The Cranley v Chabot has treally been heating up. Cranley has fundraised a lot and has been on national TV for some time now. Check this one out on MSNBC

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12065856/

I like your site.

awjoea jkgjexxuir

Vivacondi,
You must be dreaming. Although Condi is a smart woman and has a good approval rating, she will NEVER get nominated by the GOP's. Yeah right, that will never happen. The conservatives will squash her in a brutal GOP primary.

3000 died under Condi's watch? Hmmm, so I guess you must really hate the Democrat who was in the White House when those people died in the first World Trade Center bombing in Feb. 1993, and who was in charge of international security in October 2000 when the USS Cole was exploded in Yemen. You see, Erin, when you vent your anger at any leader and blame them for the deaths of Americans, then you have to include all of those who died under your favorite Democrat too, included those poor military soldiers whose dead bodies were dragged down the streets in Somolia in October 1993. It is a shame to reduce yourself to the politics of hate and anger. I choose to look forward to a promising future of our nation and the support by the voters who stand by President Bush as one of our nation's strongest leaders.

Viva

I'll give you the 6th but don't count on the 13th being too competitive yet. Perhaps in a few more years if the Ohio GOP holds onto resdistricting.

Too many strong Dem candidates coming out (excluding carpetbagging Capri Cafaro).

Elyria Mayor Bill Grace, former Congressman Tom Sawyer and former State Rep. Betty Sutton will be formidable challengers and Foltin has been spending time answering questions about the money for a new city jail and whether it was handled properly now that the project needs scaled down drastically to formally announce his candidacy (I understand it is only a matter of time).
Foltin said he might not decide for weeks.

''I'm not ruling anything out,'' he said. ''The filing deadline is Feb. 16, and I might not decide until then. It's a daunting district for any Republican. It's very skewed in the Democrats' favor.''
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15958015&BRD=1699&PAG=461&dept_id=46371&rfi=6

Like a national security advisor that had 3000+ Americans die under her watch is going to have any chance being president. Condi Rice was a token figure put into a position she couldn't handle. Why else do you think they moved her to the Department of State? Worst national security advisor EVER!

I think that so far the media has left off the importance of Bush Fatigue in this year's election. With the scandals, the spying, the wars, the lies, the public is clearly suffering from significant Bush Fatigue, which I don't believe I've heard from the press yet.

VivaCondi, you may want to take a look at this:

Asked, "Are you pro-life? Are you pro-choice? What is your thought on abortion?", Rice responded: "I believe if you go back to 2000, when I helped the president in the campaign, I said that I was, in effect, kind of Libertarian on this issue, and meaning by that that I have been concerned about a government role in this issue. I'm a strong proponent of parental choice, of parental notification. I'm a strong proponent of a ban on late-term abortion. These are all things that I think unite people and I think that that's where we should be. I've called myself at times mildly pro-choice."

"What I do think is that we should not have the federal government in a position where it is forcing its views on one side or the other. So, for instance, I've tended to agree with those who do not favor federal funding for abortion, because I believe that those who hold a strong moral view on the other side should not be forced to fund it."

http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/mar/05031401.html

Good luck with that. :):):)

On Feb. 9th, a group called Americans for Dr. Rice will be in Washington DC to display their Condi 2008 campaign items at their major sponsorship booth. The event is Conservative Political Action Confernence, with VP Cheney and Ken Mehlman speaking to thousands of attendees.
Madam Secretary Rice has over 60% job approval and is favored to be a candidate for president in 2008 in state polls from Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Florida. It is better to build up a dynamic candidate like Condi Rice than to waste time and money trying to drag down any other Republican.

Rmill thank you for setting the record straight on the 1st district.
50-50 my butt.
Ney MAY be the only vulnerable Ohio Republican incumbent and that includes Dewine. The DIMS have a ways to go to flip these seats.

Meantime, we have a chance to add to our column Strickland and Brown's 6th and 13 Districts.
Brown will have done us a double favor by running for seante and losing while Lorain GOP Mayor Craig Foltin fills his seat.

Developing....

I have a question about Hillary. Why do people hate her so much? I'm not talking about rabid political junkies, I mean average people. I am perplexed by the reaction I get when mentioning her name from moderate republicans, swing and indepedent voters, and most especially, women. Am I crazy, or do they seem to hate her the most? Chris, this would be a great article.

Fair points, Pete and RMill, CC is not hiding the reason behind his post in this case.

But I stand by my point that horse race journalism speaks to the lowest common denominator of political reporting. Likewise, the great money race does not have any bearing on the quality of a candidate. And I find it a shame that these window-dressing issues are given more importance in politcal journalism than the debate of substantive issues of the day.

God knows, if the MSM and the citizens of the United States actually cared about the issues, extremists like George W. Bush would never get elected. It is a sad state of affairs indeed.

More on Ohio CD 1:
Chabot won in 2004 60-40%. The district includes Hamilton and Butler Counties and Cong. Chabot outpaced Bush by a significant margins in both counties.
Bush Chabot
Hamilton 53-47% 59-41%
Butler 66-34% 77-23%

I agree. The main thing is it delivered what was advertised. All too often, articles are billed as anaylsis and end up being jockey reports. The title is clear: The 2006 Horse Race.

As to the 1st House District in Ohio, this district is heavily republican, held since 1994 by Congressman Chabot when the current district was redrawn after the 1990 census (there was a delay after the 1990 Census due to a legal challenge).

Dear FairAndBalanced? and Intrepid Liberal,

Some of us enjoy reading about electoral horse-race politics. I read this blog for that particular purpose, not for policy analysis. If I want to know about policy, I can read the article on Gonzalez's testimony, or the one about about Bush's budget proposal, currently the top two articles on the Post's website. White House Briefing, Think Tank Town, Early Warning, and The Debate come to mind as Washingtonpost blogs/columns that are more policy/politics oriented. Clearly, no one is losing reporting on policy and politics to reporting on elections. If you think reading about horse-race politics is a waste of time, then read something else the Post provides, and spare us your superior attitudes.

Wow, Mr. Latas. You are a very impressive candidate and I wish you success in your campaign! Thank you for your remarkable record of service and dedication to substantive issues that need immediate attention (DU, energy, envt, etc). Blessings and love for your son in his battle. I will try to help where I can!

I would like to invite you personally to a gathering of veteran candidates meeting in DC on Wednesday, 8 Feb. This is a historic event; being this is the first time since 1946 this nation has seen so many veterans running for a congressional office, now at 52 Democrats. Hope to see you there so you can see that there are many others that have a great shot at winning. You can contact my office via my web site, www.jefflatas.com.

Forgotten Senate races:

1) Missouri - Is there a tighter race in the country? D=46, R=43

2) Tennessee - no incumbent running and primary only for (R).

3) Arizona - Kyl has staggeringly low approval #s, can Pederson finally capitalize?

4) Nevada - rising speculation Goodman will enter race. Very low #s for Ensign as well.

Keep it up, Hardball.

For more election news and analysis, go to http://rothenbergpoliticalreport.blogspot.com

I concur with the comment about horse race journalism. Anyone prefer reading about important substance like the crying need for an energy policy?

Read the current posting in the *Intrepid Liberal Journal* entitled, "Lesson From Brazil: How to Develop An Energy Policy".

http://www.intrepidliberaljournal.blogspot.com

What about Ohio's First District? The DCCC just had a fundraiser there for John Cranley, it's basically a 50-50 district...

CC: from the article you co-wrote with Balz: " That contest pits Rep. Sherrod Brown against Iraq war veteran Paul Hackett, who excited liberal bloggers last year..." Saying "liberal bloggers" are excited by a war veteran makes little sense AND sounds like you are buying into GOP labeling efforts. Liberal bloggers were undoubtedly excited by Kucinich; mainstream Democrats (think of those who were at one point called "Reagan Democrats") are more likely to be interested in Hackett.

Of course, you could say that the so-called "Reagan Democrats" are only Democrats when they vote Republican. When they vote Democrat our friends at the NRC undoubtedly define them as 'liberals' (shame on them!). Marketing schemes that rely on voter stupidity are a choice. However, playing along with this kind of bias should be something I'd think you'd want to avoid.

Thanks for ignoring my questions of substance in your chat and instead choosing to focus on the real important national issues such as NY State politics, VT politics, Hillary Clinton's divisiveness (clearly your favorite topic) and the Super Bowl. You are a disease on journalism.

Its interesting that many articles have cited that Missouri Sen. Jim Talent is a solid favorite for reelection even though he has been behind in 2 public polls. His opponent Claire Mckaskill is a well known MO political figure, who seems attractive and barely lost her run for Governor 2 years ago in a strongly GOP year. If this year has a Democratic tilt which seems possible I think she would almost definitely benefit from it and win. Talent only barely beat Jean Carnahan, who though a nice lady, was a terrible Senator and Candidate in a strongly GOP year. There is a strong democratic party in Missouri, and its very possible, maybe even more likely than Rhode Island and Ohio to switch parties this year.

More horse-race journalism. That's exactly what this country needs.

Meanwhile, the GOP refuses to swear in Alberto Gonzales at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on NSA spying.

Go here for liveblogging: http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/