Imperial
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- Joined
- Apr 22, 2008
- Messages
- 3,050
Unless you get a pretty liberal IPer running, nobody is going to be able to touch Klobuchar.
Here is my order of pickups that I think we should most focus on, combining viability and ideology.
UTAH: Jason Chaffetz is on the fast-track to party leadership, despite his open conflict with the neocon wing of the party. Considering Utah's party convention that can really control the results, I see this being a cheap pickup that we could get some outside help on.
MISSOURI: Sarah Steelman has already announced she is running for the Senate seat. She is not explicitly one of us, but when she ran for Governor in 2008 she attended CFL events and was considerate of our views. This will be an expensive race, but she should get some outside help from conservative interests (despite the likely entrance of former GOP Sen. Jim Talent).
FLORIDA: Word on the street is that Mike Hadripolos and Representative Mack both are looking at runs for Nelson's seat. Both are libertarian-leaning and both have the connections to be powerful fundraisers. Remember, it is important we recruit candidates who do not have to rely on us for fundraising this cycle because Ron Paul will suck away a decent chunk of that steam. They may not be perfect, but we wouldn't have to do to much to micromanage their bids.
NEW MEXICO: I include this only if Gary Johnson could run. I made a thread about this many months ago, but I think that his ability to self fund, name recognition in the state he governed, and ideology all make for an excellent pickup opportunity. However, if we have anybody else runs (including Kokesh) it is a non-starter.
TEXAS: Kay Bailey Hutchison will never make it out of a primary here. That being said, the question is who to run? Ron Paul could theoretically run and take a primary that pitted some of the big players; however, it seems we may need Dr. Paul to give us a top of the ticket effect for some people down ballot. Besides that, with his new subcommittee chairmanship he has no need to try to gain more influence in the more elite body. If he runs it will be for the big one. We could also see Debra Medina run, but the Glenn Beck affair really destroyed a lot of her credibility here. She would also surely face a strong fight against a Democrat (despite it being Texas), who would smell blood from a candidate with such a serious gaffe. I think Medina should run for the future, but a bit of time would probably be in order to reframe herself. I prefer a run for Dr. Paul's House seat when it opens up, but we will see.
MAINE: Many don't see incumbent GOP Senator Olympia Snowe making it out of a primary. If the environment is right, I think it could definitely happen. The nice thing here is it looks like we have a classical liberal with legitimate Tea Party connections ready to run with a bit of cash. His name is Andrew Ian Dodge, director of the state Tea Party Patriots. He openly trashes social conservatism and seems skeptical of the drug war and similar state overreaches. The big problem? Even if we get him out of a primary (which is a big if with LePage supporting Snowe), he will have to win in a Maine that will not have a massive enthusiasm gap and split moderate candidates. Maine's proclivity for third party candidates would also throw off the election calculus, although perhaps in his favor if 2010 is an indicator.
There are other potential places we could do decently with the right candidate in the right circumstances. These include:
-Mike Doherty running in New Jersey if Senator Menendez chose to retire
-Peter Schiff running in a three-way with Lieberman and a cleared primary field
-Chuck Devore or Tom Campbell in California if Feinstein retired for whatever reason (extremely unlikely). Campbell may run just b/c of California's new Top 2 primary, which will help his chances of surviving primary stage; Devore has indicated he will run for something in 2012, although he has not said what.
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