Retiring Republican Congressmen Refusing To Endorse GOP Extremists In Close Races

Monday we heard that Staten Island's outgoing Republican Congressman Vito Fossella has decided to not endorse the Republican running for his seat, Manhattan hot dog vendor Bob Straniere. This was a terrible blow to Straniere's faltering campaign, particularly because he hasn't been able to round up any other GOP officials to endorse him either (except one widely discredited crony of his, state Senator, Andrew Lanza).

Of course, it could have been worse for the hot dog vendor. Fossella could have decided to endorse his Democratic rival, Michael McMahon. No way? That's exactly what outgoing Republican Congressman Wayne Gilchrest did in Maryland-- urging voters in Maryland's first district to vote for conservative Democrat Frank Kratovil over far right extremist Andy Harris. And then yesterday former Congressman Joe Schwarz (R-MI) endorsed progressive mainstream Democratic challenger Mark Schauer over radical right GOP/Club For Growth incumbent Tim Walberg.

Schwarz, who supports McCain in the presidential election, told the Associated Press in an interview that he decided to endorse Schauer over Walberg in the south-central Michigan congressional district because the anti-tax Club for Growth began running ads critical of Schauer's positions on taxes. He said he had hoped to stay neutral in the race but "once they made the decision, the die was cast. That to me is the straw that broke the camel's back. I object to political dabblers who stand for nothing other than to create havoc and dabble in a congressional race where they truly have no interest."

This comes at a particularly bad time for Walberg. The latest polling in the district shows Schauer beating him substantially, 42-36% among voters who have made up their minds. Schwarz' endorsement is expected to help others, especially in battle Creek, where he had been a popular mayor, to make up their minds as well-- and vote for Schauer. Furthermore, perceptions of Walberg’s job as Congressman are very negative, with only 34% saying he is doing an excellent-to-good job while 46% rate him fair-to-poor, numbers that presage an electoral defeat in November. Schauer has been able to out-raise the unpopular Walberg, an extremist who doesn't fit the moderate district, and as of July 16 Schauer had $928,686 on hand and Walberg, who has been running a vicious, costly negative campaign, only has $855,137.


UPDATE: CONGRESSMAN GILCREST (R-MD) HAS HAD IT WITH THE GOP-- AND THAT INCLUDES GRANDPA

Sounds like he's supporting Obama!

He's had it with his own party, which he says "has become more narrow, more self-serving, more centered around 'I want, I want, I want.' " He's finished with his party's presidential candidate, John McCain, who Gilchrest says "recites memorized pieces of information in a narrow way, whereas Barack Obama is constantly evaluating information, using his judgment. One guy just recites what's in front of him, and the other has initiative and reason and prudence and wisdom."

...After much struggle and study, Gilchrest voted for the bailout; what appalls him about his many colleagues who went the other way was that they appeared to do so based neither on a close examination of the issues nor on principle, but rather with a finger to the wind and an eye on the e-mail inbox.

The congressman, whose strongly Republican district stretches from the Pennsylvania line to the border with Virginia, tells me that he's had it with colleagues who "don't understand the issues, who not only don't read the Financial Times, they have never heard of the Financial Times... We're in this bad place as a country because of the evangelicals, the neocons, the nasty, bitter and mean... very clever ideological groups that use money, technology, fear and bigotry to lead people around," he says. "Voting according to your knowledge and experience-- that's out the window. Competence and prudence? Forget it."

Congressional Goings On From Vermont To Missouri

Rep. Peter Welch, progressive Republican?

A few months ago my friend Pach and I went to a voter registration fundraiser for Head Count in DC that featured a concert by Bob Weir. We ran into Peter Welch (D-VT), who had just exposed and prevented a huge Bush Regime taxpayer rip off and we were eager to congratulate and thank him.

Since being elected in 2006 Welch has amassed a stunningly progressive voting record, right up there with Keith Ellison (D-MN), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Hank Johnson (D-GA), Yvette Clark (D-NY), John Sarbanes (D-MD), and Betty Sutton (D-OH) all of whom live in much safer blue districts. In fact no sooner had we finished lavishing praise on Welch than he started babbling about how he was in a tough re-election battle and how endangered he is. "Dude," I said, "you don't have an opponent. The Republicans can't even find someone to run against you. That's not endangered."

But sure enough, last week's Vermont primary yielded a strong and admirable Republican candidate: Peter Welch. Enough Republicans in the at-large district wrote in Welch's name so that he will appear on the ballot as both a Democrat and a Republican. Now that's bipartisan!

And speaking of "bipartisan," yesterday we saw Republican Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) say that he could never endorse John McCain, followed today by Republican Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) telling Americans that Palin is not ready for the vice-presidency, let alone the presidency. On top of that, the only Republican moderate in the House of Representatives, Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) endorsed Obama yesterday, calling the Democratic nominee "prudent, knowledgeable...(and that) we can't use four more years of the same kind of policy that's hazardous and leads to recklessness."

Mainstream conservatives like Gilchrest and Hagel think their party has gone way too far to the extreme right and they want nothing to do with wacko candidates like McCain, Palin and some of the lunatic fringe congressional offerings. One of the craziest and most clueless of all is Missouri kook Blaine Leutkemeyer running for Kenny Hulshof's open seat in the northeastern part of the state against mainstream progressive Judy Baker. Watch this video of Leutkemeyer insisting nothing needs to be changed and that "we're going in the right direction."



Still, today's Washington Post posits that Republican chances to hold onto most of their Senate and House seats has gotten better because of the enthusiasm generated by the nomination at the base level by fellow extremist Palin. "Both sides concede that the GOP stands almost no chance of taking back the House or Senate in November, but party leaders think the Palin factor and an increasingly competitive fight for the White House have generated enthusiasm and momentum that could limit GOP losses to only a few Senate seats and perhaps fewer than a dozen House seats."

Republicans are especially bullish about the changing Senate landscape. Democrats have never envisioned an easy path to a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority, but polls suggest that prospect has been reduced to a near impossibility in recent weeks.

Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign has pulled out of Georgia, probably a fatal blow to former state representative Jim Martin in his bid to unseat Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss. Another long shot, state Rep. Rick Noriega in Texas, has been outraised 9 to 1 by Republican Sen. John Cornyn. State Sen. Andrew Rice is not showing significant gains against GOP Sen. James M. Inhofe in Oklahoma, and Republican Sen. Susan Collins appears to be holding firm in Maine, where she faces Rep. Tom Allen.

Tomorrow, at 11am EST, Blue America will start a competition to address 5 of those tough Senate contests, targeting Republican rubber stamps Susan Collins (ME), John Cornyn (TX), Ted Stevens (AK), James Inhofe (OK), and Gordon Smith (OR). Please join us at Firedoglake.

EVERYONE IS BLAMING EVERYONE ELSE FOR GOP FINANCIAL CATASTROPHE-- AND ONE REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN IS THREATENING TO ENDORSE A DEMOCRAT!

Many of the most extreme right wing fanatics who set the tone of the GOP conversation, blame the fact that Republican finances are in disarray on what they call Bush's and McCain's "shamnesty" legislation. The GOP has a real problem with immigration that cleaves their party in two. On the one hand, the Greed and Selfishness wing wants cheap labor and clout over unions. On the other hand, the party's Hatred and Bigotry base have been swimming in the pool of racism and xenophobia for so long that they would rather be Know Nothings than Republicans. Neither camp is giving much to the GOP this year.

Meanwhile, House Republican Minority Leader John Boehner isn't relishing predictions that his ability to obstruct progressive legislation could be seriously impaired by a loss of several dozen seats in November. Boehner, who rose to power in the caucus by little tactics like handing out checks to Republican legislators on the floor of the House on behalf of Big Tobacco lobbyists, isn't blaming the Greed and Selfishness wing nor the Hatred and Bigotry wing. He's blaming Republican congressmen's "dead asses."

House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) challenged Republicans on Tuesday to get off their “dead asses” and start raising money for the National Republican Congressional Committee... [at] a closed-door session at the Capitol Hill Club.

... According to numbers read during the Tuesday morning meeting, only 15 Republicans have met their pledged fundraising goal for the dinner. Among them are Texas Reps. Mike Conaway and Pete Sessions and South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson, a source familiar with the fundraising totals said. Another 42 have set a pledged target but failed to contribute the bulk of that money. And an astonishing 142 members-- almost three-fourths of the Republicans in the House-- have failed even to set a fundraising target.

...The NRCC was starting to turn things around at the end of 2007, closing the year with more cash than debt for the first time since the crippling 2006 election. But 2008 began with a fresh crop of retirements and revelations that a former NRCC bookkeeper allegedly forged an internal audit sent to the committee’s principal lender.

Then last Friday, federal prosecutors indicted Arizona Rep. Rick Renzi on 35 criminal counts that include conspiracy, fraud, money laundering and official extortion stemming from a land swap with a former business partner. Shortly afterward, Boehner called on the Arizona Republican, who had already announced his plans not to seek reelection, to “seriously consider” stepping down early. But Renzi has since issued a statement that he has no plans to resign, putting increased pressure on GOP leaders to force his ouster.

Meanwhile today's Hill is reporting that defeated Republican Congressman Wayne Gilchest (R-MD) is blaming his defeat at the hands of an extreme right wing loon on the fringe of polite society, Andy Harris, on the NRCC. Gilchest's campaign manager, a top dog GOP insider, Tony Caligiuri, claims the NRCC kept crucial polling data they had out of the hands of the campaign. He suggests that Tom Cole is running the NRCC in a way that is detrimental to mainstream incumbents. Cole says he "can’t afford to save members from primaries and won’t get financially involved in them," a very different stance from the DCCC, which tried (unsuccessfully) to bolster the sagging fortunes of Al Wynn, defeated by a much larger margin than Gilchrest on the same day in the same state.

Gilchrest has been telling people he might endorse the Democrat against the extremist who defeated him. He says he's unlikely to get involved with GOP politics again. "Caligiuri left open the possibility that Gilchrest might endorse Kratovil in the general election after a nasty primary battle with Harris. Harris defeated Gilchrest 43-33, bringing an end to the centrist incumbent’s 18-year House career. Gilchrest has regularly won two-thirds of the general election vote, making his endorsement potentially key to an uphill battle for Kratovil."

FAR RIGHT REPUBLICAN BEATS MAINSTREAM GOP INCUMBENT WAYNE GILCHREST-- ANOTHER SEAT IS NOW UP FOR GRABS

Radical wingnut beats Gilchrest

Last night everyone was watching Donna Edwards vanquish corrupt corporate shill Al Wynn in MD-04. East on her district there was another drama going on resulting in a stunning loss to mainstream Republican incumbent Wayne Gilchrest to far right extremist Andy Harris. Harris was surrepticiously supported by former Governor Bob Ehrlich, currently a local hate talk radio host, and openly backed by the whole fringe coalition of nuts and loons that have captured control of the GOP in recent years.

MD-01 is an interesting district. It includes the 9 quiet counties on the Eastern Shore but the Democratic legislature has gerrymandered the area so as to dump as many Republicans into the district as possible and many of Baltimore's wealthiest-- and reddest-- suburbs are also part of the district. Basically, though, MD-01 is a moderate Republican district. Bush won it against Kerry with 62%. Now the voters there will have to decide if they want to emphasize the "moderate" or the "Republican."

They can't have both. Gilchrest's voting record was what would have once been termed "mainstream conservative." By current GOP standards, set by loons like Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh and Tom DeLay, Gilchrest was a moderate. The Democrat who won tonight is Frank Kratovil and, oddly, his moderate stands on substantive issues, like the environment, have much more in common with Gilchrest's than Harris' do. Almost identical numbers of Democrats and Republicans voted tonight which is astounding for this overwhelmingly Republican district (R+10).

Republicans don't always win here. In the past I've written quite a bit about a radical right Republican congressman from MD-01, Bob Bauman who was arrested in 1980 for soliciting sex from a 16 year old boy and wound up losing his seat. At the time he was one of the most outspoken right-wing leaders in the country, a founder of the Young Americans For Freedom (still an organization filled with closet cases) and was chairman of the American Conservative Union. After the whole denial stage Republicans always try when they get caught red-handed, Bauman evetually came to terms with his alcoholism and his homosexuality and wrote a really excellent book, The Gentleman From Maryland-- The Conscience of a Gay Conservative. In his wake MD-01 elected a Democrat who was eventually defeated by Gilchrest (on the second try). Gilchrest's defeat by an extremist whose hard right views are entirely out of touch with suburban moderates, will make it possible for another Democratic victory in this district.

NEW JERSEY PREPARES TO CEDE TWO MORE CONGRESSIONAL SEATS TO THE DEMOCRATS

Fast forward to November

Yesterday the DCCC announced a batch of "red to blue" districts they would be targeting this year, including two open seats in New Jersey, the 3rd CD, where Jim Saxton is retiring, and the 7th, where Mike Ferguson is retiring. Each district has a small GOP lean but both are likely to go blue in 2008.

Saxton was hoping he could help his party avoid a bruising primary that could lead to a right-wing extremist getting the nomination in the moderate 3rd. His plan, to endorse Lockheed Martin executive Chris Myers (a mainstream greed-and-selfishness conservative) failed to scare off the nuts. Remember what Huckabee said about middle and working class voters not wanting to support someone like Mitt Romney because he reminds them of someone who lays people off? Chris Myers is one like that. And last week Meyers got the message that he'll have a far right extremist to contend with in June before he faces a very formidable Democratic opponent in November. The right winger is Ocean County Freeholder, Jack Kelly, who's being supported by Congressman Chris Smith, who represents the neighboring 4th CD. It should be a very bloody primary because Kelly and the people around him are straight out of the Bush-Rove-Cheney playbook.

Newly retired state Sen. Leonard Connors, who serves as campaign chair, also touted Kelly’s fiscal record.

"For a long time, the country has been leaning more and more toward socialistic ideas," said Connors. "I know Jack doesn’t agree with that. He believes in a strong military."... Kelly said with the information supplied to Congress leading up to the Iraq War resolution vote in 2002, he would have voted yes, just like Saxton. "We took the war to them," said Kelly, who stressed that the world is too dangerous and too volatile to remain on defense in what is a "worldwide jihad."

Asked if he would examine diplomatic measures to complement military action, Kelly said, "There is no diplomacy with terrorists who have nothing in their hearts but to destroy the United States."

The district gave Bush a narrow 51% win in 2004. And the winner of the Republican primary will be facing immensely popular-- and well-financed-- State Senator John Adler in New Jersey. "Worldwide jihad" may work for a narrow segment of voters in the 3rd-- but just a narrow segment. These folks are far more worried about the Bush Recession and about inflation and the impact that Bush's economic policies have had on the country. This probably won't be a good year for fat cat corporate executives or war-mongers.

There was fear that in the 7th CD, there would be no credible candidate at all when Ferguson decided to move over to K Street and, like in the 3rd, there is a hugely popular Democratic candidate, in this case Linda Stender. After all the top tier candidates announced they had better things to do with their time than get mowed down by Stender, Christine Todd Whitman's daughter, Kate, and another mainstream conservative, state Sen. Leonard Lance (Tom Keane Jr's boy), jumped in. Now Republicans are afraid that the two mainstream candidates will split the vote and allow an unelectable extremist, like Martin Marks, to make off with the nomination.

These two districts should be Democratic pick ups for 2008. Meanwhile, next door in Maryland's 1st CD, in an unexpected development, the far right jihad to purge mainstream conservative incumbent Wayne Gilchrest, suffered a setback when Bush himself endorsed Gilchrest over his far right opponents in the GOP primary coming up next month.

GOP LOOKS FOR REVENGE AGAINST REP. GILCHREST FOR OPPOSING IRAQ WAR AND FOR BEING SLIGHTLY MODERATE

Today's Moonie Times reports that Maryland's recently defeated Republican Governor Bob Ehrlich is surreptitiously supporting state Sen. Andrew Harris in an attempt to unseat Congressman Wayne Gilchrest next year. Gilchrest is viewed in right-wing GOP circles as a moderate and as slightly independent. Harris is a raving right wing loon and would be a total rubber stamp for the extremists who control the party.

Ehrlich's chief fundraiser, Richard E. Hug, has joined Mr. Harris' exploratory committee and cultivated donors for a Harris fundraiser last week in Baltimore that featured an appearance by Mr. Ehrlich.

After being soundly thrashed by then Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley (875,362 to 757,099), Ehrlich became a local hate-talk radio host for WBAL-AM where he is constantly pushing Harris' bid to unseat Gilchrest. Harris and Ehrlich are all worked up because Gilchrest opposes-- like the vast majority of Americans-- Bush's endless occupation of Iraq.

Gilchrest’s pro-environment stances have irritated Republicans since he was first elected in 1990. A wounded Vietnam War veteran, Gilchrest has sparked even greater ire recently with his decision to repudiate his 2002 vote supporting the war in Iraq. He was one of only two House Republicans-- North Carolina’s Walter Jones was the other-- to support the Democratic troop withdrawal plan.

Gilchrest, who is hated by the NRA and the Club for Growth, will be running for his 10th term. Democrat Frank Kratovil is running for the Eastern Shore first congressional district, which was gerrymandered to dump as many Maryland Republicans into one district as possible.