First things first.
Colorado,
Indiana,
Nevada,
North Carolina,
Iowa,
New Mexico,
West Virginia,
Kansas,
Connecticut,
Illinois,
Missouri,
North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming,
Wisconsin,
Kentucky,
Oregon,
Minnesota,
Washington,
Virginia,
Nebraska,
Alaska, Hawaii,
Florida,
Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Delaware,
Alabama,
Michigan,
Arizona,
Ohio,
Mississippi,
Arkansas,
Louisiana,
South Carolina,
Oklahoma and
Pennsylvania.
And before we take the jump, I just wanted to remind you again that you can contribute to candidates on this project by hitting this ActBlue page
And, because I get grief about not pimping my other series, here are the stories in The Basics Series...
New Republican Sales Pitch
DLC Democrats Sales Pitch
City on a Hill
The Napoleonic Strategies of the GOP
The Danger Called Howard Dean
JUMP!
I did not know that Massachusetts was the bluest dang state in the Union. I mean, sure, I knew about John Kerry and the Kennedy boys, but they've had some rightwing guvs. Well, whatever. There are 10 Congressional Districts in Massachusetts. Every last one of them is currently blue.
MA-1 - Western portion of the state including Amherst. Our incumbent, John Olver, ran unopposed last time, and is running unopposed this time.
MA-1: Safe Blue.
MA-2 - South central portion of the state including Northampton. Our incumbent, Richard Neal, ran unopposed last time, and is running unopposed this time.
MA-2: Safe Blue.
MA-3 - Central and Southern portion of the state including Worcester. Our guy, Jim McGovern, carried 70% last time, a full 11 points better than Kerry. This time he's running unopposed, so I'm figuring high 90s.
MA-3: Safe Blue.
MA-4 - Boston Suburbs. Our guy, Barney Frank, carried 78% last time. Kerry only got 65%. Their guy is Chuck Morse, a radio talk show host. Well, he's not really running. He missed the filing deadline, so he's not on the ballot, and he doesn't want to mount a write-in campaign. But he's not conceding. What.Ever.
MA-4: Safe Blue.
MA-5 - North Central portion of the state including Lawrence. Our incumbent, Martin Meehan, got 67%, and is running unopposed.
MA-5: Safe Blue.
MA-6 - Northern coastal area including Peabody. Our incumbent, John Tierney, got 70%, or 12 better than Kerry. Their guy is Rick Barton, a veteran Navy pilot and flight instructor, now a small business owner and coach for a youth hockey team. Nothing to see here. Move along.
MA-6: Safe Blue.
MA-7 - More Boston Suburbs. Our guy, Ed Markey, carried 74% last time, but will get substantially more than that this time, as he has no Republican opponent.
MA-7: Safe Blue.
MA-8 - Part of Boston. Our guy, Michael Capuano, ran unopposed last time, but Kerry packed away a tidy 82%. Their giu os Robert Paul Constantino, Jr ("Bobby C") whose website is politicalgateway.com/cand.php?id=382. As if that doesn't scream "SAD SACK" at you, imagine a site with the following in the bio section:
Sadly, however, he learned shortly after accepting the position that his student loan company had denied his forbearance requests and his loans were going into default. As a prosecutor making $35,000 a year, he couldn't afford to stay.
Uh-huh.
MA-8: Safe Blue.
MA-9 - The other part of Boston. Our guy, Stephen Lynch, ran unopposed last time, and is running unopposed this time, too.
MA-9: Safe Blue.
MA-10 - Southern coastal area including Cape Cod. Our guy, Bill Delahunt, got by with 66% last time, or 10 better than Kerry. Their guy is Jeffrey Beatty, a Delta Force Officer (in the first BlackHawk Down), an FBI Agent, and CIA Counter-terrorism officer. He also runs "TotalSecurity" a corporation whose very name invokes mental images of brown shirts and billy clubs. There is also a third party candidate in Peter White, who is running on an impeachment platform. Still...
MA-10: Safe Blue.