SSP: Skinner Should Run Again

Here's what the Swing State Project had to say about Nancy Skinner:

Nancy Skinner MI 9
This is probably the greatest under-target in the nation and for that very reason Nancy Skinner should be given another shot in this district should she want it. One huge accomplishment of hers was to run through the considerable about of money Congressman Knollenberg had stored up over years and years. She ran a very good race and needs another chance. It also be noted this race was missed almost completely by the mainstream blog's that could have pushed it higher up. We might have missed a win here, as surely as the DCCC did.

However, DavidNYC disagreed with the diarist's assessment:

I would like to see someone with more experience take on Knollenberg, who has been in the House for over a decade. Beating an incumbent in a non-wave year is almost impossible - you need to have as strong a candidate as possible.

Also, Skinner raised only $400K, which strikes me as quite weak. By way of comparison, Eric Massa and Tim Walz, both first-time candidates without prior political experience, raised $1.4M and $1.2M respectively. And Massa's district is quite poor. They are sort of my benchmark.

If you can't raise somewhere in the realm of that kind of money in a strong Dem year, what were you doing? And I should note that MI-09 is a 50-50 district, while both MN-01 and especially NY-29 have a notable GOP tilt. NY-29 went for Bush 56-42.

Joe Knollenberg already announced that he was running for re-election, so he's obviously worried about something.

Mark Maynard: Sacrificing for our kids

Not really politics related, but a good read nonetheless.

TCM: Help WJR become the Great Voice of the entire Great Lake State again

Fantastic post on the lack of balance at WJR, especially considering its target audience. Make sure to read the comments too.

Dave Dempsey: Fresh Water: Protect the Public Trust

Dave discusses the "small container loophole" in terms of future water diversions from the Great Lakes. In his essay, he touches on a very important point: we all collectively own the Great Lakes, which are held in trust to us by our state governments.

WK: Michigan Legislature officially adjourns for the year

WK comments on the Legislature's last day of session. Its pretty funny.