DSCC - the rant

The Road to Victory

You're going to love our new video series, "The Road to Victory."

For the first time, the DSCC is hitting the campaign trail to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the Democratic Senate candidates, their Republican opponents, and the real people who make our efforts to expand the Democratic majority so important.

Click here to watch our new video and learn why real people think 51 Democrats in the Senate just aren't enough.

In this first episode, we went to the streets of Washington to do just that and we were so impressed by the clear and honest calls for change in November.

We're cooking up some great ideas for future episodes, so watch this space for the latest dispatch from the road.

Texas: Under the Radar

The energy and enthusiasm we saw in Texas this week was amazing. Nearly as many Democrats voted in this week's primary as voted for John Kerry in the 2004 general election.

Not only did they cast votes for president, but they also elected National Guard veteran and State Representative Rick Noriega to be our Democratic Senate candidate. Noriega will be aiming to topple Republican incumbent Senator John Cornyn in November.

Noriega has combined an engaging personal story - he was on the front lines in Afghanistan for 14 months - with a strong record of progressive leadership in the state House to build an energetic grassroots following.

Remember, John Cornyn is one of George Bush's most reliable votes in the Senate. He led the way as Republicans tried to pack our federal courts with right-wing judges. And Cornyn was ranked as the third-most conservative Senator by National Journal in 2006.

Defeating Cornyn won't be easy, but you can be certain that the DSCC and the Texas grassroots will do everything possible to elect Rick Noriega in November.

Alaska: Serious Challenger to Stevens

The DSCC continued our recruiting success in Alaska when Anchorage mayor Mark Begich announced last week that he is forming an exploratory committee in the race to take on Mr. "The Internet is a Series of Tubes" himself, Republican Senator Ted Stevens.

Stevens has been under scrutiny for alleged ties to two oil industry executives who have pled guilty to federal conspiracy, bribery, and tax charges.

Begich, on the other hand, is drawing on his experience as a successful two-term mayor of Alaska's largest city to build a 6-point lead in early polling.

Stevens is in trouble, but he hasn't served in the Senate for 40 years without building an impressive political operation in Alaska. This is sure to be a close race. But now that it looks like a very strong Democrat will be entering the contest, it's one we can win.

New Mexico: A Special Screening of An Inconvenient Truth Needed

Al Gore has taught us that if we don't do something about global warming, it will spell disaster for our planet and potentially even our civilization.

So how do you explain that New Mexico Republican Senate candidate Rep. Steve Pearce earned a shocking zero percent rating in the latest congressional scorecard from the League of Conservation Voters?

Steve Pearce didn't vote the right way on any of LCV's top legislative priorities last year. And now this guy wants to be Senator? From one of the states leading the way on alternative energy? Do we need to schedule a special screening of An Inconvenient Truth?

The worst part? Pearce's opponent in the Republican primary didn't fare much better. Congresswoman Heather Wilson managed to score a 15% on the LCV scorecard in part because she voted in favor of an extremely controversial (warning: sarcasm) bill to provide Americans with clean water.

The bottom line is that it doesn't matter which Republican wins the Senate primary in New Mexico. If we're going to get serious about global warming, we have to elect Democratic Congressman Tom Udall. After all, he earned a sky-high 95% on that same LCV scorecard.

Sounds like he's the only one who's seen the movie, doesn't it?

John McCain: Another Bush

Sometimes it seems like John McCain is somehow just trying to trick America into thinking his presidency would be anything other than a virtual third term of George Bush.

How else can you explain McCain's deafening silence yesterday? That's when, on the same day Bush was giving the Arizona senator a formal endorsement, he was also vetoing a Democratic-led effort to finally ban American personnel from using torture.

McCain has long been a passionate advocate against the use of torture, stemming from his own experiences as a POW, but when it's time to take Bush's endorsement, he mysteriously drops his objections.

This is just the kind of McCain flip-flop that you never seem to read about in the mainstream media. But we know better, and we're not going to let the country fall for it this time.

George Bush: From Bad to Worse

Now, we know George Bush leaves office in 319 days (but who's counting?). Still, we just can't stop writing about him. He always gives us new mind-boggling material.

It's bad enough that George Bush was completely befuddled by the prospect that gas prices could rise to $4 a gallon this spring. Remember, a price jump like that will have a real impact on the household budget of working American families.

When asked about this prospect, Bush called it "interesting." We call it "catastrophic."

Bush claimed - despite having an entire Council of Economic Advisors - that he "hadn't heard that." We think he should be walking the streets of Washington looking for gas stations if no one in the White House will tell him how working Americans are struggling.

But we just about lost it when - just a few minutes later during the exact same press conference - Bush refused to answer a question he didn't like, citing a pretty amazing reason.

"I, frankly, have been focused elsewhere," Bush said, "like on gasoline prices."

Are you kidding us!? We couldn't make up this kind of ridiculousness. You just wouldn't believe it. But there's video:

Click here to see George Bush's stupefying press conference. You won't believe it.

We'll say one thing, though. It's going be great to have a Democratic president next year who - you know - pays attention to the needs of working Americans and manages to maintain logical consistency. You know, little things like that.

The Latest News

Finally, just a reminder that in addition to The Rant, you can always get the absolute latest news from Senate races around the country at the official DSCC blog, From the Roots:

http://www.fromtheroots.org