who to run in 2016

[freepcrusher]

my thoughts:

AL - if Shelby retires, try running someone like Bud Cramer to "test" how a conservadem can do. If Shelby doesn't retire, leave him unopposed

AK - don't bother

AZ - depends if McCain retires. If he stays put, don't bother. If he gets teabagged or retires, run someone like Phil Gordon (we need Kirkpatrick and Sinema to hold those seats as long as possible)

AR - Arkansas is gone forever

FL - Castor seems like the best option.

GA - punt on the seat since Isakson is running. If he gets primaried, running Nunn again might work

ID - punt

IL - Lipinski seems like the one who would have the best chance. He's not that much different than Alan Dixon

IN - punt unless Stutzman gets in. If he gets in, try Bayh

IA - try to scare Grassley into retirement by threatening to run Vilsack. If Warner is any indication, personal popularity can be a house of cards.

KS - punt

KY - punt

LA - punt

MO - if he's still popular, try Nixon

NH - Hassan

NC - punish the republicans for gerrymandering and run McIntyre of Schuler

ND - punt

OH - Tim Ryan

OK - punt

PA - Tim Holden

SC - punt

SD - punt

UT - punt, unless Lee is deeply unpopular

WI - Kind

[IceSpear]

Lipinski, Holden, Schuler? LOL

And why would we not bother in AZ if McCain doesn't retire? He's as popular as Ebola.

[Mr. Illini]

Lipinski, Kind, Holden, Nixon, Schuler?

Try Bustos, Feingold, Sestak, someone else, and Hagan.

[freepcrusher]

Lipinski, Kind, Holden, Nixon, Schuler?

Try Bustos, Feingold, Sestak, someone else, and Hagan.

Bustos = also a solid candidate
Feingold = polarizing candidate. Never got above 55% while Kohl got 58-59% in 1994!
Sestak = could option as well
Missouri = Cleaver is too old and Clay is too polarizing
Hagan = seems too generic.

[KCDem]

We should not let ANYONE run unopposed. That's not helpful downballot.

[Maxwell]

Have you seen McCain's disapproval rating? Dude is more vulnerable than whoever his teabagger is.

if anything, Stutzman is the guy Dems should punt on. Coats could be vulnerable considering he's super anonymous and a very insider guy. Hell, Donnelly should just abandon his current seat and run against Coats, so he can extend his life in the senate, since there's no chance in hell he's being re-elected.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

We should not let ANYONE run unopposed. That's not helpful downballot.

Agreed. You don't have to dump millions of dollars but having a name on the ballot to drive up turnout isn't a bad thing.

[freepcrusher]

if anything, Stutzman is the guy Dems should punt on. Hell, Donnelly should just abandon his current seat and run against Coats, so he can extend his life in the senate, since there's no chance in hell he's being re-elected.

1) Stutzman is probably worse than the maximum Indiana will allow (Jenner is probably the worse it can get in IN and he was never popular)

2) what if a republican is elected in 2016 as prez? If that's the case, Donnelly could be like Pat Roberts (seen vulnerable, but he pulls it out of his ass at the end)

[Flake]

Alabama: Really doesn't matter, I guess Cramer is a good choice.
Alaska: If Murkowski retires, we should run Begich again, if not, whatever Democrat decides to run.
Arizona: Kyrsten Sinema
Arkansas: Mark Beebe
Florida: Patrick Murphy
Georgia: Michelle Nunn
Idaho: Michelle Stennett (really doesn't matter either)
Illinois: Lisa Madigan
Indiana: I guess Bayh but Democrats have no bench here.
Iowa: Run Vilsack only if Grassley retires, if not just run some retiring state senator.
Kansas: Patrick Wiesner I guess (doesn't matter at all)
Kentucky: Republicans in Kentucky are going to do something that allows Paul to run for Senate and President at the same time, so I guess a retiring state legislator.
Louisiana: Karen Carter Peterson
Missouri: Clint Zweifel
New Hampshire: Maggie Hassan
North Carolina: Janet Cowell
North Dakota: Janet Schneider (really doesn't matter)
Ohio: Jennifer Brunner
Oklahoma: BushOklahoma Dan Boren
Pennsylvania: Joe Sestak
South Carolina: Brad Hutto (doesn't matter)
South Dakota: Some retiring state legislator
Utah: Jim Matheson
Wisconsin: Russ Feingold or Ron Kind