Is there a convenient list somewhere on the web of total independent expenditures on each race by the DCCC?  I'm trying to compile an improved version of my list of narrowly defeated candidates who ought to run again, and who the netroots should support and lobby the new DCCC chair (when one is chosen) to support.  One of the criteria I want to include is whether they had major DCCC support -- Tammy Duckworth, for example, probably shouldn't run again, considering the amount poured into her unsuccessful campaign.  I looked at opensecrets.org, but they don't have DCCC expenditures broken down by race, only by states and major metropolitan areas.

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I recall reading that Newt Gingrich advised Republican candidates who lost House races by less than 10% to run again in the next election; some of the infamous Class of '94 freshmen who rode the Republican wave into the House had run close races in '92, and some of '94's losers won seats in '96.  I think this is one Gingrich idea we need to adopt -- and further, we need to push the DCCC to adopt it as well.

What I would ideally like to see is a petition with a huge number of signatures delivered to the new DCCC chair on his or her first day on the job.  I think Moveon.org would be the ideal forum for collecting signatures -- on-line petition drives are a large part of what they do, and their mailing list can generate literally millions of signatures in a matter of days.

If anyone on MyDD has contacts in the management of Moveon.org, I would greatly appreciate your help in bringing this to their attention; I intend to submit it via their feedback form after incorporating any comments or suggestions from the MyDD community which seem useful.  I'd especially appreciate any information on who the new DCCC chair is likely to be, what the selection process is, and when we'll know for certain.

(petition text below the fold)

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Ordered based on a matrix of likely vulnerability and desirability of removal:

Santorum (PA)
Lott (MS)
Ensign (NV)
DeWine (OH)
Talent (MO)
Kyl (AZ)
Snowe (ME)
Chafee (RI)

Details below the fold.

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Moron Morality

I felt the need to work out some of the aggression inspired by last night's fiasco, so I've composed a few harsh words  for the largely low-income conservative Christian voters who supported Bush on the basis of so-called "moral values." If you're not fond of vitriol, read no further.

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Have you noticed how a two or three point lead for Bush is a "slim lead," whereas a two or three-point lead for Kerry (depending on whether you make it three-way or two-way -- the latter being more realistic with Nader off the ballot in so many states) is a "statistical dead heat?" What the heck is up with that?

We need to make an issue of the bill that would allow deportation of "suspected terrorists" to countries where they may be tortured -- and we need to frame it in a way that will stick in people's minds.  I think that "outsourcing torture" is ideal; it links two very unpopular practices, and then pins them on the Rethugs.  If we can get the media to pick this up, it could be a very powerful meme.  Any Senator or Congressman who's in a close race and votes for this provision should be pounded for it.  Remind people of Abu Ghraib, and point out the way this further erodes our credibility with the civilized nations of the world.
Later,
Alex

Novelist E. L. Doctorow recently wrote about Bush's incomprehension of the meaning of the lives he has thrown away -- his utter lack of empathy.  We first saw this in his smirking mockery of Karla Faye Tucker, and more generally in his unabashed pride at all the death warrants he'd signed as governor of Texas.  He has something of the same attitude toward death and violence as the sociopathic teenagers who shot up Columbine High School.  Doctorow's meditations on this appalling defect in Bush's character are appended below the fold.

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Teddy Kennedy raised this point in a speech last week at George Washington University, relating to the way in which Bush's focus on Iraq instead of Al-Qaeda has actually increased the danger of a nuclear attack on the U.S.  I think that if George W. Bush instead of John F. Kennedy had been President during the Cuban Missile Crisis, it's very unlikely that the Unites States, as such, would exist today.  Indeed, given the probable effects of a full-scale nuclear exchange between the superpowers on the global climate, there's some doubt as to whether Homo sapiens would exist today.  What seems absolutely certain, based on what we know of Bush's character, is that Bush would have invaded Cuba in response to the downing of Major Rudolph's Anderson's U-2 on October 27, unaware (just as Kennedy was) that the Soviets already had nine operational tactical nuclear missiles in Cuba which would have been used to destroy the invasion force, followed by an inevitable escalation to global nuclear war, with the destruction of most major cities of the United States, Western Europe, and the Soviet Bloc.
Later,
Alex

I've just been reading through the archives of William Saletan's "Ballot Box" column in Slate. Saletan is a moderate Republican opposed to Bush, and one of the most incicive political commentators I've ever read.  I thought I'd pull a few of the choicer quotes for you all to read, along with links to the articles (see extended entry).

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Saletan is one of the leading experts on the frame game.  He has a ten-point plan which should allow Kerry to demolish Bush in the debate on foreign policy:

1. Reframe the "consistency" issue.
2. Define Bush's problem with the truth.
3. Get muscular.
4. Elevate the financial side of the war on terror
5. Frame your multilateralism as optimism.
6. Quantify the Iraq "diversion."
7. Talk about Afghanistan
8. Turn the Republicans' scare tactic against them.
9. Come up with a good Saddam line.
10. Tone down the suck-up to women.

Each point is illustrated with a quotation from Kerry's speech in Philadelphia yesterday, sometimes with suggestions for modification or eleboration.  Read the full article here.