Roadblock Blog

Smith ad calls furniture (made by Oregon prisoners) extravagant
Gordon Smith's (R-Gordon Smith) latest ad seeks to cast Jeff Merkley as an effete hypocrite over the Oregon State Capitol renovation project. Of course, the charge is not only false, it is itself hypocritical. Smith's own state director Kerry Tymchuk is on record as calling the project "thoughtful," "innovative" and "realistic."

Young children of Coleman's (R-MN) landlord volunteer for ad attacking Al Franken
Okay, the three little kids that the ad shows and names (but we won't) probably didn't volunteer. Their dad, Republican operative Jeff Larson, Coleman's landlord who doesn't ask Norm to pay utilities or to pay in legal tender, or to pay at all, offered them up to help Coleman defend himself against Franken and what is clearly a violation of Senate ethics. What kind of father does that? If Coleman gets re-elected he'll be even more beholding to Larson.

Strategery in NJ
SenateGuru has a great angle on a Club for Growth poll showing Dick Zimmer with a one point lead over Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ). Guru crosses his/her fingers that it will convince the otherwise hopeless NRSC reverse it's decision to burn resources in the Garden State.

Dole 92?
Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) isn't that old, at least not by Senate standards. She is an ineffectual toady as this new DSCC ad explains.

Call to armor
While she wasn't up for re-election when VoteVets.org ran this powerful ad in 2006, Susan Collins (R-ME) should still have to answer for her vote on Senator Landrieu's (D-LA) amendment to provide better protection for American forces.

That would be a no-no
Republican Senate candidate, John Neely Kennedy, is being accused by a Louisiana teacher of using his State Treasurer's Office and employees for his campaign.

I heard she swears like a sailor, too
Susan Collins (R-Maine) is losing credibility, now that she has publicly gossiped about a former Senate colleague, John Edwards, and claimed that he is the father of a child outside his marriage. For someone who prides herself on decorum, this sure is low.

Can anyone say "breach of ethics"
Turns out Norm Coleman (R-Minnesota) didn't sign a lease on his Washington, D.C. apartment until after the story broke that he was paying less than fair-market value and he has yet to pay for any of the utilities. Senate rules say the maximum gift a Senator can receive is $50.

Put it in reverse
Gordon Smith (R-Gordon Smith) is once again throwing John McCain under the bus in order to distance himself from his party. Smith is resigning as chair of McCain's Oregon campaign.

Maybe it's chronological
Seems Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) is suffering from temporal confusion. In a speech he said that this is the most important election ever, because it is about the future, whereas previous elections aren't important because they are in the past. However, Johnny-boy, it is by looking at the past that we learn from our mistakes.

Today we learned that Senator Pat Roberts is skipping the Republican National Convention. That makes five politically vulnerable Republican Senators and one Republican nominee for Senate that have declared that they will not attend the convention. Three retiring GOP Senators have also announced that they will not attend.  RNCC Chair Tom Cole has told congressional candidates to avoid the convention and to run against the Republican Party. This got us to wondering what kind of excuses the Republican Convention Host Committee CEO (and Norm Coleman landlord) Jeff Larson was receiving, so we sent an intern over to the Larson/Coleman residence to go through the trash.

Cornyn's Health Care Plan: Don't Get Sick
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) believes that the national health care system should be modeled off the "superior" Texas health care system, ranked 48th in terms of care and efficiency and with 25% of citizens uninsured.

You'll go far in this business, kid
The man who first appointed Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) to office, former Alaska Governor Walter Hickel, thinks it is time for Stevens to leave office.

All previously conservative things in moderation
It isn't just abortion that Bob Schaffer, Republican running for Senate in Colorado, is changing his postion on. The man who ran as "The real Republican, the real conservative" in 1996 has suddenly found himself quite moderate on the issues in this election.

MIA
Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) will not be attending the Republican National Convention. This makes him the sixth Republican in a Senate race this year who will not attend.

From the same government that claims drilling in the arctic won't upset Caribou
Gordon Smith (R-Gordon Smith) is supporting a Bush proposal to change the way endangered species are classified. The new method would remove the scientific consensus surrounding a species' addition to the list and instead have government organizations decide whether a project will interfere with an endangered plant or animal's welfare.

Would you like some syrup with your waffle?
Colorado Republican Senate candidate, Bob Schaffer, is changing his position on abortion. Seems he feels it's time to alienate the Christian Right and try to embrace more moderate voters.

Elizabeth D'Oil
A non-profit called Americans for Prosperity is now running ads thanking Elizabeth Dole (R-North Carolina) for her proposals to drill more oil domestically. Not only does the group falsely claim to be "grassroots," but it also erroneously believes that drilling more will lower gas prices significantly. At least, that is what the group claims to believe.

Um...What were we talking about again?
Gordon Smith (R-Gordon Smith) has put so much time and effort recently into badmouthing his opponent, Jeff Merkley, that he seems to have forgotten to bring up any of the issues facing voters today.

Am I my nephew's keeper?
Remember the recent McCain ad calling Barack Obama "The One." It has caused an uproar as many believe it to be comparing Obama to the anti-Christ. Turns out it was created by James Inhofe's (R-Oklahoma) nephew.

In my state them's fightin' words
Shameless Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia) has taken off the kid gloves. He recently labeled his Democratic opponent, Jim Martin, as a "liberal backed by liberals." Ouch, that really stings.

Ethics Shmethics, Who Cares? Well, the FEC
Idaho Republican Senate candidate, Jim Risch, is apparently using his law office for a campaign headquarters and his office staff for campaign workers without notifying the FEC of it. The Idaho Democratic Party has filed an ethics complaint with the FEC over the matter.

We wouldn't mind inaccuracy
Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) has resorted to outright lying in his new ad about opponent Bruce Lunsford's position on oil drilling.

I want to be on television
Newly minted Louisiana Republican John Neely Kennedy is attacking Senate incumbent Mary Landrieu (D-Louisiana) for not wanting to debate until October, despite having himself turned down the opportunity to debate this past weekend.

There is no need to be able to back up your claims
Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) has endorsed an ad attacking his opponent, Ronnie Musgrove, for "embarassing ethics violations", but when he was questioned as to what those violations were he didn't have an answer.

They each wear half of a heart-shaped necklace
The DSCC has released a new web ad highlighting John Sununu (R-New Hampshire) and George Bush's BFF relationship.

Norman and Me
The DSCC has produced a great new video called "$600." In the cinema vérité campaign tradition of Paul Wellstone, we see how difficult it is to find a place to live in Washington D.C. and Minnesota for what Norm Coleman calls "fair market value."

Flee The Press
If you're the Senate Minority Leader and your asked your opinion of the performance of the President, a member of your party, by a local tv reporter, shouldn't you have answer?

Unholy unions
A business alliance is running ads against Tom Allen that equate unions and the mafia. Although she's against third party advertising, Susan Collins is okay with that.

If a news department finds an ad misleading, does the station/network have an obligation to pull it?
Sweatshop Bob Schaffer is running an ad claiming that Mark Udall voted to raise taxes "at least 50 times." DENVER NEWS 7 debunks it.

Inhofe doesn't hate the troops, he's just body armor intolerant
James Inhofe's streak of votes against the interests of our service men and woman and veterans continues (now 10 straight).

The Tricky Dick Trick: Don't talk to the press
Rep. Tom Allen (D-Maine) is doing something Susan Collins (R-Maine) just won't: He's holding a press conference in Maine with actual reporters covering it.

As Stephen Colbert says, "Reality has a well-known liberal bias."
A Minnesota CBS affiliate, WCCO, has done a reality check on a new Al Franken ad tying Norm Coleman (R-Minnesota) to George W. Bush and found it to be completely accurate. The reality is that Norm Coleman is first and foremost loyal to the President's agenda.

Republican logic doesn't require logic at all
John Sununu (R-New Hampshire) is trying to claim that oil prices will drop immediately from drilling because speculation on oil futures will decrease immediately. It seems that Sununu believes oil speculation artificially inflates the price of oil after voting against a bill at the end of July that would have curbed speculation.

Switching sides is hard to do
Mary Landrieu (D-Louisiana) has released a new ad highlighting the confusing position changes of Republican opponent, John Neely Kennedy.

Corporate sell-out
Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) is being criticized for selling out the American people to big-monied special interests by his Democratic opponent, Bruce Lunsford.

A good Republican desensitizes his constituents to scandal
Scandal-plagued Republican Bob Schaffer of Colorado has to watch his family better. The "family values" candidate's son posted at least two offensive pictures on his public facebook page, including one that says, "Slavery gets (expletive deleted) done." Imagine what values he could instill in your family.

You get a gold star and that's it
Susan Collins (R-Maine) and her associates continue to tout the Senator's ability to reach across the aisle and compromise. However, as a Senator, isn't that really just her job? CollinsWatch wonders why she should get additional credit for doing what she was sent to Washington to do in the first place.

Learning from the worst
More evidence that John Sununu (R-New Hampshire) was being groomed by indicted Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). In 2002, within six days of being named one of the "Dirty Dozen," as one of Congress' worst potential polluters, Sununu received $16,000 from Stevens, friends of Stevens, and corrupt VECO execs.

Obama leads in Pearce Poll
New Mexico Republican Senate nominee Steve Pearce recently put up a poll on his website asking people which candidate they will vote for. In a cruel twist of fate, for Pearce, at last check Obama is beating McCain 363 to 11.

Like shooting pork in a barrel
Senators Thad Cochran (R-Mississippi), Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), and Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee) have added $27 million in pork to a $133 million homeland security bill for the Southeast Region Research Initiative. The project, which has been operating since at least 2007, has yet to produce any publishable research or white papers.