Posted on 09/08/2011 10:45:18 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
Openly gay Wisconsin Rep. Tammy Baldwin says her bid for a Senate seat won't be about her sexual orientation, gay weekly the Washington Blade reported.
Baldwin on Tuesday became the first Democrat to formally declare her candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Senator Herb Kohl. She is the first openly gay Senate candidate with a viable shot at winning.
During a conference call on Wednesday, Baldwin insisted she's always been open about her sexual orientation, but added that the race will focus on other issues.
“I have always since the beginning of all my adult life been out and honest about my sexual orientation, and I think that voters appreciate the values of honesty and expect integrity in their elected officials.”
The race, Baldwin added, “won't be about me.”
“It will be about the middle-class, the threats that they're facing right now, the struggles that families are experiencing and which candidate for U.S. Senate is going to be the best fighter for them.”
Baldwin, who has never lost a race but remains untested in a statewide election, faces stiff competition from her GOP rivals, former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson and former Wisconsin Rep. Mark Neumann. Neumann officially entered the race last week, while Thompson has signaled he will follow. Early polls show that in a contest with either candidate, Baldwin would lose.
But whether Baldwin's sexual orientation becomes an issue in the race is more up to her GOP rival. Neumann, a two-term congressman, is not a supporter of gay rights. In 1996, he said: “If I were elected God for a day, homosexuality wouldn't be permitted.” Four years later, he walked back the remark a bit, saying he wouldn't want to be God.
Walker’s polls are coming up, and we cheeseheads continue to learn how we have been gamed by those who ‘care for the chilren’.
She’s beyond socialist. She’s a commie. That’s what will be emphasized.
I agree with Feingold out of the race, we don't need Tommy Thompson as the nominee to beat the RAT (and it increasingly seems certain that Tammy Baldwin will be the RAT candidate). Politics1.com doesn't even list Thompson as an announced candidate though (his name isn't bolded). The three names listed are Jeff Fitzgerald, Mark Neumann, and John Schiess. I'll have to look into all of them when I have time. Primaries won't be for a while.
Haven't endorsed Ted Cruz in Texas either... some of his endorsements are troubling like Ron Paul and George P. Bush (if the Bush family likes Cruz, that's a bad sign, especially George P. who is to the left of both his dad and uncle!) There seem to be a wide range of choices here: Glenn Addison, Andrew "Cas" Castanuela, Curt Cleaver, Ted Cruz, David Dewhurst, Mike George, Elizabeth Ames Jones, Nick Latham, Tom Leppert, Lela Pittenger, and David Smith. Though likely it will come down to Dewhurst or Cruz at this point.
Florida's another one where I'm taking a wait and see... seems some conservative have already jumped on the Adam Hasner express. But again, looks like a big field... Akinyemi Agbede, Vern Buchanan, Bill Fisher Jr.,Adam Hasner, Alexander Ilnyckyj, Josue LaRose, George LeMieux, Deon Long, Mike McCalister, Ron McNeil, Craig Miller, Mirand Sharma, and Marielena Stuart. I've always liked Buchanan in Florida(Vern, not Pat!). LeMieux is a former U.S. Senator who had a pretty decent record but the fact he was appointed to the job by the orange menace (Charlie Crist) might doom his chances of being elected in his own right. But I think it's good he took the job and erased memories of Martinez.
I agree with Feingold out of the race, we don't need Tommy Thompson as the nominee to beat the RAT (and it increasingly seems certain that Tammy Baldwin will be the RAT candidate). Politics1.com doesn't even list Thompson as an announced candidate though (his name isn't bolded). The three names listed are Jeff Fitzgerald, Mark Neumann, and John Schiess. I'll have to look into all of them when I have time. Primaries won't be for a while.
Haven't endorsed Ted Cruz in Texas either... some of his endorsements are troubling like Ron Paul and George P. Bush (if the Bush family likes Cruz, that's a bad sign, especially George P. who is to the left of both his dad and uncle!) There seem to be a wide range of choices here: Glenn Addison, Andrew "Cas" Castanuela, Curt Cleaver, Ted Cruz, David Dewhurst, Mike George, Elizabeth Ames Jones, Nick Latham, Tom Leppert, Lela Pittenger, and David Smith. Though likely it will come down to Dewhurst or Cruz at this point.
Florida's another one where I'm taking a wait and see... seems some conservative have already jumped on the Adam Hasner express. But again, looks like a big field... Akinyemi Agbede, Vern Buchanan, Bill Fisher Jr.,Adam Hasner, Alexander Ilnyckyj, Josue LaRose, George LeMieux, Deon Long, Mike McCalister, Ron McNeil, Craig Miller, Mirand Sharma, and Marielena Stuart. I've always liked Buchanan in Florida(Vern, not Pat!). LeMieux is a former U.S. Senator who had a pretty decent record but the fact he was appointed to the job by the orange menace (Charlie Crist) might doom his chances of being elected in his own right. But I think it's good he took the job and erased memories of Martinez.
Ted Cruz has been endorsed by a whole slew of conservatives; Ron Paul and George P. Bush are not exactly a cross-section of his supporters. I think Cruz is the real deal, and, if elected, that he would become a force to be reconned with in the Senate Judiciary Committe before eventually being appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In Florida, I like Hasner better than the others. I’m thinking not only of conservative bona fides (which Hasner has in spades), but also the ability to defeat Bill Nelson. I think that Hasner can energize conservatives while simultaneously holding down Nelson’s margins in the Gold Coast, which would provide a real path to victory. Nothing against Buchanan, but I’m not sure that someone who barely beat a liberal woman (by like 500 votes) in 2006 in a Sarasota-based congressional district that is like 5% more Republican than the rest of the state would be as strong a general-election candidate as Hasner. (Actually, my ideal candidate would be conservative firebrand Congressman Allen West, who is very skillful at framing conservative positions in a way that is acceptable to Gold Coast denizens and who could easily raise the money needed to defeat Nelson; I would love for West to run for the Senate and for Hasner to switch to the race in the congressional district that West would abandon.) As for LeMieux, it’s not just that he was appointed to the Senate by the execrable Crist (who I’m sure made some good appointments, just like Ron Paul and George P. Bush sometimes make good endorsements), it’s that LeMieux was Crist’s right-hand man and enabler for years, and I can’t trust him even if his Senate voting record for a year or so wasn’t that bad.
Tommy Thompson should have run in 2004, when his chances of winning were at least 50/50. He was right not to run in 2006 though, when a liberal perfect storm swept the northern tier states.
I’ve not formally sided with Cruz in the Senate race in TX, though I don’t have any particular reason to oppose him and no one else particularly strikes me. Might be a good thing to see how he performs in the Senate before his potential elevation to SCOTUS, for which he has been often mentioned.
As for Florida, I am not seeing a particular candidate to champion. West would be preferable, but he’s not running (probably ill-advised, since short of getting a Cabinet post, he may be hemmed in from moving up), although if Marco Rubio is chosen for VP, Gov. Scott might very well appoint him to the vacancy.
I pity poor LeMieux, because there is a rumor that next month that Crist may formally become a Democrat at a FL party gathering. That won’t help him at all.
Frankly, even ‘04 was a bit too late. He should’ve run in ‘94 (against Kohl) or ‘98 (Feingold), with 2000 at the latest. At this point, he’d be treating the place as a retirement home and we need younger blood. Hell, he should’ve been retiring from the Senate at this point.
I’m inclined to back Cruz in Texas and Hasner in Florida. I don’t trust Peppy LePew either. Though it would be funny to see Crist attacking him if Crist joins the rat party.
I don’t know about Wisconsin. I hope they keep it clean in the primary, Thompson and Neumann seem to be a little pissy with each other.
Yes, a degenerate socialist, but a socialist nonetheless.
It would be nice to see that at least some of these candidates were man enough to serve in uniform, but lately that’s been a bridge too far for young men in the GOP who want to run for office.
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