It's been a while since I've posted here at MyDD, largely because I've been trying to steer clear of the Presidential race. I'm writing here tonight about a different topic instead, but one that means a great deal to me nonetheless. It's the reelection campaign of my US Senator, Frank Lautenberg, and I want to tell you why he deserves your support in what is appearing to be a strong primary challenge in June.

I first became active in New Jersey Democratic politics at the age of 13, in the fall of 2001. By roughly a year later, towards the end of September 2002, I was fully engaged in both online and offline campaign efforts (posting with regularity at MyDD.com and working for my local Congressional campaign). One of the races I was watching was the U.S. Senate race involving Democratic incumbent Bob Torricelli and a Republican with a checkbook and little else, Doug Forrester. I got home in time from school on September 30th to watch as the corruption-plagued Torricelli announced his withdrawal from an increasingly doomed reelection bid. The question that quickly emerged was as to who would replace Torricelli as the Democratic Party's nominee; with the Senate hanging in the balance that November, holding Torricelli's seat was essential.

It was at this point that I first learned about Frank Lautenberg.

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(By the end of this post, you'll want to contribute heavily to Congressman Tom Allen's Senate campaign.  Keep the link handy.)

Susan Collins is approaching the conclusion of her second term as Maine's junior Senator, the seat she first won in 1996.  Her employment history prior to serving as a U.S. Senator includes twelve years on the staff of U.S. Senator William Cohen (R-ME), so she is no stranger to the machinations of representing the state of Maine in the U.S. Senate.

While Collins has presented herself as a moderate or centrist in order to maximize the breadth of her appeal to Maine voters, when one looks at the entirety of her record, what is evidenced is overwhelming double-talk and an undue allegiance to the far-right wing of the Republican Party and the current Bush administration.  It has become clear that Susan Collins is out of step with mainstream Maine voters and is far too comfortable being patently dishonest when it suits her political ends.

(Much, much, much more below the fold.)

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Today, as five of the Republican Presidential candidates speak to an audience of Jewish Republicans, Senator Frank Lautenberg has asked these candidates to condemn Ann Coulter's recent comments about Jews.

You can condemn Coulter as well by signing this petition.

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Cross-posted from Blue Jersey

With the announcements that neither Chris Christie or Mike Ferguson will challenge Senator Frank Lautenberg in 2008, the Republicans' chances to take that seat are very weak. This is not because Christie or Ferguson are better candidates than Senator Lautenberg -- they're not (especially Ferguson, who knows he cannot win statewide). Rather, these were the two candidates with the ability to raise the kind of money that is required for a competitive statewide contest.

Think about it: a total of $35 million went into the 2006 race between Senator Menendez and Tom Kean, Jr. Governor Corzine has spent tens of millions on his two statewide runs. The media markets are expensive and so is the field operation. Only certain people can raise this kind of money, and none of them are in this race.

Lautenberg has to be happy with this news. Just last month, Chuck Todd rated Lautenberg as the 10th most vulnerable incumbent Senator:

Despite Republicans' dismal track record over the past 30 years, they never completely punt on Senate races here. But there's a big difference between keeping a race technically "competitive" and actually winning.

Everyone thought Lautenberg would go into this race with an advantage, but who knew it'd be this big? The departures of Christie and Ferguson make his choice to seek re-election an even easier one. (Chuck Schumer basically confirmed that Lautenberg is running earlier this week.)

Still, others might find Lautenberg's good fortune to be somewhat disappointing: Reps. Rob Andrews, Frank Pallone, Rush Holt, Steve Rothman, and Bill Pascrell. It's not that they bear ill will toward their senior Senator, but they were hopeful he'd opt out of running again. They, like Menendez once did, have been building their warchests to best position themselves to move up to the Senate, and with Lautenberg's re-election, they will likely ride the bench until 2014.

But our ambitious representatives should look on the bright side: their loss can be the House Democrats' gain. If it becomes clear early on that their Republican challengers are merely nominal (as they were in 2006), the 'Use It or Lose It' campaign can be kicked into gear. In 2006, NJ candidates had less than three weeks to benefit from 'Use It or Lose It' -- this time they can have more than three months. This will bolster candidates in New Jersey's 7th, 5th, and 3rd districts. It will put Republicans on the defensive in a year they want to spend attacking Democratic freshman.

As with Republicans statewide, money is an extremely important qualification for Democratic candidates in these districts. In the 7th, Linda Stender lost by a point, so the DCCC and other national organizations will be back to help her. But for candidates in the 5th and 3rd where Democrats lost by 11 and 17 points, the DCCC will not be rushing to their aid. Early money from safe Democrats may be their best chance to succeed.

Luckily for them, Lautenberg is holding his seat down, and there should be plenty of money to go around. New Jersey's Congressional Democrats should remember that they'll have another 6 years to build their warchests, but only so much time to expand their caucus.

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Jonathan already posted on this, but I want took at the implications of one of Schumer's comments from earlier today:"We have now gotten 11 of the 12 Democrats to commit to running again. [Iowa Sen.] Tom Harkin is still making up his mind," Schumer said, going on to lavish praise on the 67-year-old Democrat. "He's a great senator. He does more in a couple of years than many senators have done in a lifetime." Whoa. I mean, just whoa. If true, this means all of the following:

• John Kerry plans to run again in 2008, making all of those warchests in Massachusetts look pretty, well, useless on top of being selfish. Reminds of one of the counters to the Use It Or Lose It campaign back in October.
  
  
• Ditto on New Jersey when it comes to Use It Or Lose It. Several House Democrats in New Jersey are holding onto huge sums of cash, but if Lautenberg is running again, they won't be useful until at least 2012, and probably 2014. Of course, if Lautenberg is running again, it does become slightly more difficult to hold this seat given Lautenberg's low approval ratings, although it shouldn't be a major worry consider the resilience of the Democratic Party in the Garden State.
  
  
• If Biden plans to run again, he certainly doesn't have much faith in his own Presidential campaign, which he officially announced today. I also see a big opening for a primary challenge if Biden is running for President while also running for Senate. After, it was doing just that in 2000 that helped fuel the early stages of anti-Lieberman resentment in Connecticut. Thus, given his position as the chair of the foreign relations committee, he better not screw up or simply tip-toe around the edges of his Iraq oversight mandate if he wants to avoid a serious challenge.
  
  
• If Tim Johnson has decided to run again, not only will his health probably end up being an issue, but it will also probably end up being an impediment to his ability to campaign. Then again, he might end up looking like a sympathetic figure because of his health, thereby avoiding a serious challenger.

Given just how big the ramifications would be, and how many different Senate races it impacts, Schumer may not have been telling the entire story when he stated that 11 of 12 Senators have agreed to run again. However, if he was giving the real down low and QT on the Senate with his statement, then it is clearly huge news.