600 from DeLay. He may find that Republican voters care more about ethics than do Republican politicians.

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