I Love Tea...No, Really, I'm Starting To Like It

Here it is: my complete and final list of non-Georgia races to watch come election night. I ended up with 11 and, quite frankly, made some mistakes along the way. Most notably, #4. If you view my previous two posts about these races I had already typed in Mike Castle as the Republican nominee for Senate in Delaware. I was wrong. Completely, surprisingly, totally, and WONDERFULLY wrong. Christine O'Donnell is the sole reason for the title of this post. I thought Rand Paul, Sharon Angle, and Rick Scott were bad. They look like acceptable professionals compared to Ms. O'Donnell. Republican voters are shooting themselves in the proverbial feet with these races. And come November, they'll be slapping themselves on the forehead. There are so many of these races that SHOULD NOT BE CLOSE IN A YEAR LIKE THIS...but they are...because conservatives are choosing their nominees from West of Crazytown, a little to the right of Insaneville, just outside of LostTheirMinds-ington. #s 4, 6, 7, and 11 are states that, in this climate, should have been in the bag, but are now up in the air. Thanks for that by the way. The tea tastes great.

1. Florida Senate: Meek (D) vs. Crist (I) vs. Rubio (R)

2. California Senate: Boxer (D) vs. Fiorina (R)

3. Connecticut Senate: Blumenthal (D) vs. McMahon (R)

4. Delaware Senate: O'Donnell (R) vs. Coons (D)

5. Indiana Senate: Coats (R) vs. Ellsworth (D)

6. Alaska Senate: Miller (R) vs. McAdams (D) vs. Possible Write-In Candidacy For Murkowski

7. Kentucky Senate: Paul (R) vs. Conway (D)

8. Rhode Island Governor: Chaffee (I) vs. Caprio (D) vs. Robitaille (R)

9. California Governor: Whitman (R) vs. Brown (D)

10. Maine Governor: LePage (R) vs. Mitchell (D) vs. Cutler (I)

11. Florida Governor: Sink (D) vs. Scott (R)

Okay, so for weeks now I've been promising endorsements/support in these races. It's well known by now that I'm not completely the most liberal Democrat out there. I agree with the Democratic Party on the majority of the issues, but I refuse to "straight ticket" vote. I will not vote for someone just because he or she is a Democrat. That being said, some of these races are on this list because they are fun to watch, not because my support is in the air. Some are easy picks:

2. Boxer (D). In a Democratic state, she's a Democratic powerhouse. She's good for the party, and she's good for her state. Period.

4. Coons (D). He's not crazy. O'Donnell is. I'm not going to lie. I was fully prepared to endorse Mike Castle in this race because he is not that far to the right, and he's been a major benefit to Delaware during his years in the house. Overall I thought (and still think) he would have been the best fit. But you can't win them all.

6. McAdams (D). Have you met Joe Miller? Enough said.

7. Conway (D). One Paul is enough. Ron isn't completely out on the fringe of the right. But I have no respect for Rand, pandering to old school thought about Civil Rights legislation and then whining when he's called out on it.

9. Brown (D). Experience. Jerry Brown.

11. Sink (D). Rick Scott is big insurance. He is a poster-boy for why we needed health insurance reform. He defrauded seniors through Medicare. He makes me sick.

I assume all of you can count and keep up, but I'll say it anyway: this leaves #s 1, 3, 5, 8, and 10. Numbers 1, 8, and 10 are on the list because of the influence of Independent candidates this year. In Florida and Rhode Island, it was Republicans pushed out of the party for not being conservative enough. In Maine, it was a Democrat switching over. In Florida my support goes to: Charlie Crist (I). He is the Governor, he knows what he's doing, he's experienced enough for the job and when it comes down to the issues that matter, he's got his head around the solutions. His common sense experience is needed in the Senate. For the same reasons, my support in Rhode Island goes to Lincoln Chaffee (I). Same things, except for not in the Senate. In Maine, I'm sticking with the Democrat, Libby Mitchell (D).

This leaves two races: the Connecticut Senate race and the Indiana Senate race. In Indiana, I think Dan Coats having been a Senator before is a good thing, and I don't think he's crazy. Which is a legitimate issue this year. But he has some lobbying ties that he's sweeping under the rug and using rhetoric like "Obama-Pelosi-Ellsworth" health care bill. So in the end, my support here stays with Ellsworth (D). Here's the final one...literally, the last one I decided. My support in the Connecticut Senate race goes to: Linda McMahon (R). The wrestling business is a non-issue for me. She was involved in show business, she was damn good at it. Get over it. Richard Blumenthal has an integrity problem that I simply cannot get past. I think Ms. McMahon is a moderate, with business knowledge, who probably isn't likely to get caught up in being the typical "politician." She's my Republican for the year.

The Ties That Bind

Yes, I have still been paying attention. No, I'm not laying down on the job. I still follow all the same elections that I was during primary season and I'm just as invested; there's just one problem: nothing seems to be changing. There is no new story and no new narrative. Nathan Deal has come out with commercials tying Roy Barnes to Barack Obama. Who didn't see that coming? Roy Barnes has spent his time tying Nathan Deal to his own corruption. Yep. Spotted that one a mile away. Casey Cagle is still as corrupt as ever, but there are still tons of folks who will vote for him. I fear that this is the hackneyed "enthusiasm gap" that the national media talks about. It's the same-ole-same-ole, every single day. Nothing new is breaking. I'm looking forward to these debates between Deal and Barnes; at least we'll have something to take away from those. But as for now, with nothing earth-shattering happening, I think Republicans are just more excited. It's their race to lose in every aspect.

Let's be honest, how many people in this state do you think could tell you who the candidates for Secretary of State are? How many know the names of the potential next Labor Commissioners, or State Superintendent of Schools? Democrats who are functioning in a Republican state (like the one we are in) are going to have to display a massive GOTV machine between now and November if something is going to change. We may not like to admit it, but here, a lot of people will walk into a voting booth and tap the box next to the name of the Republican, no matter what that name is or what baggage it carries with it. Even the people who would say that Nathan Deal is "corrupt" probably don't know why that is exactly. They can't tell you much about his auto salvage dealership...and why? Cause that's boring. Period. Voters like phrases and images they can hold onto. I.e., Roy Barnes calling Nathan Deal "too corrupt even for Washington, D.C." Let's not kid ourselves, for Carol Porter (who is still the best candidate out of any race), Michael Thurmond, Darryl Hicks, Georganna Sinkfield, Joe Martin, even Russell Edwards or any other Democrat to win, they are going to have find a way to make their names household names, and tie their names (at the very least) to a reason NOT to vote for the opponent. And right now, I'm just not feeling it with most of them. If they're counting on people just to "pick them" this year, I don't think 2010 was the best time for that strategy.