I'm not going to pick a candidate in every race - I mean, I know there are gubernatorial elections in Washington and Indiana, but I have no freakin' idea who's running in either of them. I'm just going to focus on only a few of the many races in the country. So here are some picks -
For U.S. Senator, Pennsylvania: This blog endorses Democratic U.S. Representative Joseph Hoeffel of Montgomery County against incumbent Senator Arlen Specter. Yes, Senator Specter is a seasoned legislator, a tireless worker, and just about the Republican party's last liberal, but he is a Republican, and quite frankly, the Democrats need the seat to take control of the Senate in order to foil the Republican House leadership and also derail Senate Republican leader Bill Frist's presidential ambitions. Also, there's one thing about Specter I never liked; as a former prosecutor in Philadelphia, he has this tough, nasty side to him that he overplays a lot. He's one of those guys that goes after mosquitoes with a hydrogen bomb. Joseph Hoeffel, in addition to being a little less reckless, also promises to be effective in working for meaningful health care reform and helping the middle class.
For U.S. Senator, Illinois: This blog endorses - yeah, big surprise - Barack Obama, the Democrat. Not only is he a charismatic, idealistic crusader, but his opponent, perennial Republican appointee Alan Keyes, is a literal newcomer to Illinois politics who just moved to the state this past summer in order to run against Obama. Now, you don't have to be born in Illinois to be an effective officeholder there - Abraham Lincoln, Stephen Douglas, the late Senator Paul Simon, and Obama himself weren't and aren't Prairie State natives - but it does help if you've lived there for more than, say, two months. You're telling me that, in Illinois, whose biggest city, Chicago, is forty precent black, the Republicans couldn't even find one black conservative to go against Obama when Jack Ryan pulled out of the race and Mike Ditka wouldn't run - they had to send out for one at the last minute? I mean, Illinois must have at least one black conservative. Maryland did. His name was Alan Keyes. Take it from me, and back Barack.
For U.S. Senator, Colorado: This blog endorses Democrat Ken Salazar against Republican brewery scion Peter Coors. The reasons are obvious; the Coors family, after spending a lifetime - my lifetime - of making America the meanest and nastiest place in the Western world by bankrolling ultraconservative political organizations and helping the far right take over the Republican party and the country, wants to do even more damage by sending one of their own to Washington. I don't care if Coors beer is the only domestic beer that can stand up to German and Dutch imports. Not only don't I drink Coors, I don't drink alcoholic beverages - period! Besides, Coors may be the only American beer not watered down, but the Coors family have, ironically enough, helped water down environmental regulations so they their brewery can pollute the earth and water with impunity. When they say they "tap the Rockies," they ain't kidding!
Oh yeah, Pete Coors. Well, he's something of a doofus, and he was caught on TV saying he doesn't know what a "common man" really is. That's just his trouble! Ken Salazar came from a lower-middle-class family, and he knows what it's like to struggle. Also, he supports public health insurance and gay civil unions. Pete Coors doesn't. Vote for Salazar - Pete Coors (also known as Coors Light) is the wrong man now! (And later.)
More endorsements later.