BTW, Fields lost a court battle to be on the ballot in his re-elect bid for state senate, and so found himself out of a job this election cycle.
NC’s kind of a downer. We don’t even contest the Etheridge or McIntyre seats seriously, Robin Hayes is just hanging in there, and I’m still wondering if we can knock off Shuler next year. It’s almost like Arkansas, three Dem seats that could be contested, but we just let them go. Meanwhile, the Dems are picking over any GOP seat they can find that even remotely looks competitive.
And Tennessee has one of the worst examples of packing with the seventh district that drains out the GOP areas out of Tanner and Gordon’s districts. At least Lincoln Davis is thinking of running for governor, which would open up his seat.
Just heartbreaking. ;-D
"NC’s kind of a downer. We don’t even contest the Etheridge or McIntyre seats seriously"
Etheridge is especially galling. McIntyre is supposedly given a pass because he's "more Conservative", but even we shouldn't let that stop us. He's still voting for Pelosi for Speaker, and any Dem that does should be attacked mercilessly in GOP-leaning or marginal districts.
"Robin Hayes is just hanging in there,"
He got through his worst cycle. Remember, the district he is in was designed for him to lose, and he beat the rodents' plan not once, but twice. He should be OK for '08.
"and I’m still wondering if we can knock off Shuler next year."
I think we needed someone from the legislative ranks in that area, but Sen. Tom Apodaca took a pass. FR's own "Congressman Billybob", John Armor, is running, but I told him point blank that if he doesn't raise close to a million dollars, he's not going to pose a threat to Shuler. Although it would be nice to have a FReeper rise to Congress, he has to know he's third tier (second, if he had the $$). At least Charles Taylor spared us a spectacle of trying to run again. He was simply too damaged. It's really a shame, as he put that district previously into the solid GOP column after it had seen a back-and-forth over the years.
"It’s almost like Arkansas, three Dem seats that could be contested, but we just let them go."
Yup, though with 2 of them, they are regarded as "more Conservative", so they don't bother. In the case of the Little Rock seat, that one is clearly occupied by someone to the left of his constituents, but it's still difficult to knock off incumbents.
"Meanwhile, the Dems are picking over any GOP seat they can find that even remotely looks competitive."
Yup, and don't forget they hold more than a few seats that are ludicrously majority GOP (Matheson in UT; Chet Edwards & Nick Lampson in TX, for starters). Conversely, we have almost zero that are similarly heavily rodent (last time we did was after the '94 elections and prior to that in some instances).
"And Tennessee has one of the worst examples of packing with the seventh district that drains out the GOP areas out of Tanner and Gordon’s districts."
Rodent gerrymandering in my state is an art form. You're talking about a gang of thugs that after they saw the state slipping away from them after Baker v. Carr in the mid '60s conspired to disenfranchise the emerging GOP majority. We briefly held 5 out of then-8 seats in 1972 (including the then-near majority Black Memphis district, pre-Ford) and even elected a House Speaker in 1969 when we tied them, but in the case of the latter, that would be the high water mark. We have not gotten that number of House seats in 40 years in the legislature, and as a percentage of the overall delegation, not since, either (although we had 5 out of 9 from 1995-2003). Since 1994 we have had a majority voting preference for Republicans, but aside from the 3 elections afterwards federally, the past 3 elections haven't reflected the will of the people. Same for the House, which has seen a clear majority voting for GOP candidates, many of whom are corralled into hyper-GOP areas with huge turnout, while rodents occupy low-voting areas and others winning by relatively smaller margins. Nashville, which should have close to 40% GOP representation, for example, has 10%. If we got control of the line-drawing in this state, based on the voting patterns of the past decade, we could flip the House from 40-45% GOP to at least 70% (similar to what happened in VA when they busted the gerrymander and got control, but they've been steadily slipping downwards because of their own mismanagement and RINO shenanigans). Aside from the inner-city urban areas, there's no need for a single solitary Dem to hail from any rural or suburban districts, none. That would be a real revolution in this state.
"At least Lincoln Davis is thinking of running for governor, which would open up his seat."
Unfortunately, that won't be until 2010. Davis will have to move to the left to get the nomination in a Dem primary. He'd have an easier time if he switched parties. As it is, Junior Ford is putting out feelers to run, so if the two of them go head to head, it will get ugly. Even more could jump in. I'd say the race is the Republicans to lose, because the outgoing Gov will be the rodent we have now, who has presided over a fairly corrupt administration. Of course, because they're all rodents, the media ignores it. How many states do you know of had 1/3rd of its members in one political body either under investigation, under indictment, on trial, or in prison -- all at once ? We do. And every last one of them is a rodent -- including Junior's uncle. Media ain't interested. If it were Republican... well, you know how it goes.