I'll tell you how... Read this post. If the choice with Snowe and Collins is a 50% ACU rating versus a Leahy or Sanders or Kerry with a 5% ACU rating, I'll take Snowe and Collins every time.
NY23 was an aberration, in that there wasn't a primary. If there was, Collins would have won the primary and the results of the election would be different. Expect to see that happen in 2010.
You take the wins you can get, and you keep pushing to increase your margins. The way to replace Snowe and Collins is to recruit better, more conservative candidates to challenge them in the primaries, and hopefully win the primaries and become the new Senator.
But until that happens, I'd take Snowe and Collins every time over a Leahy or Kerry or Sanders. Win when you can, and work for bigger margins of victory in the future. NEVER turn down a win.
I am beginning to think our voice is in the minority. Dimocrats have to love this.
The way to replace Snowe and Collins is to recruit better, more conservative candidates to challenge them in the primaries, and hopefully win the primaries and become the new Senator.
I agree with this mostly, but there are some states, like IL where you just are not going to ever get better than a McCain or even a Snowe, but that's way better than Durbin or Burris.
BTW McCain would be incredibly conservative for most voters. Chicago has an almost insurmountable vote creating machine and when only a small minority of potential voters even go out to the polls - you get a Dem crush. At the same time, if a real fiscal conservative could tap dance around certain issues (or is it soft shoe?), they'd win here. IL is ripe for a change, but it would have to be a very sophisticated and deep pocketed candidate - which our press utterly hates.
I don't know where some of these posters live, but we have a rabid homosexual lobby, a rabid race machine, a media that is their free PR service and shell shocked voters. IL is like living in Camp 22, North Korea for a conservative.
Look at what happened to Chicago Lady. She was great, hit the issues, but the press acted like she was from Mars. I know people who tell their ward committeeman, "who do you want me to vote for?" and trade their vote for a garbage can (that they can have anytime and that they paid for).
Chicago Lady, I pinged you as a courtesy since I mentioned you. Please chime in your experience would be educational.