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Saturday, March 20, 2010

Suicide Watch List (Part 2)

In our last article, Suicide Watch List 1, we concentrated on those who have openly announced their intention of committing political suicide. We now turn our attention to those who are wondering if they can get away with jumping off that ledge and not get seriously hurt in the fall (pun intended). We will only list those who are virtually certain to die a death of several thousand vote cuts. Once again the phone lines are overloaded so we will give you fax numbers instead. If that does not work, try an e-mail if you can find one. The Clerk of the House website is down from the overload most of the time so use this url instead to get more details about a House member and how to reach them.
  1. Gerald Connolly (VA-11) - He has already jumped once which resulted in the GOP targeting him for that vote so he wants to make sure he commits suicide this time? Fax him at 202-225-3071 and point out that Bob McDonnell got 55.25% of the vote for Governor in his district just last November. Does he really think an 11.72% margin is enough to save him when he is down 5 points in a poll already?
  2. Gabrielle Giffords (AZ-8) - Another second time jumper who got targeted by the GOP for her vote. Fax her at 202-225-0378 and remind her that John McCain carried her district by 5.94% in a really bad year for Republicans. Ask her if she really thinks that the students at the University of Arizona will really turn out for her the way they did for Obama last time.
  3. Baron Hill (IN-9) - Let's see: He also got targeted by the GOP for his vote last time, he is down 8 points in a poll and John McCain carried his district by 1.76%. Maybe it is not even worth faxing him at 202-226-6866 if he is dumb enough to even thinking of voting for another version of a health care take over again.
  4. Jim Himes (CT-4) - This guy just barely managed to defeat Chris Shays by 3.97% when Obama got over 5 times that margin. Well Obama is not on the ballot this time to save him. Fax him at 202-225-9629 and explain the facts of political life to him and that only by reversing his vote from last time can he possibly save himself.
Now we come to the folks who are standing at the window of their House office and considering climbing out on the ledge in hopes they will not fall. Once again we will only list the ones who face almost certain death if they do so.
  1. Timothy Bishop (NY-1) - Obama's margin is his district was less than 4% and his vote for the first health care bill caused the GOP to put a big target on his back. Remind him that Artschuler gained 19 points after his first vote and is only 2 points behind. He is having serious doubts about climbing back out on that ledger so fax him at 202-225-3143 and encourage him to keep his seat in Congress.
  2. Kathy Dahlkemper (PA-3) - McCain-Palin carried her district by 27 votes and she only got a 2.47% margin. Being a freshman, she did not know not to vote for health care the first time which resulted in the GOP targeting her for that vote. Fax her at 202-225-3103 and ask her not to make the same mistake this time especially sincs this bill does not have the Stupak amendment.
  3. Lincoln Davis (TN -4) - Fax this guy at 202-226-5172 and remind him that McCain-Palin carried his district by a whopping 29.81% margin so this is no time to play cutesy and hard to pin down. Tell him to do the right thing and just vote no like he did last time.
  4. Brad Ellsworth (IN-8) - He is running for the Senate and is 6 points behind the man he defeated to win his House seat. He has announced that in his core he knows this bill is best for Hoosiers. Fax 202-225-3284 and beg to differ with him because voting for this bill a second time will just elect Hostettler which it will.
  5. Bill Foster (IL-14) - Everyone is telling him he can get away with voting a second time for this bill because he got a 15.5% margin last time. Fax 202-225-0697 and explain that even that high a margin is not safe in a year like this one. Voting yes the first time and getting targeted by the GOP for his efforts should have clued him in.
  6. John Hall (NY-19) - Fax this man a dear John letter at 202-255-3289 at explain that his voting for this bill the first time really damaged his relationship with you and doing so a second time will definitely cause a divorce. Add that being targeted by the GOP for his vote should have been a wake-up call because now all those Republicans breathing down his neck are trying to seduce you.
  7. Phil Hare (IL-17) - Poor Phil has been hornswoggled into believing that because he was unopposed the first time, he is home free and can get away with voting for this bill a second time. Fax him at 202-225-5396 and remind him that the last time he had Republican opposition his margin was less than 15% and that is just not safe enough in a banner Republican year.
  8. Paul Kanjorski (PA-11) - Fax 202-225-0764 and explain that you can understand why he voted for the bill the first time since it had the Stupak amendment in it. Since this bill does not have it your conscience will not let you support someone who votes for this bill without it. Add that you know a lot of people who feel the same way and given his meager 3.25% margin last time, he will lose.
  9. Ron Klein (FL-22) - Ron is in need of reality check because he is not being told that his 9.34% margin last time just will not cut it this time but he can save himself by changing his vote to no. Call him at 202-225-3026 and explain how worried you are about his not getting re-elected just because of this one controversial vote after being targeted by the GOP from his first vote.
  10. Suzanne Kosmas (FL-24) - Unlike many of her Democrat colleagues, she knew she could not vote for the first bill if she wanted to get re-elected after McCain carried her district with a 1.95% margin. Now Pelosi is trying to push her out onto that ledge so she can fall to her political death. Fax her at 202-226-6299 and tell her that you are behind her 100% and she should stick to her guns.
  11. James McGovern (MA-3) - Fax him at 202-225-5759 and explain that you are a member of the Scott Brown brigade. Add that since 57.6% of the voters in his district have already voted against this health care fiasco that you expect him to respect their wishes and vote no like Stephen Lynch is doing because 56.9% of his voters made their distaste for this bill clear by electing Scott Brown.
  12. Gerald McNerney (CA-11) - Jerry is beginning to realize that his 10.55% margin is just not good enough this year when the GOP targeted him for voting for this bill the first time in California of all places. Fax 202-225-4060 and tell him that you will forgive him for his first vote if he will vote no this time.
  13. Harry Mitchell (AZ-5) - Harry knows he only got elected because J. D. Hayworth wore out his welcome. He knows that McCain carried his district by 4.53% and his 9.58% margin is not enough for a year like this one. Phone Harry at 202-225-2190 and explain that he should respect the wishes of his constituents and vote no.
  14. Scott Murphy (NY-20) - Pelosi has conned Scott that he should vote for her bill this time and that he has a safe district because Obama carried his district by a whole 3% margin even though his own margin was a paltry 0.45%. Fax him at 202-225-1168 and ask him what Pelosi would know about a competitive district. Tell him if he votes yes, he is toast.
  15. Richard Neal (MA-2) - Fax him at 202-255-8112 and remind him that Scott Brown got 56.9% in his district. Scott got the same margin in district 9 and Representative Lynch got the message and is voting no this time. Remind him that his first vote caused a doctor to be so mad that he is running against him and that you want him to respect the clearly stated wishes of his constituents.
  16. Glenn Nye (VA-2) - Glenn was smart enough to vote against this turkey the first time because his 4.94% margin would vanish in a year like this one. Now Pelosi wants him to fall on his sword for the Party. Fax him at 202-225-4218 and tell him that Pelosi does not know beans about what a competitive district is like. He should hang in there or else he will wind up hanging himself.
  17. Tom Perriello (VA-5) - Poor Tom is in a world of hurt because he won by a whisker with a 0.23% margin. Not knowing the ropes, he made the mistake of voting for the Pelosi bill the first time. He is tied with a Republican challenger in a poll as a result. McCain-Palin carried his district by 2.31% and Pelosi has conned him into repeating his mistake. Fax 202-225-5681 and tell him he is toast.
  18. Earl Pomeroy (ND-AL) - Earl voted for this mess the first time and now Rick Berg is six points ahead of him. Fax him at 202-226-0893 and tell him he can still survive if he votes no this time.
  19. Ciro Rodriguez (TX-23) - Ciro also got it wrong the first time because he thought a 13.84% margin was good enough to let him do that. Fax him at 202-225-2237 and tell him that Canseco will make a federal case out of his doing so again. He should follow the lead of Chet Edwards and vote no this time.
  20. Kurt Schrader (OR-5) - Kurt mistakenly thought that being from Oregon was sufficient to allow him to vote for the Pelosi bill the first time. Now he is having second thoughts after the GOP targeted him and two Republicans are just waiting for him to do it again so they can crucify him. Fax 202-225-5699 and tell him to vote no and save himself.
  21. John Salazar (CO-3) - John has convinced himself that he can vote for the Pelosi bill a second time and get away with it even though McCain-Palin carried his district by 2.54% and the GOP targeted him for his vote. Fax 202-226-9669 and tell him he is sadly mistaken if he really thinks he can do this and still win in November.
  22. Zack Space (OH-18) - Our boy Zack is trying to make like a conservative on his website and is pussyfooting around his yes vote the first time which got him targeted by the GOP. Fax him at 202-225-3394 and tell him that he should make good on his conservative boasts by voting no this time. Remind him that McCain-Palin carried his district by 7.86% and that Bob Gibbs is waiting to pounce.