'RATSmack! Sleazy DemocRATs Struggle to Find Candidates in Key Senate Races

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http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/Democrats-South-Dakota-Georgia/2013/05/19/id/505194

Dems Struggle to Find Candidates in Key Senate Races
Sunday, 19 May 2013

Republicans aren't the only ones roiled by internal jostling and
recruiting hiccups ahead of next year's midterm elections.

Two top-tier Democratic prospects recently bypassed running for
Senate seats in Georgia and South Dakota, highlighting both divisions
within the party and its challenge of finding candidates whose
ideologies line up with voters in Republican-leaning states.

Democrats say they'll be fine even though Rep. John Barrow in Georgia
and former Rep. Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin in South Dakota declined to
seek seats left open by retirements. Both are moderate-to-conservative
Democrats whose views would seemingly play well in their states,
giving the party a chance to win on GOP turf as Democrats look to hang
onto power in the Senate. But without them running, Democrats probably
will be forced to back more liberal, less-tested nominees who would
likely have tougher races.

The circumstances underscore a particular challenge for Democrats:
They have a six-seat cushion, counting Vice President Joe Biden's
ability to cast tie-breaking votes. That requires Republicans to
nearly sweep the most competitive races to gain enough seats for
control. But many of the contests are in states where President Barack
Obama never won and remains unpopular.

Another hurdle for Democrats: Midterm electorates are generally
older, whiter and more Republican than in presidential years.

Georgia Democrats are hoping to recruit Michelle Nunn, daughter of
former Sen. Sam Nunn and a nonprofit executive in Atlanta. She's
expected to announce a decision soon in the race to succeed retiring
Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

In the contest for retiring Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson's South
Dakota seat, Democrats' preferred candidate now appears to be Rick
Weiland, once a top aide to former Sen. Tom Daschle and twice an
unsuccessful candidate for Congress. Weiland launched his bid, with
Daschle's backing, amid clamoring about Herseth-Sandlin and Johnson's
son, Brendan, a U.S. attorney. State Democrats now say the younger
Johnson likely won't run.

"It's a recipe for a challenging campaign," said Steve Dick, a former
Daschle aide. "It's a tough race, without a doubt. And it's getting
more difficult. We're a red state. We just don't have these
opportunities that often."

South Dakota is one of three states where a Democratic senator is
retiring in a state Obama lost last November; the others are Montana
and West Virginia. There also are Democratic retirements in the
swing-voting states of Iowa and Michigan, which Obama won.

Republicans also are aiming at four Democratic incumbents in states
Republican Mitt Romney won: Mark Begich of Alaska, Kay Hagan of North
Carolina, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Mark Pryor of Arkansas.
Georgia, which went for Romney by 8 percentage points over Obama, has
one of two GOP seats opened by retirements; the other is in Nebraska,
a virtual lock for Republicans.

Democrats say they can challenge Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in
Kentucky, but they haven't yet recruited a top-tier candidate even
though the Republican is unpopular at home.

At the National Republican Senatorial Committee, spokesman Brad
Dayspring mocked Democrats for failing at a strategy he says was
clear: Get conservative Democrats in Republican-leaning states. But
Justin Barasky, spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign
Committee, dismissed the notion of an internal Democratic struggle or
recruiting woes, and pointed to divisive primaries shaping up for
Republicans in several states.

Clearly, Democrats are left with a tricky balance as they look for
candidates with this criteria: Satisfy core Democratic voters, ensure
successful fundraising and reach independents who voted for Romney
and, before him, John McCain and George W. Bush.

Some Democrats thought Barrow and Herseth-Sandlin satisfied those
standards.

Barrow is the Deep South's last white Democrat in the House, and he's
beaten well-financed GOP nominees in a House district drawn to ensure
his defeat. He's a gun owner who voted against the 2010 health care
overhaul and voted to hold Obama's attorney general, Eric Holder, in
contempt of Congress. He supported the so-called fiscal cliff deal
between Obama and congressional Republicans, and successfully wooed
thousands of Romney supporters in his last campaign.

But the way Barrow keeps his job could explain why he abandoned the
possibility of a promotion.

"His profile is more appropriate to his congressional district than
to a statewide run, particularly for metro Atlanta, where most of the
votes are in the progressive base," said state Sen. Vincent Fort, a
Democrat from the city.

Some Democrats had feared that Barrow would have drawn a primary
opponent, and both national and state Democrats concede that the
party's best chance for a Georgia upset is to avoid a divisive
primary, while leaving a crowded GOP field to spend money and throw
punches.

Fort said Nunn would be a compelling candidate. And Democrats, eager
to dispute the notion that losing Barrow is a disappointment, point to
polling commissioned by Senate Democrats that suggests Nunn would be
the better candidate in a general election.

Former Rep. George "Buddy" Darden said Nunn's lack of experience
could be an asset. She doesn't have a record to parse and can run as
an outsider, he said, a particular upside if Republicans nominate one
of the three sitting congressmen who are running.

GOP Reps. Paul Broun, Phil Gingrey and Jack Kingston are joined by
Karen Handel, a former executive with the Susan G. Komen Foundation,
the breast cancer organization, in a race that could draw additional,
well-financed candidates. Georgia is just one of several states where
Republicans face the prospect of divisive primaries.

In South Dakota, Herseth-Sandlin had been seen by national Democrats
as a top-tier prospect because her profile fit the state, and they
were aggressively courting her behind the scenes. The 42-year-old
Sioux Falls lawyer was taking steps toward running, hoping to avoid a
divisive primary in which her opposition to the health care bill in
2010 and support for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage
in 2004 would be used against her.

Weiland, meanwhile, quickly entered the race, in part to keep
Herseth-Sandlin out, a sign of tension between the moderate and
liberal wings. Weiland, who lost to Herseth-Sandlin in the 2004 House
primary, is a close Daschle ally.

Brendan Johnson, also a Daschle ally, would not challenge Weiland,
especially in a state where successful Democrats are rare and clubby.
However, Weiland, while a seasoned party operative, would likely bow
out, should the younger Johnson assess the race over the summer and
decide to enter in the fall.

That scenario becomes more probable should the race for the
Republican nomination become contested, South Dakota Democrats said.

Former Gov. Mike Rounds is running and his fellow Republicans view
him as a solid candidate. Yet popular GOP newcomer Kristi Noem,
elected to the House in 2010, hasn't ruled out a candidacy. She's
popular with the tea party and is seen as a better fundraiser than
Rounds.


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