[courtesy of Blog for America]

I have read a lot of news stories ever since Obama secured the Democratic nomination about potential Vice Presidential contenders, and some of them concerned me. Not because I don't like the people he is considering for the job- I love most of them. The reason I am concerned is because some of them are Senators from states which were hard fought and won with slim margins.

While I do understand that Obama wants his Presidential campaign to win (I want Obama to win too), and he may believe that picking someone from a state that he may have trouble winning is a good strategic move, there are other factors to consider.

Nevermind that picking a Senator from a particular state doesn't guarantee victory in that state (Kerry didn't carry Edwards' home state in 2004).  The most important thing Obama has to consider is the party's control of the Senate, and beyond that- the party's margin of control in the Senate. Even if the party picks up Senate seats as expected this year, a filibuster needs 60 votes to be overcome, and we can expect the Republicans to try and use them as often as possible. If we really want to end this war and get progressive legislation passed- we can't afford to pull Democratic Senators out of states that were difficult to win in the first place.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Filing for Assembly and State Senate seats opens Monday!

By Frank D. Russo

With the defeat of Proposition 93 on term limits, at least 24 of California’s 80 Assembly seats and 10 of 40 Senate seats will have new occupants—and many of these races will be decided in the June 3, 2008 primary that is 128 days down the road.

Haven’t caught your breath from yesterday’s Super Tuesday presidential primary where the votes are still being counted? Filing for this next round—more important now in filling the state legislature begins Monday and closes March 7 for all of these 34 races.

Candidates have already been busy for months raising substantial money and planning for the June election in the anticipation that term limit changes would fail on yesterday’s ballot. Now it will be official and as soon as we will begin covering these races.

Because most of these districts are strongly Democratic or Republican, nomination by the majority party in most of them will be tantamount to election in November.

by Stephen Crockett [courtesy of Blog for America]

Democrats have numerous possible opportunities to replace Republican members of Congress with Democratic challengers in 2008. Republicans are retiring at rates that must be alarming to the Republican Party. While it is difficult to keep up with the rapid pace of Republican retirement announcements, I believe that at least 26 Republican House members and 6 Republican Senators are leaving office. Only 6 Democratic House members are confirmed as retiring. Zero Democratic Senators are currently known to be leaving office. Some of the Democratic House members are seeking Senate seats.

It is understandable that the media has focused on these seats but the best news for Democrats are the number of setting Republican incumbents from relatively safe Congressional Districts in deep trouble. This column will look at one Democratic challenger who is likely to retire a long-term Republican. The challenger is Frank Kratovil from the Maryland 1st Congressional District.

(Click Read More for the rest of this post) 

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

by dday [courtesy of Calitics: Soapblox California - Front Page]

There are no Senate seats up in California in 2008, and no statewide offices up for election, so the biggest seats outside of the Presidency will be in the House of Representatives.  While we're 18 months out, I thought I'd give a snapshot of what races are most inviting for a Democratic pickup.

I'm going to concern myself solely with pickup opportunities, because the only realistic possibility of a GOP pickup is in CA-11, and I'm confident that Jerry McNerney and his grassroots army can handle whatever's thrown at him, plus he'll have the power of incumbency and the focus of the CDP.  There may be some retirements that would make things interesting (Lantos, Stark, Woolsey), but those are very blue areas.  So let's look at the best opportunities to add to the Democratic majority: