News from the Votemaster

Republicans Play Hardball with Murkowski     Permalink

Not content with removing her from her leadership position in the Senate (she was in the #5 slot and the highest-ranking Republican woman in the Senate), the Republican Senate caucus has also decided to remove her as the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, an important slot for her considering that Alaska is an oil-rich state. The move was a twofer (maybe a threefer?) for the Republicans. First, it was done to spite her for deciding to run for senator as a write-in candidate. The Republicans are hopping mad at her for this. Second, it undercuts her campaign by making it impossible for her to claim that she would have far more influence than freshman Joe Miller. In effect, if she won, she would be a freshman, too--although if push came to shove and she won and threatened to caucus with the Democrats, she'd get her seniority back in a nanosecond. Third, the interim ranking member will be Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), although he is already the ranking member on the Veterans Affairs Committee and members are not allowed to hold two top slots. This new post may help Burr in his reelection campaign. On the other hand, the Senate will adjourn within a couple of weeks and no bills will emerge from the committee in this period, so the moves are entirely symbolic. The Republicans want to teach Murkowski a lesson and hurt her every way they can.

For comparison's sake, when Sen. Joe Lieberman showed equal disrespect for his constituents in 2006 by running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary, the Senate Democrats did not strip him of his seniority on the spot as the Republicans will do today to Murkowski. In fact, when Lieberman won, he was welcomed back into the caucus with no punishment at all. This difference is very characteristic of how the two parties operate. The Republicans are very focused and run top-down, with strong party discipline and clear rules. If you violate them, you are punished swiftly. The Democrats are far less coherent. Will Rogers' old joke is still applicable. When someone asked him if he was a member of an organized political party he said: "I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat."

This strong party organization helps the Republicans and hurts the Democrats in many ways. For nearly two years, the Republicans with fewer than 180 seats in the House and 40-41 in the Senate have been amazingly successful at watering down or blocking most of Obama's legislation. During the Bush administration, when the Democrats had a much stronger minority position, they weren't able to block anything. Even now, when polls show that a clear majority of Americans want the Bush tax cuts for the rich to expire, the Democrats are not lining up behind the bill to do that. The inability to get all the members of the majority party behind a popular bill that puts your opponents in a real bind just before a crucial election is hardly a sign of strength.

In a certain sense, this difference is not surprising. In a new poll, About 62% of Republican voters, prefer their politicians to take a strong position and then refuse to back down from it whereas 54% of Democratic voters want their politicians to compromise with the other side.

National Committee Fundraising Totals for August Are in     Permalink

All six national fundraising totals are now in. Here are the figures (in millions of dollars) for the August fundraising totals, cash on hand, and debt. On the whole, the parties are roughly in balance although the Democrats have a bit more as we head into the homestretch.

Some Republicans are worried that their financial conditions may hinder the state parties in their get-out-the-vote efforts. Often when a state party doesn't have the resources to mobilize a big GOTV campaign, the national party jumps in to help. This year that will be harder.

Raese Leads Manchin in West Virginia     Permalink

A new PPP poll in West Virginia puts John Raese (R) slightly ahead of Gov. Joe Manchin (D-WV) by 3%. This race was expected to be a slam dunk for the popular Manchin against wealthy businessman and perpetual candidate Raese, but this poll suggests that it may be closer than expected.

Today's Polls: AK CA DE NV NY OH PA WI WV     Permalink

New Senate Polls