League of Conservation Voters

Just Released! LCVAF's "Mambo Pombo" Radio Ad

Today LCV Senior Vice President for Political Affairs Tony Massaro issued the following statement announcing the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund's new radio ad, "Pombo Mambo," which begins airing today throughout California's 11th Congressional District:

"The League of Conservation Voters is putting out good music to highlight Rep. Richard Pombo's terrible record. Our "Pombo-Mambo" radio ad uses a Calypso beat to inform voters about the $120,000 Rep. Pombo has taken from Big Oil, his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, his use of a taxpayer money to rent an RV for a family vacation, and the fact that dirty air and water are not a concern of his. It's 60 seconds of a happy beat that reflects a sad record."

To listen to the ad, click here:  http://www.lcv.org/campaigns/2006-campaigns.html

For more information on LCV's endorsed candidates for 2006, visit our website at: http://www.lcv.org/campaigns/endorsements/index.html.

Citizen-Times Endorses Shuler

The Asheville Citizen-Times has endorsed Heath Shuler in North Carolina's 11th District. The Times talked specifically about Shuler's environmental credentials and Taylor's spot on LCV's "Dirty Dozen" list:

"Shuler, a hunter and outdoorsman, places a strong emphasis on protecting the environment.

Taylor is on the bi-partisan League of Conservation Voters list of "Dirty Dozen" for his poor environmental voting record. The Humane Society of the United States is also targeting
Taylor for his poor voting record on animal issues.

Over the past few years, Western North Carolina, hard hit by the loss of manufacturing jobs, desperately needed a Congressman with the clout to secure federal funding to help rescue our economy.

To his credit, Taylor worked with the business community and with local colleges and universities on numerous projects to do that.

A Wall Street Journal story accuses Taylor of securing funding for some road projects that benefited him personally, and that may be true, but they benefited the region as well.

But the overriding issue in this election is the need for a change in direction for the nation.

Taylor represents more of the same. Shuler represents hope for something better."

     - To read the full editorial, click here.

Campaigns Update

As some of the earlier posts indicated, LCV has made a number of Congressional endorsements this cycle.  Before making endorsements, LCV staff often sits down with the candidate to have an introductory discussion about their background and environmental outlook.  We've met with many pro-environment candidates who are currently locked in highly competitive races.  Not long ago, many of these candidates were considered long shots in their races and now many of them are either the frontrunner or within striking distance.   

Gabrielle Giffords (AZ-08) has been ahead in the polls for several weeks now, with a lead ranging anywhere from 8 to 12 points in third party polls.  After a primary against a well-known TV anchorwoman, Giffords is in a strong position to win the open AZ-08 seat following Rep. Jim Kolbe's retirement.  When Giffords visited the LCV office, her list of accomplishments was so impressive -- it was hard to fathom someone could accomplish so much at such a young age.  Assuming everything continues down the current path, it looks like southern Arizona will have a real environmental champion in the House.

We also met with Admiral Joe Sestak (PA-07) early in his campaign.  Sestak faced an uphill battle early on against 10-term incumbent Rep. Curt Weldon.  He met with us alone, without any campaign staff, and was so smart and engaging you could tell he would put up a good fight.  He has since proven us right.  A third party poll had Sestak and Weldon in a dead heat in late September (before news about Rep. Weldon's alleged misconduct broke) and Sestak out-raised Weldon in the 3rd Quarter.  Sestak's strong campaigning, coupled with the national mood and Weldon's missteps, could send him to Congress next year.

To see all of LCV's endorsed candidates, check out our interactive map here.

          - Staci Soloway

Burner Puts the Heat on Reichert

Dave Reichert (WA) isn't quite sure what he thinks about global warming and Darcy Burner, the upstart challenger endorsed by LCV, is making an issue of it. The statement that exposed Reichert's ignorance on the issue:

The problem is, you have some scientists who say it's happening, and some say it's not happening...I'm going to wait until all the facts are in. There were many scientists who used to say the world was flat.

Reichert must be confusing scientists with science-fiction writers. Admittedly, when the former are muzzled and the latter (such as Michael Crichton) are invited to testify in the Senate, it can get a bit confusing. But once the National Academy of Science, the IPCC--the largest body of scientists ever amassed to study one issue--and thousands of other scientists conclude that global warming is definitely happening and that humans are the cause, it should be the end of the argument.

As an investigator, I am pursuing all of the information available on global warming and its potential causes. My mind is open and my office is open.

But Sheriff Reichert has apparently forgotten how to do good investigative work. He says he's open to hearing arguments-- seems like he just hasn't bothered to open a respectable newspaper or magazine in a couple of years.

Kudos to Burner for holding him accountable for his irresponsibility. She's sent out several press releases mocking his position, including one inviting him to an event with Al Gore, so that he could educate himself on the issue.

Protecting the Tongass

Yesterday I participated in a press teleconference with Rep. Robert Andrews (NJ) (it’s worth noting that he earned a perfect 100% on LCV’s 2006 Scorecard), John Maret of Audubon Wildlife Society in New Jersey, Erik Lee Nielson, the owner of Alaska Boat and Marine in Juneau, Alaska, and Aurah Landau of the Alaska Coalition. The purpose of the teleconference was to highlight an amendment co-led by Rep. Andrews to end taxpayer subsidies for new commercial logging roads in Alaska's Tongass Rainforest.

Protecting the Tongass -- the world's largest remaining old-growth temperate rainforest -- has long been a priority for the League of Conservation Voters. I've had the privilege to spend time in the Tongass and marvel at the old growth trees and the incredible array of wildlife. It simply does not make sense to spend taxpayer dollars to subsidize private companies to log this precious place.

The Tongass amendment was such a priority for the environmental community that it was one of twelve House votes selected for inclusion in our 2006 National Environmental Scorecard. We strongly urge Congress to include this measure in the spending bill.

Tuesday Poll Numbers

Here are some of the latest poll numbers released Tuesday, as compiled by Politics1.com:

US SENATE RACES:

MICHIGAN: US Senator Debbie Stabenow (D) - 49%, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard (R) - 42%. (Strategic Vision-R).

PENNSYLVANIA: State Treasurer Bob Casey Jr. (D) - 49%, US Senator Rick Santorum (R) - 42%. (Strategic Vision-R).

VIRGINIA: US Senator George Allen (R) - 47%, former Navy Secretary Jim Webb (D) - 43%, businesswoman Gail Parker (Indep. Green) - 2%. (Virginian-Pilot/Mason-Dixon).

US HOUSE RACES:

INDIANA - CD-9: Former Congressman Baron Hill (D) - 47%, Congressman Mike Sodrel (R) - 43%, college professor Eric Schansberg (Libertarian) - 5%. (WCSH-TV/SurveyUSA).

NEW MEXICO - CD-1: Attorney General Patricia Madrid (D) - 45%, Congresswoman Heather Wilson (R) - 42%. (Albuquerque Journal).

15 Days...

There are only 15 days to go until election day. I wish the election was tomorrow. Here is where I think we are on several of our key races with a little over two weeks to go.

Each election LCV names a handful of current members up for election this cycle as "Environmental Champions". These Environmental Champions have demonstrated leadership on key environmental issues during their service in Congress and have earned the support of LCV in their re-election. This year we named nine people as Environmental Champions.

Senator Lincoln Chafee (R) from Rhode Island survived a difficult primary and is now in a tough general election. It looks like Chafee is behind at the moment and it is going to be very tough for him to pull this one out.

Senator Maria Cantwell (D) of Washington was the first person LCV endorsed for re-election this year. She is running against a self-funded insurance company executive. Public polls show Cantwell significantly ahead and if the election were tomorrow she would win handily. But since the election is not tomorrow we will keep doing our program in the Seattle area to help her secure re-election.

Senator Olympia Snowe (R) of Maine will have no problem getting re-elected on Nov. 7.

Senator Hillary Clinton (D) of New York will have no problem getting re-elected on November 7.

Senator Debbie Stabenow (D) of Michigan is in a tough race but public polls show her in the lead right now. Her opponent has narrowed a big gap since he came out of his primary but Stabenow continues to lead by several points above the margin of error. We are working closely with the Michigan League of Conservation Voters on a variety of races throughout Michigan. This seat clearly leans in Stabenow’s favor right now.

Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut lost the Democratic Party primary and is now running as the Connecticut Party. He has pledged to caucus with the Democrats should he win. Recent polls have him up by more than ten points. His opponent has not broadened his base since the primary in August. This looks to be Lieberman’s race to lose. This seat clearly leans in Lieberman’s favor right now.

Rep. Chris Shays (R) of Connecticut is running even in this race. It promises to be close and is too close to call. All public independent polls have the race as a dead heat and it will stay that way for another 15 days. We may not know the winner of this race when we go to bed early the morning of Nov. 8.

Rep. Bob Filner (D) of California won his contested primary by a good margin and will coast to re-election in the general.

Finally, Rep. Bernie Saunders (I) of Vermont is looking to move up to the Senate this year. He is ahead in the polls by a wide margin and should win this race on Nov. 7.

LCV on the Road: New Mexico's 1st District House Race

Last weekend I traveled to New Mexico to participate in the League of Conservation Voters canvass efforts on behalf of Attorney General Patricia Madrid. Public polls point to this race as a dead heat and LCV expects it will go down to the wire. Heather Wilson, the incumbent Congresswoman, is a member of our Dirty Dozen. She has consistently fought for Big Oil against the interests of the residents of Albuquerque during her time in the US Congress.

Jim Baca, Conservation Voters New Mexico endorsed candidate for New Mexico Land Commissioner, spoke to the 25 assembled volunteers before everyone went out to knock on 1,500 doors. Canvassing is a great way to find out what is on the minds of voters. I canvassed for several hours in suburban New Mexico. We were canvassing in areas where Heather Wilson has won previously. I came away from that effort encouraged about the prospects for a Patricia Madrid victory.

I also found that voters remain very concerned about energy policy in this country. Some people in Washington, DC think that the energy issue is driven solely by gas prices and now that gas prices are down from their sky-high levels this summer the issue is no longer important to voters. That is not what I found when actually talking to voters outside the rarified air of DC. Voters told me that they want a new energy policy because they believe it is important for the environment, means new kinds of jobs for a new economy, and energy independence is important to our national security. None of that changes with slightly lower gas prices.

I recommend canvassing to everyone. It is great to talk with voters. They are more engaged than they get credit for and they are far ahead of the politicians on many issues. LCV will continue to talk to voters in New Mexico and other states all the way till the polls close on November 7.

LCV's Montana Ad

Check out our new ad highlighting how LCV and Montana share many of the same values and how LCV is working everyday to preserve, protect and defend the natural heritage Montanans hope to pass on to the next generation.

LCV's Jon Tester Ad

Check out our latest ad in LCV's Independent Expenditure Campaign to elect Jon Tester to the U.S. Senate! The ad is running in Montana from now until Election Day.