Mark A. Kilmer (the weblog)

There are several vulnerable Democrat seats in the U.S. Senate next year, Bob Novak reports, but Elizabeth Dole’s National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) can’t recruit suitable candidates? It looks like they might have to recruit Alan Keyes to run EVERYWHERE!

My favorite sit is in Michigan:

While the NRSC was Hillary-bashing, [Michigan’s Dem Senator Debbie] Stabenow was getting off the hook. She is a non-charismatic reflexive liberal (100 percent by the Americans for Democratic Action’s measurement last year) who received only 49 percent of the vote while barely unseating Sen. Spencer Abraham in 2000. Furthermore, Stabenow was slipping in the polls as this summer began. She looked like the best incumbent target for Republicans in any “Blue” state.

But Republican regrets poured in from Michigan. Rep. Candice Miller, the strongest Republican challenger, bowed out early. So did Rep. Mike Rogers, another potential star challenger. Secretary of State Terry Lynn Land indicated she is running for re-election. Jane Abraham, the former senator’s wife, thought it over but then said no. The latest to regret was Domino’s Pizza CEO David Brandon. The probable nominee is black clergyman and former Detroit City Councilman Keith Butler, who faces a steep climb against an incumbent senator who is recovering in the polls.

Novak sees a “widespread fear in party circles that 2006 will not be a good year to run as a Republican. That mindset should worry the party’s strategists more than Hillary Clinton’s ideological aberrations.”

Adam C over at RedHot has read the Novak column and offers:

I think he goes a bit overboard about the charge and the likely outcome (as bad as a -4 change in the Senate). But overall, except for Steele in MD the recruiting has ended up without their first choice in MI (Miller), FL (anyone but Harris), NE (Johanns), VT (Douglas) and WA (Rossi). They could still redeem themselves with an affirmatives from Capito (WV), Conrad (ND), and Kean (NJ).

Although Katherine Harris might not be the establishment’s favored candidate, she’s of no concern to me. She’ll beat Nelson, and she’ll wear an ‘R’ pin on her blouse.

And I think it’s too early to count any Republican out of their contests, even Butler in Michigan. Politically, as the song goes, “it’s a mixed-up, muddled-up, shookup world.” Especially when dealing with Democrats.

As Robert Reich wrote in March of 2001: “The Democratic Party is stone dead. Dead as a doornail.”

It’s a night game against Oakland. I tried to listen to Tampa Bay at Boston earlier, but they had a rain delay.

Karl Stenhammer’s Second Symphony.

I do not know what to make of THIS WEBLOG. I’m probably not qualified to attempt an explanation, but I’m intrigued and will say nothing bad about someone who sees fit to include me on their blogroll.