We have some good candidates for senate races in south

[CMT]

I have to say this, while it is dissappointing that Bob Graham, Fritz Hollings, and John Edwards will not be running for re-election to the senate in their respective states that we do have better than passable candidates running on the Democratic ticket to replace them.

In Florida, Betty Castor is leading most of the GOP canddiates who are pitted against her and leading in the primary. (Wouldn't it be wild to have Castor vs. Kathleen Harris?? ha, ha).

In South Carolina, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Inez Tennebaum is considered our strongest candidate to keep the state in Democratic hands. In fact, a couple of months ago she did better against leading GOP candidates than Hollings did.

In North Carolina, 2002 candidate Erskine Bowles is probably the strongest candidate we could field besides Edwards. He is battle tested, has a full warchest and name recognition and did better than expected against Elizabeth Dole in the very GOP year of 2002.


Now Georgia has been a disappointment. We have not recruited a strong candidate yet. However, this is one state where I'm glad the "Democratic" senator--Zell Miller is stepping down, becuz if we are going to have a senator voting for Bush not only in the senate but in the election the state may as well have a GOP Senator. But hopefully a real democrat will win and Atty Gen. Thurston Baker may be a good choice for Democrats to unite behind.

How about Louisiana?

[Lexingtonian]

1. Louisiana

John Breaux has anointed Christopher John, the Blue Dog Congressman, his successor. There will predictably not be much love for John around DU- he seems even more prone to voting for Republican bills than Breaux.


The near-wholesale retirement of the Southern Democratic senators bugged me a lot in the beginning. But as I've looked over the national situation, there is in fact a real need for the remainder of a whole older generation of Democrats in the South to step down in the next couple of years so that the Party gets into serious renewal in the region.

The next generation of Southern Democrats presently in elected office is not exactly a cohort that evokes great confidence or enthusiasm. But I think the kind of conversion that Blanche Lincoln and Mary Landrieu have had is in the making.

[mndemocrat_29]

2. I think that it's been a great recruiting effort

Kudos have to go out to Jon Corzine and Debbie Stabenow for doing such an excellent job at recruiting in 2004.

Florida looks more and more like Betty Castor will win. I initially was cheering for Peter Deutsch, but I think I'm going to switch to Castor, who seems most likely to win in 2004. I still hope that Deutsch runs for the Senate (maybe if Sen. Nelson runs for governor in 2006 Deutsch could take up the race). However, I'm now hoping that Deutsch runs for reelection to the House (with the Colorado ruling just in, we're that much closer to winning it back and it would be great if we could have Deutsch in the majority).

In South Carolina, I cannot say enough good things about Inez Tenenbaum. She'll be an awesome senator, and though South Carolina is fairly Republican, they haven't gone without a Democratic senator in decades and decades, so Inez has history going for her. Should she win, I say she's a future vice president.

Without a superstar like Elizabeth Dole (who would've been nearly impossible for anyone to beat) to compete against, Erskine Bowles should do rather well. I'll bet that many Democrats who switched over to vote for Dole will come back to vote for Bowles in 2004, probably enough to win him the election.

Georgia is a disappointment. I really wish that Max Cleland would reconsider, or that Rep. Denise Majette would jump in. However, this doesn't seem likely right now.

Louisiana also looks good, especially given the major Democratic victories they've had lately.

With good candidates in Pennsylvania, Alaska, and Illinois, along with a possible upset in Missouri, 2004 could be the year we take the majority back for keeps (as 2006 looks even better for the Democrats)

[ebw]

3. We're fond of Castor too

We sent our good friend down to Tampa to work for the Campaign.