Alternate Routes

Replacing the Roadblock Republicans

The obstreperous, obstructionist elephant mascot you see wandering around the pages of RR.com represents the worst of the old school of Roadblock Republicans. And the only way to make him go away is to make them go away first.

As long as we don't have 60 votes on our side when we're pushing legislation to advance progressive causes in the Senate, we can't break a retro-con filibuster. As long as we don't have 67 votes on our side when we're sending a progressive bill upstream for signing, we can't override a Presidential veto.

The problem is obvious. The math is simple. So is the solution.

First, we need to elect a progressive President in 2008. Then we need a progressive majority in the Senate and in the House to propose new legislation, pass it through both chambers of Congress, and send it up to the President to be signed into law. In order to clear the roadblocks, we need to replace bad Republications with good Democrats in as many parts of that process as possible.

Here at RR.com we focus on the Senate more than on the House, because that's where the bottleneck is. We've selected a handful of particularly problematic Roadblock Republican Senators who are up for re-election to oppose. We think they're vulnerable to the right kind of challenger in 2008, even if their seats are in traditionally red states.

As Democrats in the various states with open seats this year have been winnowing out their fields, we've also been picking out some good progressive Senate candidates to feature here on RR.com. The list of challengers we support is longer than the list of the Roadblock Republicans we specifically single out on this site, because there a number of GOP people on the Hill who are wise enough not to be running for re-election this time.

With 23 Senate seats up for grabs in 2008, there's a real opportunity for us this year. With the newly energized progressive populace on our side, we can replace enough bad Republicans with good Democrats this year to shove that big gray elephant out of the roadway once and for all. Here are some of the true blue candidates who we think have a solid shot at making that dream come true:

Tom Allen—Maine

On the surface, it would appear that Susan Collins’ seat in the Senate is safe. But since Maine’s well-known and widely respected six-term Congessman Tom Allen entered the race against her, Collins’ poll standings have trended steadily downwards while his have been steadily rising. If anyone can remove her recalcitrant roadblock from the Senate right of way, Tom Allen is the one who can do it. 

Mark Begich—Alaska

Mark Begich is the current mayor of Anchorage and the Democratic Party’s top pick to run against noted Internet tubologist Ted Stevens. Even before Begich officially announced he was throwing his hat in the ring, he was already polling a half-dozen points ahead of Alaska’s scandal-plagued senior Senator just on spec. Stevens’ approval rating is low and sinking lower, so Mark has a good chance of de-throning old Ted in November. 

Al Franken—Minnesota

Al Franken is a funny guy. But Norm Coleman isn’t laughing. Why not? Because Franken’s deadly serious when it comes to unseating his Republican opponent in Minnesota and returning the state’s standing in the Senate to the progressive values so laudably espoused by the late Paul Wellstone. And even with sleazy shadow GOP support groups backing him up, Coleman’s campaign is in trouble and Franken’s coming on strong.
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Jim Martin—Georgia

As late as Q4 of 07, despite his steadily sub-50 approval ratings it looked like Saxby Chambliss’s Senate seat was a safe one. The state’s been a pretty reliable Republican redoubt for many years. Chambliss is well-funded and he brings home the bacon for Georgia’s GOP faithful. More to the point, he didn’t have a viable Democratic challenger for 2008. Then Jim Martin threw his hat in the ring. And it’s a whole different ball game now.
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Jeff Merkley—Oregon

In Oregon the mountains are big, the sky is bigger, and the tall green trees are everywhere you look. It’s a state blessed with an abundance of natural resources and an abundance of people who take pains to take care of each other. With his long history of service to his fellow citizens, Jeff Merkley has the ability and experience to unseat Gordon Smith and turn Oregon’s Senate presence as blue as his home state is green.

Rick Noriega—Texas

It takes plenty of courage to take on a well-connected Republican deep in the heart of deeply-red Texas. But courage is something that Rick Noriega has more than plenty of. He’s been in combat before, real combat of the Afghanistan variety. And now he’s on the front lines of politics in a battleground state, training his sights on John Cornyn and aiming to retake his Senate seat for the Blue Team. 

Andrew Rice—Oklahoma

Oklahoma is the state that gave us Woodie Guthrie, Will Rogers and Bill Moyers. It’s also the state that gave us Jim Inhofe, who is quite possibly the most reactionary right-wing Senator in recorded history. The OK state is a deep, deep red state, and it’s been hard in the past for the Democrats to come up with someone who was willing and able to run against the likes of Inhofe there. But Andrew Rice isn’t just someone. He’s someone special. 

Jeanne Shaheen—New Hampshire

John Sununu stole Jeanne Shaheen’s Senate seat from her, and now she wants it back. Shaheen lost to Sununu in 2002 in a close race that he only managed to win with the aid of some Republican operatives’ dirty tricks. The tricksters have since been banished and/or jailed, Sununu’s ratings are tanking, and now Jeanne Shaheen is a clear favorite to beat him fair and square this year.
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Mark Udall—Colorado

When it comes to politics, Mark Udall comes by it honest. He practices his politics that way, too. And like his father Mo and his uncle Stewart before him, Mark is deeply tied to the land that he loves. As a Congressman, he’s done a lot to reclaim the ravaged mines and restore the endangered rivers of Colorado. He wants to carry that pro-environmental approach upstream to the Senate with him in 2008. And the earth undoubtedly approves.
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Tom Udall—New Mexico

There’ve been Udalls involved in Western politics ever since the West was won, and Tom Udall’s one of the best of the bunch. He served as Attorney General of New Mexico from 1991 to 1999, and he’s ably represented his home state in the House ever since. And now that Pete Domenici is retiring, Tom’s out to take his place and make sure New Mexico has two Democratic seats in the Senate again. 

Mark Warner—Virginia

Former Governor Mark Warner is hardly a stranger to the national political scene. You can’t be in charge of Virginia without having to be directly involved in the affairs of Washington (and vice versa). He was widely expected to run for President this year and his name still comes up in nearly all discussions of potential 2008 Democratic VP candidates. There’s nobody more qualified to take over VA’s open Senate seat than Mark is.
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