Sen. Breaux, D-La., to Retire Next Year

[cjbuchanan]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20031215/ap_on_el_se/breaux

Another centrist Southern Dem Senator to leave.

[Jacobin]

1. Possible replacements:

Richard Ieyoub,D., Attorney general for years, ran unsuccessful race for governor this year. He would be okay.

Susie (Horseface) Terrell, R, extreme RW nutball who ran against Mary Landrieu for Senate and lost in 2002. She would be a disaster.

Don't know about other possibilities.

[goobergunch]

4. I heard that our likely nominee is Rep. Chris John

who is even worse than Breaux. Republican possibilities also include Rep. David Vitter and failed Gubernatorial nominee Bobby Jindal.

[Hippo_Tron]

12. Ieyoub is a totally corrupt piece of shit...

If he were the only democrat running I wouldn't vote...

[FrenchieCat]

2. Yep....

and a Republican can just be elected in his place...that makes 5 centrist Democratic seats up in the south for election 2004.

Unless we have a southern strategy AT THE TOP OF THE TICKET, we are royaly screwed! Bu-Buy Filibusters.

We have such a candidate, but Karl Rove and company said "No Clark on the top of the ballot.....we want Dean instead."

Hel-lo EXTREME RIGHT WING JUDGES.

and the media said...OK, we will not bring Clark's name up unless he is actually appearing. We will leave him out of analysis, and will only casually mention him when we are bringing up smears.

If not back to Paris, here is where I am going:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/skilled/index.html

sickening, sickening, sickening!

[tom_paine]

3. On the other hand, the Emperor nominated all 63 slots that were held up

durng the Clinton days (The Last Days of the Old Republic).

Plus something like 102 of 106 nominations the Emperor got, as well.

So the Democrats aren't really being very effective here, but you are right, from limited effectiveness to "Mwhahahahaha! NO ONE can stop me!" for the Busheviks.

Which a significant difference and much worse across all fronts, I do agree.

[truthseeker1]

5. Who are the five?

Graham, Breaux.....who are the other three?

(I agree. This is as an important issue as who wins POTUS.)

[Josh]

6. Hollings, SC; Edwards, NC; and Miller, GA

nt.

[Lexingtonian]

7. Southern seats/campaigns

Breaux (LA) => Christopher John's to lose (vs Vitter, Jindal)

Graham (FL) => lots of high profile candidates

Z. Miller (GA) => Johnny Isakson's to lose (no D wants to run)

Hollings (SC) => Inez Tanenbaum vs Jim DeMint

Edwards (NC) => Richard Burr vs Erskine Bowles

I think we have close to locks for John(D) and Isakson(R). The races in the Carolinas look as if they could easily split even as well.

The Florida seat is the most important individual one since it is the most populous and wealthy (iirc) state. I like Betty Castor's chances there but it's unclear how she or any of the other Democrats in the running match up to the likely Republican nominee, Mel Martinez. (I think she wins if she does it carefully and well.)

I'd guess that net we're going from 3.5 Democratic seats to 2.5. As a matter of numbers in the Congress, that's not an improvement. But even if we don't get 2.5, the retirements are helpful in the party transforming itself and its image in the South. Republicans have been successful in the South by both running against and coopting everything the Old Democrats stood for. That formula runs out of effectiveness when the Old Democrats are all gone from the scene.

[mndemocrat_29]

8. The Carolinas could split

2004 would be a great victory in the Senate if we could send both Bowles and Tenenbaum to the Senate. Not only would they make great senators, but both of them winning would indicate a sweep that would likely carry to other swingstates (Florida, Oklahoma, and Alaska). John looks basically like a lock in Louisiana, the Republican victor will probably win in Georgia.

[truthseeker1]

10. What about Katherine Harris?

Thanks for the info. What about Harris in Florida? I keep hearing that she has her eye on Graham's seat.

[Hippo_Tron]

14. Bush Doesn't want Katherine Harris to run...

He wants his Secretary of (I belive Agriculture) to be the top Republican in the race. He figures Katherine Harris on the ticket will bring back bad memories and loose Florida for him.

[Hippo_Tron]

11. Well, not if we win the white house...

[CityDem]

9. We did not need this

In a year where hard money contributions are the key, it is going to be very difficult to defend 5 open senate seats in the south. This will be very expensive and will require a great deal of financial resources. Someone like Breaux or Grahm were locks if they ran and required very little money. I can see us losing 4-5 senate seats in 2004. We will havet to continue to use the fillibuster unless Dean beats Bush which is going to be a tough job.

[Hippo_Tron]

13. Dean beats Bush? WTF are you talking about...

This is a discussion about open Senate seats, not who you think is going to win the nomination.