TPMDC Joe Donnelly
Chris Van Hollen
Van Hollen: Dems Can Still Hold House
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD).
DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen paid a visit to DNC headquarters to tell reporters that despite early losses, he still thinks Democrats can keep the House.
"Those were the [seats] who were expected to be called," he said of the first returns.
When a reporter from a different outlet told him that her network had already called a GOP takeover of the House, a visibly flustered Van Hollen insisted repeatedly "I think that's a mistake."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2010 elections, Chris Van Hollen, DCCC, House of Representatives, Joe Donnelly
Nancy Pelosi
Top Five Examples Of Dems Running Scared From Nancy Pelosi (VIDEO)
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
It's too early to predict the outcome of the 2010 elections, but one thing we know for sure: If Democrats lose their majority in the House, Nancy Pelosi will not be Speaker anymore. That's certainly one of the reasons that she doesn't bat an eye (publicly, at least) when vulnerable and conservative Democrats run from her on the campaign trail.
"Sometimes Washington gets used to a rubber-stamp Congress which was the very homogeneous Congress of the Republicans," Pelosi said on PBS last night. "We are very diverse in opinion, gender, generation, geography, philosophy and the rest -- the House Democratic Caucus -- and some members did not vote for some the bills and that's their record and that's what they go out and say. I just want them to win."
But these candidates are not just running against their records. They're singling out Pelosi as the agent in Washington with whom they disagree with the most. Below, a list of the five most blatant examples of Democrats running scared from Pelosi.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2010 elections, Barack Obama, Bobby Bright, Cap-and-Trade, Chet Edwards, Climate Change, Democrats, Health Care, Jason Altmire, Joe Donnelly, John Boehner, Mike McIntyre, Nancy Pelosi, Republicans, Stimulus
2010 elections
Indiana Democrat Bashes Obama In New Campaign Spot (VIDEO)
A new ad from Joe Donnelly (D-IN)
A political TV ad railing against Nancy Pelosi and President Obama would hardly be out of place this election season. But from a Democrat?
Rep. Joe Donnelly, a sophomore Blue Dog Democrat from Indiana's 2nd district who's facing a tough challenge from state Rep. Jackie Walorski, is out with a new campaign ad targeting House Speaker Pelosi and President Obama for belonging to the "Washington crowd." The focus of the 30-second ad is immigration, with Donnelly voicing support for efforts to secure the border and opposition to legislation that would grant amnesty to illegal immigrants.
"Because no one should be ever rewarded for breaking the law," Donnelly says in the ad. "That may not be what the Washington crowd wants. But I don't work for them. I work for you." As Donnelly says the words "Washington crowd," the ad pans over a photograph of President Obama, Pelosi, and House Minority Leader John Boehner.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2010 elections, Jackie Walorski, Joe Donnelly
IN-SEN
Indiana Senate Race Could Set Off Another Open-Seat Race -- For The House
Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-IN) and Rep. Baron Hill (D-IN)
The scramble for a new Democratic Senate candidate in Indiana, with the sudden retirement of Sen. Evan Bayh and his expected replacement by the state Democratic Party, has seen a lot of attention focused on some of the state's Democratic House members -- which could in turn set off an additional scramble to fill one of their seats, should they decide to run.
A Democratic source in Indiana filled us in on the possible candidates for the seats of three Dem House members who could conceivably become the new Senate nominee: Joe Donnelly, Brad Ellsworth and Baron Hill. (Most speculation has centered on Ellsworth and Hill, though Donnelly is not out of the question, either.) If any of these three were to accept the Democratic nomination for Senate and subsequently vacate their own nominations for the House, the party would go through an internal process to replace them as Congressional candidates.
The Democratic Party precinct chairs within the district, who are elected from each of the state's election precincts, would meet for a caucus at which they would vote for a new candidate. If more than two people were to run for a seat, and nobody were to win a majority at first, voting would continue until somebody reached 50-percent-plus-one. In this kind of process, different local allegiances and records in office can have a genuine role to play among the hundreds of people voting in the contest. "Needless to say, that is a more interesting process than the state mechanism," the source said.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2010 elections, Baron Hill, Brad Ellsworth, House '10, IN-01, IN-08, IN-09, IN-SEN, Joe Donnelly, Senate '10
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