HOW TO ELECT A CONSERVATIVE SENATE

RodFromGa | May 28, 2006 | RobFromGa

[RobFromGa]

HOW TO ELECT A CONSERVATIVE SENATE

RINOS, and LIBERALS, and BEARS, OH MY!
by RobFromGa

If you look at each state and how it voted in the 2004 election cycle, you can assign a Red, Purple, or Blue category to it. I used anything greater than 52% Bush as Red, 48-52% Bush

was Purple, and anything under 48% as a Blue State.

Then in looking at 2005 and Lifetime ACU ratings (how conservative their voting patterns have been), I assigned the Senators in order from most conservative to least conservative, and

going off of current knowledge of recent voting patterns, I then identified the RINOs:

Liberal RINOs (least conservative first): Chafee, Snowe, Collins
Moderate RINOs (least conservative first): DeWine,Smith(OR),Specter,Coleman,Voinovich,Gregg,McCain*,Graham*,Hagel*

Note: It is very hard to call McCain, Graham and Hagel RINOs from looking at their long-term voting patterns, but for the purposes of this analysis I call them RINOs mainly because that

are bucking the GOP Senate leacership and acting like they are in charge instead of Frist. It is likely that 2008 Presidential politics are playing a big role in their behaviour.

Looking at the state breakdowns:

RED (Conservative) State Opportunities:

There are 25 Red States as of 2004 election. At present, there are:

15 Red States with 2 Conservative Senators: AL,AK,GA,ID,KS,KY,MS,MO,NC,OK,TN,TX,UT,VA,WY
2 Red States with a Conservative and a RINO: AZ, SC
4 Red States that are splitting their vote with one Conservative and one Liberal: IN,LA,MT,SD
1 Red State with a RINO and a Liberal: NE
Remarkably, there are 3 Red states with 2 Liberal Senators: AR,ND,WV

Red State Analysis:
There is a potential for +8 Conservative Senators in just those last 4 states (AR,ND,WV,and NE) and if we got two of four "split" states to throw out their liberal and elect two

Conservatives, we are at +10.

Purple (Moderate) State Opportunities:

There are 12 Purple States as of 2004 election. At present, there are:

0 Purple States with two Conservative Senators
2 Purple States with a Conservative and a RINO: PA,NH
5 Purple States with a Conservative and a Liberal: CO,FL,IA,NV,NM
1 Purple State with 2 RINOs: OH
2 Purple States with a Liberal and a RINO: MN,OR
2 Purple States with two Liberals: MI, WI

Purple State Analysis:
Our best chances to improve in the Purple states is to get rid of the Liberals. There are potentially 11 Liberals who could get run out of office in these states, but in order for a

Conservative to win, we need great candidates. In some cases we will probably have to settle for a Moderate in some of these Purple states. It is also likely that these states will be

trending as either more Blue or Red over time.

Blue (Liberal) State Opportunities:

There are 13 Purple States as of 2004 election. At present, there are:

1 Blue State with 2 RINOs: ME
1 Blue State with a Liberal and a RINO: RI
11 Blue States with 2 Liberal Senators: CA,CT,DE,HI,IL,MD,MA,NJ,NY,VT,WA

Blue State Analysis: Our three most liberal RINOs are all from these blue states, and the chances of electing a true Conservative are slim to none at present. If we want more RINOs, then we could potentially

swap RINOs for liberals in some races. This will tend to be the celebrity or otherwise well-known, well-funded candidate (ala Arnold) or if there is some other local issue (like scandal).

We should not spend too much time and effort on the Blue States, when there is so much potential to improve still in the Red and Purple States.

OVERALL ANALYSIS: If we get 2 Conservatives from each Red State, and at least one Conservative from each Purple state, we are at 62 true Conservative Senators, enough to do what needs to be done to enact Conservative legislation.

HOW DO WE GET THERE FROM HERE?

In the 2006 election cycle, we have

TAKEOVER OPPORTUNITIES:
DEMOCRATS IN RED STATES: Byrd(WV), Conrad(ND), Nelson(NE)
DEMOCRATS IN PURPLE STATES: Stabenow(MI), Bingaman(NM), Kohl(WI), Open(MN), Nelson(FL)

UPGRADE OPPORTUNITIES:
RINOS IN RED STATES: none
RINOS IN PURPLE STATES: DeWine(OH)

HOLD SITUTATIONS:
CONSERVATIVES IN PURPLE STATES: Ensign(NV), Santorum(PA)

HOLD OR ABANDON?
RINOS IN BLUE STATES: Chafee(RI), Snowe (MI)

In the 2008 election cycle, we have

TAKEOVER OPPORTUNITIES:
DEMOCRATS IN RED STATES: Rockefeller(WV), Johnson(SD), Baucus(MT), Pryor(AR),Landrieu(LA),
DEMOCRATS IN PURPLE STATES: Harkin(IA), Levin(MI)

UPGRADE OPPORTUNITIES:
RINOS IN RED STATES: Graham*(SC), Hagel*(NE),
RINOS IN PURPLE STATES: Coleman(MN), Smith(OR)

HOLD SITUATIONS:
CONSERVATIVES IN PURPLE STATES: Sununu(NH),Domenici(NM),Allard(CO)

HOLD OR ABANDON?:
RINOS IN BLUE STATES: Collins(ME)

In the 2010 election cycle, we have

TAKEOVER OPPORTUNITIES:
DEMOCRATS IN RED STATES: Lincoln(AR), Dorgan(ND), Bayh(IN)
DEMOCRATS IN PURPLE STATES: Wyden(OR), Reid(NV), Feingold(WI), Salazar(CO)

UPGRADE OPPORTUNITIES:
RINOS IN RED STATES: McCain*(AZ)
RINOS IN PURPLE STATES: Specter(PA), Voinovich*(OH), Gregg(NH)

HOLD SITUATIONS:
CONSERVATIVES IN PURPLE STATES: Grassley(IA), Martinez(FL)

HOLD OR ABANDON?
RINOS IN BLUE STATES: none

We need strong candidates and a good grass-roots effort in each of these races where we have an opportunity for a TAKEOVER or an upgrade. Soliciting Freeper comments as to who is

respected enough in each of these states to make this happen.

What conservative candidates have experience in statewide elections in these states, and what will it take to get them to run?

It is too late to do much yet in 2006 but there are HUGE opportunities in 2008 and 2010 that we need to be planning for now...

Soliciting Freeper input.

RobFromGa

[Congressman Billybob]

Damned fine analysis. Thank you for taking the time to break this down for the folks on FreeRepublic.

P.S. My primary is over, but because of certain legal and ethical problems, the incumbent, Charles Taylor may withdraw/be forced out, and I am in the running to be chosen as the replacement nominee for Congress in the 11th District of NC. For more information, see the article below, and my website. I still need your help.

Congressman Billybob

Latest article: "Ray Nagin -- 'Good and Hard' "

[Phocion]

Many of the Democratic senators in the red states are either "conservative" Democrats, or among the most popular senators in the country. People Nelson, Byrd, Bayh, or the North Dakota senators would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to topple.

[KentuckyWoman]

Better change Tennessee to one Conservative senator and one RINO. Bill Frist is NOT a conservative and just spearheaded legalizing the tidal-wave of illegals from south of our border. Of course, he has his eyes set on the White House but, as someone from his home state, I can guarantee that he'll follow in Al Gore's footsteps by NOT winning that home state should actually get the Republican nomination and he KNOWS it.

[babygene]

What do you do about someone like Craig from Idaho, who supports mostly conservative causes (he has to if he wants to get elected in Idaho), but when it comes to an important issue like amnesty for illegals he votes for it.


In my book, he votes to serve his own interests and is a RINO.

[mmercier]

if not impossible, to topple.

Your post was accurate, but I do so hope to one day see Byrd topple over in the Senate, live on CSPAN.

[derSchurfer]

You might as well put Warner in the RINO category too. I would only count on Allen from Virginia to vote Conservative. Warner went with the DemocRATS on every vote for S. 2611 (AMNESTY Bill).

[Joe Brower]

"5 Purple States with a Conservative and a Liberal: CO,FL,IA,NV,NM "

I have to offer this correction to FL: Martinez is a RINO. He is no conservative.

I say this as one who worked heavily for his campaign in 2004. I will not be supporting or voting for him again.

[TSchmereL]

Here is my analysis, copied from another thread:
As ironic as it may be, assuming the House holds firm on its tougher, close-the-border-first immigration bill, the Republicans might just lose the Senate but retain control of the House!
This is the exact opposite of what most Democrat pundits have been predicting might happen. They have mostly written off the Senate, but somehow see opportunities in the House.
It is not an outcome I want to see, but considering public opinion regarding the "Amnesty Bill," and other factors, it is actually more likely that the Republicans could lose the Senate but not the House in 2006.
(I actually don't think the Republicans will lose either chamber of Congress, as I explained using a study by Jay Cost here. If you can't switch the Senate, you can forget about switching the House.)
The result of such an outcome would be a vitriolic Democrat majority in the Senate that is unable to provide its base with the much hoped for impeachment proceedings against the President because such proceedings must begin in the House.
Then, after the Democrat Majority in the Senate has had about two years to make a holy, ass-clown show of itself, and the Democrats inevitably nominate the fatally flawed Hillary Clinton to run in 2008, we might have a real Conservative Republican Presidential candidate with popular coat tails broad enough to replace the RINO majority in the Senate with real Conservative Senators.

[B.O. Plenty]

Bump for after Church

[Talking_Mouse]

I like your analysis, however we have a chance in 2006 to move MD from two Liberals to 1 Liberal and a Moderate RINO (to possible Conservative) with Lt. Gov. Steele becoming Sen. Steele.

Having lived in MD I see this as a thing to be greatly desired.

[mafree]

Very good analysis and breakdown. One reason why liberals and RINOS stay in place in some red and purple states is because they bring home the pork. What true conservative voters in those states have to ask themselves is this: is the pork worth keeping RINOs and libs in office?

[DuncanWaring]

People Nelson, Byrd, Bayh, or the North Dakota senators would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to topple.

Kind of like this guy?

[EDINVA]

slight correction: VA doesn't have 2 conservative Senators; we have Allen (Conservative) and Warner (RINO)

[Hardastarboard]

See, here's your problem my FRiend. We can't be just throwing these people out of office. They are much more important to this country than just our petty little concerns. They are the elite, our rulers. The elections are a mere formality at this point, and as soon as they can politely do away with them, they certainly will. Then the ignorant peasants will stop bothering them, and they can go about doing the people's business. Don't you understand that?

[TSchmereL]

Senator McCain? Please call your office.

[KoRn]

Outstanding take on things! If you aren't already, you should do things like that for a living.

What has always made things difficult are 'conservative' Democrats winning in 'red states'. Even if the democrats may be conservative on social issues, they still go to DC and elect people like Pelosi and Reid to leadership positions, and continue to support the socialist oriented wealth redistribution scheme.

[Gorobei]

That doesn't even fit at all. Daschle's razor-thin win vs Thune the first time around was just a delay of the inevitable, everyone knew his time was up when they met again. People like Byrd are intrenched and supported by decades of greased pockets. It is unfortunate, but we'll have to wait and pray for the geezer's tikcer to expire before grabbing that seat.

[fieldmarshaldj]

"Better change Tennessee to one Conservative senator and one RINO. Bill Frist is NOT a conservative"

Then you'd better change to 2 RINOs. Lamar! is no Conservative and did NOT have the grassroots support.

[traviskicks]

check this out

[MainFrame65]

Lamar Alexander is no better than Bill Frist. He did vote no on the final senate bill, but the following quote from his E-newsletter tells you his real position on the illegal alien issue.

"-- On Thursday, I voted against the Immigration Reform bill. The Senate bill has been greatly improved, but did not do enough to secure our borders to allow me to vote yes. I was disappointed to vote “no” because Congress should not end the year without taking strong steps to secure our borders, to define the legal status of foreign students and workers, and to help prospective citizens learn English and U.S. history so they can become Americans. After we negotiate with the House of Representatives, I hope there will be comprehensive immigration legislation that I can support. --"

[maxter]

I am sure you forgot your sarcasm tag, right?

[FreeReign]

Great post.

[dalight]

Frist is retiring. Waste of breath beating that horse.

[AuH2ORepublican]

I object to your characterization of certain Republican Senators as RINOs. Norm Coleman of MN comes readily to mind. He has voted conservative pretty much across the board, with only a couple of exceptions. I am ecstatic that we have a pro-life, pro-gun, pro-tax cuts, pro-military, pro-WOT Republican Senator representing a state that has not voted for the Republican presidential nominee since 1972 and which held President Bush to 45.5% in 2000 and 47.6% in 2004. As Senator Gregg has been a solid conservative as well; we are very fortunate to have two good conservative Senators from a "purple" state such as NH when the state's two U.S. Representatives are RINOs. And as bad as DeWine has been on a few issues, he is not a RINO, and certainly far less deserving of the label than the contemptible Arlen Specter. Same goes for McCain, Graham and Hagel; they have been huge disappointments on a couple of issues, but for the most part are solid conservatives. The RINOs in the Senate, from the most liberal to the least, are Lincoln Chafee, Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins and Arlen Specter. The ultraliberal Chafee we can get rid of in this year's primaries, and as I have written before we'd be better off without Chafee even if an admitted Democrat were elected to replace him (although I think that Steve Laffey has a real chance of winning in November). Snowe and Collins aren't quite as reprehensible as Chafee and come from states that keep getting more and more Democrat and where it would be better difficult to find someone to beat them in the primary and then win the general election; until a conservative or at least moderate-to-conservative comes along with proven ability of winning in Maine, we may be stuck with the RINO sisters. As for Specter, we blew our chance of getting rid of him in 2004, and we're stuck with him until 2010 (assuming he lives that long). I hope that Governor Swann endorses Pat Toomey in 2010 and that we finally replace Specter with a real conservative. Among the Senators with disappointing records that fall short of RINO territory, I think the only ones worth going after are Graham and Hagel, who represent two of the most conservative states in the Union. We really can't expect to do much better than Gordon Smith in Democrat-leaning OR, and we'd need heavyweights such as Kasich or Blackwell to take down DeWine and Voinovich in GOP-leaning OH. As for McCain, I'm hoping he'll retire soon, since he'd be very tough to beat in a primary and if we do defeat him it might throw the seat to the Democrats. To have conservative control of the Senate, we need to elect Republicans from states that vote heavily GOP in presidential elections, such as ND, SD, MT, AR, NE, LA and WV. That can be accomplished by (i) nominating socially conservative, economically moderate-to-conservative candidates, (ii) convincing proven vote-getters to run against seemingly entrenched incumbents, and (iii) spending money on those races. John Thune's victory over Tom Daschle is the model to follow. We need SD Governor Rounds to take out Tim Johnson in 2008 and for both ex-Governor Schaefer (sp?) and Governor Hoeven to take out the liberal twins of ND. We need Governor Huckabee to take out Pryor in 2008 or (if he insists on running for President) Lincoln in 2010. And we need similar top-tier candidates to run in the other conservative states that keep electing liberal Democrats. Other than conservative Democrat Ben Nelson of NE, the other Democrat Senators from these states can easily be characterized as liberal by revealing to the ignorant public exactly what they voted for and against. In 2002, Saxby Chambliss used very effective 10- or 15-second ads about particular liberal votes by Max Cleland, ending with "Now why would he do that?" that convinced Georgians to throw out their conservative-talking, liberal-voting Senator. A similar strategy should work in the states I mentioned above. I think we can have a Senate with 60 Republicans, including 55+ solid conservatives, by 2010. But we need to make this a goal and stop wasting money on unnecessary or counter-productive battles. I, for one, return every donation request from the NRSC (which spends money attacking conservative challengers to RINOs such as Specter and Chafee) with a note letting them know that I'm sending my donations directly to conservative Republican Senate candidates such as Rick Santorum, Michael Steele, Stephen Laffey and Keith Butler, just as I sent donations directly to John Thune, Herman Cain and Pat Toomey last year. Conservatives need information of which battles are worth fighting and which candidates are worth backing. FR does a good job pointing out which candidates to support in certain races, but we need more. We need a 527 group such as Club for Growth, but one that will emphasize social issues such as abortion, guns and marriage in states in which this will help the GOP win (such as the states I mentioned above)---maybe call it the Club for Life---so that a single conservative candidate may emerge as the frontrunner in the GOP primary and not allow a RINO to sneak through with 30% of the vote because the conservative vote was split among 4 candidates. But most of all we need to take advantage of any little slip-up by Senate Democrats to gain these seats one by one.

[dufekin]

We don't declare politicians "RINOs" based upon a single issue, even an issue as important as immigration reform. I would elect gladly a Senator who disagrees with me on immigration but fervently advances the remainder of the conservative agenda: lower taxes, spending, entitlements, and regulations; defeating the terrorists and supporting our troops; opening domestic energy sources; clearing the Social Security pyramid scheme, etcetera.

Most "conservative" Senators identified in this article range from just slightly conservative to only moderately so; very few true conservatives inhabit the Senate.

[hedgetrimmer]

My advice?

Become a poll watcher and make sure the elections in your district are fair. Fight vote fraud, counting fraud and eligibility fraud. Get rid of voting machines. Make sure the counting machines are calibrated correctly and recheck them for accuracy after the count. Then see how big a difference it makes.

[AuH2ORepublican]

Let me try again: I object to your characterization of certain Republican Senators as RINOs. Norm Coleman of MN comes readily to mind. He has voted conservative pretty much across the board, with only a couple of exceptions. I am ecstatic that we have a pro-life, pro-gun, pro-tax cuts, pro-military, pro-WOT Republican Senator representing a state that has not voted for the Republican presidential nominee since 1972 and which held President Bush to 45.5% in 2000 and 47.6% in 2004. As Senator Gregg has been a solid conservative as well; we are very fortunate to have two good conservative Senators from a "purple" state such as NH when the state's two U.S. Representatives are RINOs.

And as bad as DeWine has been on a few issues, he is not a RINO, and certainly far less deserving of the label than the contemptible Arlen Specter. Same goes for McCain, Graham and Hagel; they have been huge disappointments on a couple of issues, but for the most part are solid conservatives.

The RINOs in the Senate, from the most liberal to the least, are Lincoln Chafee, Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins and Arlen Specter. The ultraliberal Chafee we can get rid of in this year's primaries, and as I have written before we'd be better off without Chafee even if an admitted Democrat were elected to replace him (although I think that Steve Laffey has a real chance of winning in November). Snowe and Collins aren't quite as reprehensible as Chafee and come from states that keep getting more and more Democrat and where it would be better difficult to find someone to beat them in the primary and then win the general election; until a conservative or at least moderate-to-conservative comes along with proven ability of winning in Maine, we may be stuck with the RINO sisters. As for Specter, we blew our chance of getting rid of him in 2004, and we're stuck with him until 2010 (assuming he lives that long). I hope that Governor Swann endorses Pat Toomey in 2010 and that we finally replace Specter with a real conservative.

Among the Senators with disappointing records that fall short of RINO territory, I think the only ones worth going after are Graham and Hagel, who represent two of the most conservative states in the Union. We really can't expect to do much better than Gordon Smith in Democrat-leaning OR, and we'd need heavyweights such as Kasich or Blackwell to take down DeWine and Voinovich in GOP-leaning OH. As for McCain, I'm hoping he'll retire soon, since he'd be very tough to beat in a primary and if we do defeat him it might throw the seat to the Democrats.

To have conservative control of the Senate, we need to elect Republicans from states that vote heavily GOP in presidential elections, such as ND, SD, MT, AR, NE, LA and WV. That can be accomplished by (i) nominating socially conservative, economically moderate-to-conservative candidates, (ii) convincing proven vote-getters to run against seemingly entrenched incumbents, and (iii) spending money on those races. John Thune's victory over Tom Daschle is the model to follow. We need SD Governor Rounds to take out Tim Johnson in 2008 and for both ex-Governor Schaefer (sp?) and Governor Hoeven to take out the liberal twins of ND. We need Governor Huckabee to take out Pryor in 2008 or (if he insists on running for President) Lincoln in 2010. And we need similar top-tier candidates to run in the other conservative states that keep electing liberal Democrats.

Other than conservative Democrat Ben Nelson of NE, the other Democrat Senators from these states can easily be characterized as liberal by revealing to the ignorant public exactly what they voted for and against. In 2002, Saxby Chambliss used very effective 10- or 15-second ads about particular liberal votes by Max Cleland, ending with "Now why would he do that?" that convinced Georgians to throw out their conservative-talking, liberal-voting Senator. A similar strategy should work in the states I mentioned above.

I think we can have a Senate with 60 Republicans, including 55+ solid conservatives, by 2010. But we need to make this a goal and stop wasting money on unnecessary or counter-productive battles. I, for one, return every donation request from the NRSC (which spends money attacking conservative challengers to RINOs such as Specter and Chafee) with a note letting them know that I'm sending my donations directly to conservative Republican Senate candidates such as Rick Santorum, Michael Steele, Stephen Laffey and Keith Butler, just as I sent donations directly to John Thune, Herman Cain and Pat Toomey last year.

Conservatives need information of which battles are worth fighting and which candidates are worth backing. FR does a good job pointing out which candidates to support in certain races, but we need more. We need a 527 group such as Club for Growth, but one that will emphasize social issues such as abortion, guns and marriage in states in which this will help the GOP win (such as the states I mentioned above)---maybe call it the Club for Life---so that a single conservative candidate may emerge as the frontrunner in the GOP primary and not allow a RINO to sneak through with 30% of the vote because the conservative vote was split among 4 candidates. But most of all we need to take advantage of any little slip-up by Senate Democrats to gain these seats one by one.

[demkicker]

Excellent post, thanks!

[demkicker]

Your post gave me a headache. Remember the FR motto: Paragraphs are your friends.

[AuH2ORepublican]

"Your post gave me a headache. Remember the FR motto: Paragraphs are your friends."

---

Sorry about that. I corrected the problem as quickly as I noticed it---see my response to the headache-inducing post.

[babygene]

"We don't declare politicians "RINOs" based upon a single issue"

What's this "We" thing? Got a mouse in your pocket?

[demkicker]

Thanks! ;-)

[MHGinTN]

Corker or Bryant will replace court jester this year in Tennessee.

[RobFromGa]

Here are the 2005 ACU Ratings for the various RINOs:

SNOWE 32
COLLINS 32
Landrieu 44
DeWINE 56
SMITH 58
Nelson 60
SPECTER 63
COLEMAN 64
VOINOVICH 68
GREGG 72
STEVENS 80
McCAIN 80
HAGEL 96
GRAHAM 96
MARTINEZ 100

Coleman (who I happen to think is not a bad Senator for Minnesota at present) and Specter are basically even and both come from Purple states. Specter is just more visible. DeWine ACU rating for 2005 is lower than Specter so I don't see how you can call Specter a RINO and not DeWine.

I am in agreement with most of what you have posted, with a few exceptions: I think Laffey has very little chance in RI if he beats Chafee.

[RobFromGa]

While the Democrat Senators from the Blue and purple states may be popular, very few of them are "conservative". Only Nelson from NE and Landrieu from LA could be classified as "moderates" in my viewpoint, the rest vote like liberals. Here is the data:

Democrats from Blue or Purple states--
ACU ratings 2005

Nebraska, Nelson, 60
Louisiana, Landrieu, 44
Colorado, Salazar, 32
Arkansas, Pryor, 24
Montana, Baucus, 24
North Dakota, Conrad, 21
Florida, Nelson, 20
Indiana, Bayh, 20
West Virginia, Byrd, 20
Michigan, Levin, 17
North Dakota, Dorgan, 17
Arkansas, Lincoln, 16
Minnesota, Dayton, 16
New Mexico, Bingaman, 13
South Dakota, Tim Johnson, 13
Wisconsin, Kohl,13
Wisconsin, Feingold, 13
Michigan, Stabenow, 12
West Virginia, Rockefeller, 4
Iowa, Harkin, 4
Nevada, Reid, 4
Oregon, Wyden, 4

[RobFromGa]

Thanks for taking the time to read my analysis. I just want people to understand the task that we face as well as the timetable. Getting conservative control is not going to happen in the midterms and we could damage our prospects long-term if we don't start early in the 08 and 2010 election cycles.

Good luck with the Taylor situation.

[EverOnward]

Bookmarked for a great reference. Thank you!

[RobFromGa]

Bill Frist is NOT a conservative

[RobFromGa]

In my book, he votes to serve his own interests and is a RINO.

Craig is a staunch conservative and you disagree with him on an issue. He has a 94 ACU rating over a 25 year record. And he is 96 in both 2004 and 2005.

We just need the House to hold fast in the Joint Cmte. and the illegal vote in the Senate will not become law. The Senators knew it had to go through the Cmte.

[RobFromGa]

You might as well put Warner in the RINO category too.

Another single issue voter.

[RobFromGa]

I have to offer this correction to FL: Martinez is a RINO. He is no conservative.

Martinez has a 100 ACU rating for 2005, you are letting a single vote cloud your judgement.

[RobFromGa]

the Republicans might just lose the Senate but retain control of the House!

I don't think there is a chance that the GOP will lose the Senate, here is my analysis:

RobFromGa's SENATE 2006 PREDICTIONS- MAY 2006

[RobFromGa]

with Lt. Gov. Steele becoming Sen. Steele.

I am continuing to donate to Steele, and Kennedy(MN) and Santorum(PA), and McGavick(WA) for their Senate runs. Since the House is too difficult to track, I am making my donations for House races through Club For Growth.

[RobFromGa]

They are not conservative Democrats winning in the red states, they may talk like that at home but they vote like liberals.

We need to use tactics from the Chambliss-Cleland race in GA and the Thune-Daschle race in order to "nationalize" these elections and make the people of these small red states consider the big picture when voting.

[RobFromGa]

thanks.

[RobFromGa]

thanks for stopping by...

[yuleeyahoo]

Joe Browner,

He is the worst kind of politician. He is one who lied to us. He said all the right things about immigration when he was running for office. Then the only running he has done since is from his campaign promises and to the left.

You are not alone, he fooled me too. I worked this campaign too.

Mrs. Yuleeyahoo

[yuleeyahoo]

Hardastardboard,

EXACTLY!!! Or should I say "Si Amigo"

Mrs. Yuleeyahoo

[RobFromGa]

I have not closely followed any single Senator but my own vote-by-vote. Has Martinez voted like a liberal on other issues besides the immigration issue?