In the last couple days, there have been several posts across the blogosphere citing what various candidates running for Congress have said on FISA and retroactive immunity for the telecoms.  But so far, it's been all over the map.  I'll try to corral all their statements into this diary, so you can see who the "good guys" are.

First, let's start off with the current House and Senate members who voted against this bill.  They do deserve credit, as it's their jobs on the line.

Follow me below the fold to see the dozens of Democratic challengers who are standing up for the Constitution, and are against this FISA bill and retroactive immunity.

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And the flies just keep on dropping. Today, Congressman Mike Ferguson of New Jersey's 7th district (PVI R+1) announced he'll be retiring at the end of his term to spend more time with his family. Blue Jersey has his full statement.

Ferguson makes the 17th GOP retirement of the year and may be the most unexpected one yet. The Cook Political Report's Competitive House Race Chart listed the 2008 race for the seat as highly competitive (although "Leans Republican") due to the partisan make-up of the district and the close race Ferguson had against Linda Stender last year (he won by under 2%) but it was not on any potential open seat list. This had to be a heartbreaker for the NRCC.

Stender is running again this year (placeholder site is HERE) so expect this to be shifted to the "Toss-up" category, but while it's an excellent pick-up opportunity for the Democrats, Stender could very well have a top-tier challenger in Thomas Keane Jr., who ran for Senate last year.

From NJ Politicker:

Senate Minority Leader-designate Thomas Kean, Jr. becomes one of the most likely GOP candidates for the seat. Kean, the Republican U.S. Senate in 2006, was among the candidates who ran against Ferguson in the 7th district Republican primary in 2000, when Bob Franks gave up the seat to run for the Senate.

Between the retirement of Jim Saxton in NJ's 3rd and now Ferguson in the 7th, we have a real opportunity to firm up our hold on the Northeast and shift New Jersey's congressional delegation from 7D-6R to a split more in keeping with the voting habits of the state.

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Editor's note from the Massa for Congress blog team: Eric Massa will not be live-blogging today.  He is on the road taking his son to freshman orientation.

It has been said the eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.  The broader quote could have been written today:

Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty--power is ever stealing from the many to the few.... The hand entrusted with power becomes ... the necessary enemy of the people. Only by continual oversight can the democrat in office be prevented from hardening into a despot: only by unintermitted Agitation can a people be kept sufficiently awake to principle not to let liberty be smothered in material prosperity.

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First off, I just want to say what a great time I had at the YearlyKos fundraiser in Washington, DC, on Tuesday night. It was a blast to meet a lot of folks I've only heard about online. You can see some of the pictures from that event, including a photo of me with Dengre, in NYBri's recommended diary.

As many of you know, I defeated Richard Pombo, a seven-term Republican incumbent, and was elected to Congress in 2006 on a wave of grassroots and netroots support. But, what many of you may not know is that I ran in 2004 and lost.

Sometimes, it takes more than one election cycle for voters to realize it's time for a change. That's why I am proud to post the following request of MyDD'ers today.

Come over to the other side of this diary for the rest of the story.

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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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