If you had the chance to watch President Obama’s State of the Union speech on Tuesday, you know how much emphasis he put on boosting the middle class and making sure the wealthy are paying their fair share. Senate Democrats are standing with him. Three more of our candidates have posted strong fundraising numbers; I’ll give you the details below. Tommy Thompson is waffling in Wisconsin, and you won’t BELIEVE the guy New York Republicans want to run for Senate. In Ohio, Josh Mandel is ignoring his job as Treasurer in order to raise money in Washington D.C. Meanwhile, John Boehner of all people makes the case for why we need to keep the Senate blue.

Senate Democrats Stand with the Middle Class
In the wake of President Obama’s State of the Union, Senate Democrats are planning an aggressive legislative agenda on behalf of the middle class. The agenda likely will put Republicans on the record as favoring the interests of the 1%. “We’re going to push serious proposals to help create middle class jobs,” Sen. Chuck Schumer said. “We’re going to defend Medicare. And we will pursue tax reform that makes sense for the middle class.” Sounds great to us. Read more »

Kaine, McCaskill, Tester Post Strong 4th Quarter
Two more strong 4th quarter FEC totals to report: Virginia’s Tim Kaine raised $1.65 million and has $3.3 million on hand; Missouri’s Sen. Claire McCaskill raised $1.4 million and has nearly $5 million on hand; and Montana’s Sen. Jon Tester raised almost $1.2 million and has $3.8 million on hand. These totals are especially important because all three candidates have already been targeted with attack ads from Karl Rove’s shady third-party groups.

We’re Fighting Back, but We Need Your Help!
Next Tuesday is our big January FEC deadline, and we still need $365,000. Meeting this goal is extremely important – fall short, and we won’t have the resources we need to defend President Obama, counteract Karl Rove and prevent a total GOP takeover of Congress. If you haven’t given, could you click this link and give $5 now? We rely on grassroots donations for 90% of our gifts, and we sure could use yours. Thank you.

Tommy Thompson Waffles on Scott Walker
Is Wisconsin Republican Tommy Thompson for or against Gov. Scott Walker’s policies? Your guess is as good as mine. Last weekend, Thompson hyped Walker at a rally of the governor’s staunchest supporters. But only two days later, Thompson distanced himself from some of Walker’s more controversial policies – the policies that led to an unprecedented recall election petition drive that netted more than 1 million signatures. Read more »

NYGOP Wants THIS GUY to Run for Senate?
This week, news broke that Marc Cenedella – the CEO of TheLadders.com who’s being recruited to run against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand – has an “interesting” blog, for lack of a better term. Cenedella’s blog includes posts that degrade women, advocate polygamy and discuss illegal drugs. It’s pretty pathetic if this is the best candidate Republicans can come up with. Read more »

Mandel Puts Politics Ahead of Doing Job
Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel this week proved he’s more interested in running for Senate than doing his job. On Thursday, he again skipped the meeting of the powerful state board that makes decisions on the state’s investments in order to attend his own Senate campaign fundraiser. In fact, Mandel has yet to attend ANY of these monthly meetings, which makes him “unique among modern-era treasurers.” It’s time Mandel focuses on the job he’s got instead of the next one he wants. Read more »

Boehner Makes Case for Why Dems Holding the Senate is So Important
Here’s incentive for Democrats to keep fighting: Speaker John Boehner this week claimed that the GOP will hold the House for at least the next decade. Can you imagine the horrible legislation Republicans would pass if they had total control of Washington? That’s why we’re hard at work every day to make sure President Obama is re-elected, and Democrats hold onto the Senate. Read more »

I have more fundraising results to share, and our candidates are posting strong numbers. Meanwhile, a new poll shows that Sen. Sherrod Brown is holding his lead over Republican Josh Mandel. Also, Republicans were already struggling with a number of crowded, nasty Senate primaries – and now you can add Virginia and Connecticut to that list.

Baldwin Posts Strong Numbers in Wisconsin
Rep. Tammy Baldwin – who’s running for the Senate from Wisconsin – posted strong numbers in the final quarter of 2011, raising more than $1.1 million from 16,000 individual donors. I’m excited about Tammy’s campaign. Not only will she break the glass ceiling – no woman has ever represented Wisconsin in the Senate – she’ll also break barriers nationwide by being the first openly LGBT senator. And she’s got a winning argument of standing up for the middle class, protecting Medicare and Social Security and bringing good jobs to the Badger State. Read more »

Carmona Raises $570K in Only 6 Weeks
Another Democrat turning heads is Richard Carmona in Arizona. Carmona raised a strong $570,000 in only 6 weeks. Carmona also released his first campaign web video; you can watch it by clicking here. Carmona has a remarkable story – rising from abject poverty, he become a special forces medic in Vietnam, a trauma surgeon, SWAT team leader, and Surgeon General of the United States. We’ve got a great chance to turn this red Senate seat blue in 2012. Read more »

We’re headed toward 100,000 Citizen Cosponsors by Midnight!
We’re just short of the 100,000 Citizen Cosponsors we need by midnight to fight Citizens United. Have you signed up yet? Today is the second anniversary of the infamous Supreme Court decision, which opened the floodgates for corporate money in elections. We want to make a big statement that elections should be decided by voters, not shady third-party groups run by Karl Rove and funded by big oil and big banks. Sign up here, and get your friends and family to sign, too.

NEW POLL: Sherrod Brown Holds 15-Point Lead in Ohio
A great new poll from Ohio shows that Sen. Sherrod Brown is leading the most likely Republican nominee – state treasurer Josh Mandel – by 15 points, 47-32. After promising the people of Ohio that he’d serve out his term as their treasurer, he has instead spent his entire time in trying to leave that office by and campaigning for Senate. His naked ambition hasn’t gone unnoticed. Read more »

Crowded, Nasty GOP Primaries Will Boost Democrats
I’ve been saying this all along – the nasty primary fights Republicans are having right now – courtesy of the Tea Party and other extreme conservatives – will hurt them in November. The same hands-off policy that led to Christine O’Donnell and Sharron Angle in 2010 is still at work. Meanwhile, Democrats have an impressive slate of candidates and very few primary contests. We’ll be making a general election argument long after Republicans are still battling it out among themselves. Read more »

Sorry, George Allen: You’ve Got a Primary Now
In Virginia, state Del. Bob Marshall jumped into the Senate race, which is really bad news for former governor and failed Sen. George Allen. Allen – the quintessential Washington insider – is not well liked among many in his own party. and that opens up an opportunity for Marshall, who’s made a name for himself as a staunch conservative. Meanwhile, former Gov. Tim Kaine is traveling the state, contrasting his record of fiscal responsibility and strong management skills with Allen’s terrible record of turning a record surplus into a record deficit. Read more »

Claws Come Out in Republican Primaries: Connecticut Edition
In Connecticut, former Rep. Chris Shays – who officially jumped into the race this week – pulled no punches in talking about former WWE executive Linda McMahon. “She’s got over 41 people 50 years and younger who’ve died in her jobs,” Shays said. “That’s quite a job record that she’s created.” He also suggested that McMahon is trying to buy an election, but that it won’t work. Read more »

Democratic Senator Jim Webb – who has been a true advocate for Virginia – announced he would not seek re-election earlier this year, paving the way for former Virginia Governor Tim Kaine to jump in to the race. As governor, Kaine improved Virginia’s economy, helped bring business to the state and made education and the environment top priorities. Virginia was named one of the best managed states in the nation during Kaine’s time as governor. Meanwhile, Republicans face a bloody primary between a Washington insider, former Sen. George Allen, and a longtime conservative stalwart, state Delegate Bob Marshall. Allen’s long record of increasing spending and growing the national debt will make him vulnerable against Marshall in the primary.

Departing Democratic Senator Jim Webb
Terms in Office: 1
Republican Candidates: Former Senator George Allen, state Delegate Bob Marshall, Tea Party activist Jamie Radtke
Democratic Candidate: Former Governor Tim Kaine

Senator Bob Casey is in a strong position going into his re-election race. He has one of the most recognizable names in Pennsylvania and has spent his career fighting for the middle class in this blue tinted state. Casey’s sterling reputation, high poll numbers and fundraising ability have forced all top Republican recruits to take a pass on the race.

Democratic Senator Bob Casey
Terms in Office: 1
Republican Candidates: Defense plant owner David Christian, lawyer Marc Scaringi, businessman Steve Welch, former coal company owner Tom Smith, former state Rep. Sam Rohrer
Primary Date: 4/24/2012

Quarterly fundraising numbers are trickling in, and Elizabeth Warren put up a MASSIVE number, thanks in large part to the small donors who are making a big difference in our fight to keep the Senate blue. We expect more good numbers in the coming days from our other candidates. And just in time, as Tea Party forces unenthused by Mitt Romney turn their energy toward taking the Senate. Meanwhile, Heidi Heitkamp is giving North Dakota Republicans heartburn – for good reason.

You Did This: Democrats Trounce Republicans in Grassroots Donations!
Here’s a good look at how important all of those $10 and $25 donations are to keeping the Senate blue. Recently released numbers show that the DSCC has seen a whopping 46% jump in small donations since the last election cycle – from $9.1 million to $13.4 million. In the same timeframe, Republicans have seen their small donations DROP 31%. It proves that every little bit helps and will help preserve the Democratic majority in 2012. Read more »

MONSTER Quarter from Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Warren’s candidacy has caught fire! Warren reported an astonishing $5.7 million raised during the final quarter of 2011, compared with only $3.2 million raised by Republican Sen. Scott Brown. And much of the support is from local grassroots donors, with about 23,000 Bay Staters contributing, and an average gift of $64. Warren’s message of leveling the playing field for middle class American families has clearly caught on. Sen. Brown has got to be nervous. Read more »

Tea Partiers Turn Attention to Taking Senate
The Democratic advantage in small donations couldn’t come at a better time. Tea Partiers – who are decidedly unenthusiastic about Mitt Romney’s candidacy – are turning their attention to a bigger prize – gaining control of the Senate. Tim Dake of the Wisconsin Grandsons of Liberty might sum it up best: “There is no way on earth I’d campaign for Romney,” he said. “I will put all of my efforts into getting a conservative U.S. senator instead.” If their plan works, and Republicans gain 4 seats, they have total control of Congress. We’re fighting every day to make sure that doesn’t happen. Read more »

Republicans Running Scared in North Dakota
In an editorial, the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead pointed out this week that Republican actions suggest that they are worried about Democratic Senate candidate Heidi Heitkamp. And they should be. According to the Forum, Heitkamp is a formidable campaigner who “can count on a deep reservoir of good will among North Dakotans” given her strong leadership during two terms as attorney general. “Given Heitkamp’s record of service in her state … it will be a tall order for [Republicans] to characterize her as putting the interests of Washington ahead of North Dakota,” the editorial concluded. Exactly right. Read more »

Republicans are preparing for a bloody primary fight pitting D.C. establishment Heather Wilson against Lieutenant Governor John Sanchez, a darling for the Tea Party. Wilson is a creature of the Republican establishment, who was named one of the most corrupt members of Congress before losing in the primary for U.S. Senate in 2008, while Sanchez’ views put him far outside the mainstream. President Obama won the state by double digits in 2008. His campaign is planning an aggressive turnout operation in 2012. Democratic Congressman Martin Heinrich and State Auditor Hector Balderas are competing for the nomination.

Departing Democratic Senator Jeff Bingaman
Terms in Office: 5
Republican Candidates: Former Congresswoman Heather Wilson, Lieutenant Governor John Sanchez, businessman Greg Sowards
Democratic Candidates: Congressman Martin Heinrich, State Auditor Hector Balderas

This morning, Rep. Tammy Baldwin received an important endorsement – from the man whom she hopes to replace as the voice for Wisconsin families in the United States Senate.

Democratic Sen. Herb Kohl gave his full support to Baldwin:

“Tammy Baldwin has served our state and our country with conviction, compassion and common sense, and she will be an excellent senator who will make Wisconsin proud. We can all trust Tammy to stand up for the people of our great state and for the values we all share.”

Exactly. And that’s why Wisconsin Democrats are rallying behind Baldwin’s bid.

Meanwhile, Republicans are decidedly NOT rallying around a single candidate. And the nasty primary developing between former Gov. Tommy Thompson, former Rep. Mark Neumann and state Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald won’t be over until August 14 – plenty of time for them to damage each other.

The strong and unified support for Tammy Baldwin means she is free to share her message of creating jobs, strengthening Medicare and Social Security and protecting the middle class statewide. And it’s resonating. Polling shows Baldwin statistically tied against all three GOP candidates, and their attacks on each other and pandering to the far right – not to mention the serious overreach by Republican Gov. Scott Walker – will do nothing but hurt Republicans in the general election.

Believe it or not, it’s now 2012 – election year. We got good news from Michigan this week: A new poll shows Sen. Debbie Stabenow leading by 10 points, 52-42. Meanwhile, Republican infighting just might help Democrats in Wisconsin and Virginia. In Missouri, businessman John Brunner says he had nothing to do with the job layoffs at his own company, and it’s Chamber of Commerce vs. Chamber of Commerce over attack ads in Montana. And in Massachusetts, Sen. Scott Brown is on the run from Elizabeth Warren.  After weeks of polling showing Warren taking the lead over Brown, he reversed course to save his re-election and came out in favor of President Obama’s recess appointment of Richard Cordray to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – after issuing a press release announcing he was opposed to it!  While Brown is busy pandering and flip-flopping, Warren is busy fighting for the middle class.

NEW POLL: Sen. Stabenow Up 10 Points
Here’s one of the first new polls of the new year, and it’s a good one: Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow is up 10 points over failed gubernatorial candidate Pete Hoekstra, 52-42. It’s no wonder. Sen. Stabenow has kept jobs and the economy at the forefront of her campaign – and her work representing Michiganders. And Hoekstra still has to survive a nasty Republican primary against candidates preferred by the GOP’s Tea Party wing. Read more »

Wisconsin GOP Primary Getting Nasty
Next door in Wisconsin, there’s a another civil war brewing within the Republican Party. It seems that the extremist Club for Growth is not so impressed with Tommy Thompson, and it’s doing everything it can to ensure that Thompson is not the Republican nominee. “We think the more Republican voters know about Tommy Thompson’s record, the less likely they’ll be to support him,” said Club for Growth spokesman Barney Keller. In the meantime, Democratic Rep. Tammy Baldwin is taking her message of job creation and putting the middle class first statewide. Read more »

Tea Party Hero Weighs Run Against George Allen
It looks like failed Sen. George Allen might have a tough Republican primary after all. Bob Marshall, a longtime member of the Virginia House of Delegates, is putting thought into challenging Allen for the GOP nomination. Many Virginia Republicans are unhappy with Allen and might jump at the chance to back an even more conservative candidate. No matter whom they choose, Republicans will wind up with a candidate too conservative for this swing state that backed President Obama in 2008 – and will support former Gov. Tim Kaine in 2012. Read more »

“Job Creator” Brunner’s Company Lays Off Workers
Get this: Missouri businessman John Brunner – who’s running for the Republican nomination for Senate – says he had nothing to do with recent layoffs at Vi-Jon. You know, the company he leads as chairman and where he launched his Senate campaign! “John Brunner filmed a campaign ad calling himself a ‘job creator’ on the same factory floor where those workers got their pink slips,” said Caitlin Legacki, Missouri Democratic Party spokeswoman. Unbelievable. Read more »

Chamber Takes on Chamber over Attack Ads
This is fun: The Missoula Chamber of Commerce is crying foul over attack ads the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is running against Democratic Sen. Jon Tester. The Missoula Chamber called the ads “counterproductive” and full of “half-truths.” The Great Falls Chamber of Commerce also criticized the national Chamber. The national Chamber’s ads have made quite an impression. They also misspelled Tester’s first name and suggest that Tester’s votes cost jobs in Marysville – a town that’s been abandoned for more than 100 years. Read more »

Warren: I’m Fighting for the Middle Class
Elizabeth Warren is traveling the state of Massachusetts making a strong case why she’d be a much better voice for the middle class in Washington. “The middle class has been squeezed for a generation now, and it can’t hold on much longer,” Warren told a crowd in Boston. Meanwhile, Sen. Scott Brown has been a strong voice for Wall Street, and voters know it. Recent polls show Warren gaining an advantage. Read more »

Proof That Scott Brown is Scared
Here’s further proof that Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown only cares about his re-election and is worried about Elizabeth Warren’s grassroots campaign: This week, Brown flip-flopped and spoke out in favor of President Obama’s recess appointment of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – after issuing a press release opposed to it.  Remember, this is the agency Warren helped create. Talk about a shameless opportunist. Somehow, I don’t think Brown’s blatant political pander is going to steal Warren’s considerable momentum. Read more » 

Further proof that Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown is a political opportunist: Brown, who has always carried water for Wall Street, told President Obama not make a recess appointment of Richard Cordray to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He now supports the move. It appears that Brown licked his finger and stuck it in the air to see which way the wind was blowing – and discovered a gale force blast to his face.

The fact is that Scott Brown is a desperate politician who has launched an election year Mitt Romney-style reinvention tour.

Before Elizabeth Warren: In July of 2010, [Scott Brown] strongly called on Obama to refrain from making any recess appointment to the CFPB, arguing that it was the responsibility of the Senate. More recently, after the Warren challenge heated up, he called on fellow Republicans to support Cordray to head the bureau, but still continued to insist the Senate must confirm him.

After Elizabeth Warren: “Here’s a pretty clear sign of which way the politics are moving in the fight over Obama’s decision to employ a recess appointment to install Richard Cordray as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Senator Scott Brown — who’s facing a stiff populist challenge from Elizabeth Warren, the creator of the agency — has now come out in support of the move.”

Democratic Senator Joe Manchin – who served as West Virginia’s governor – is immensely popular in West Virginia among Democrats, Republicans and Independents. And his focus on creating jobs in West Virginia will be a valuable asset going into 2012. Meanwhile, businessman John Raese – who lost to Manchin by 9 points in 2010 – is again running for the Republican nomination. Raese – a fierce critic of government spending – nonetheless accepted government assistance at his own companies. He also flew his private jet in from his Florida home to file his candidate papers – a fact unlikely to impress West Virginia voters.

Democratic Senator Joe Manchin
Terms in Office: 1
Republican Candidate: John Raese
Primary Date: 5/8/2012

Ranking Member of the Education committee, Sharon Steckman of Mason City raised concern about using the new Smarter Balanced Assessment test in replacement of the long time used Iowa Test of Basic Skills.

By MIKE WISER Globe Gazette Des Moines Bureau | Posted: Sunday, February 5, 2012 8:01 am | (0) Comments

DES MOINES – Thousands of Iowa students will pick up their No. 2 pencils to fill in tiny circles this month in a school-year ritual that may be as foreign to their children as desktop inkwells were to their parents.

The circles are synonymous with standardized testing and, in Iowa, that’s been synonymous with the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.

But last week, Department of Education Director Jason Glass told lawmakers that it was time to get rid of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills in favor of the still-under-development Smarter Balanced Assessment.

It’s a move some educators say is overdue and one that Glass forecasted this summer when he got the OK from Gov. Terry Branstad and State Board of Education President Rosie Hussey of Mason City to make Iowa a governing member of the Smarter Balanced Consortium, which is expected to introduce a new national testing system by the 2014-15 academic year.

It also comes at a time when ITBS has made moves to better align its test questions to the Iowa Core and to provide students, parents and teachers more information about each individual test-taker.

But it may be too little, too late for ITBS.

“They go beyond just memorizing and regurgitating facts. Smarter Balanced assessments are computer-adaptive, so we get results much more quickly than is possible with paper and pencil, bubble-sheet tests,” Department of Education spokeswoman Staci Hupp wrote in an email.

“These new assessments can be completed faster by the student, resulting in more time for instruction. The assessments also will allow for state-to-state comparisons, which have been difficult with a patchwork of state standards and tests across the country.”

Norm and criterion

The Iowa Test of Basic Skills is a norm-referenced test. That means students are compared to other students who take the test, and results come out on a bell curve.

The Smarter Balanced Assessments are set up to be criterion-referenced tests. Those measure the students against a set of standards, and the results come out more like a yard stick.

The move toward criterion-referenced tests goes back decades but really got a boost with the federal No Child Left Behind Act and the move toward a nationwide Common Core.

As that push toward criteria testing came, ITBS has tried to adapt, said Catherine Welch, a professor at the University of Iowa who also works for Iowa Testing Programs, which is responsible for ITBS.

“We have aligned to the Iowa Core in reading, math and (English language arts),” Welch said. “There’s a one-to-one ratio, so each question is directly related to one of the standards.”

Because of this, students will get individual Iowa Core reports when their results come out.

ITBS also has expanded its college readiness report to include grade 6 through 11, and there’s new student growth information that charts a student’s progress over time and predicts where he or she should be on future tests.

Welch said she understands there is a significant push by the governor and the department of education away from the ITBS.

“I hope that the discussion will continue and we can be a part of that discussion,” she said.

Looking ahead

Sioux City Community School District Superintendent Paul Gausman said he was happy “to learn that the state was participating so vigorously” in developing the Smarter Balanced Assessment.

“It’s very important for us to have a criterion-based test,” said Gausman, who also serves as chairman of the Urban Education Network, an organization representing the 17 largest school districts in the state.

Sioux City students take the ITBS in March.

He said the ITBS is good for what it is and the testing service has been as responsive as it can be, but the test doesn’t give teachers and administrators the measures they need.

“It provides a good snapshot, but what they are trying to do with Smarter Balanced is just much more comprehensive than what they can do with ITBS,” he said.

Jane Lindaman, associate superintendent of educational services at the Waterloo School District, agreed.

“They haven’t been able to produce a criterion-referenced test,” she said of Iowa Testing Programs. “And that is very important because under No Child Left Behind, we need something that shows if our schools and our students are making adequate yearly progress against the standards.”

Waterloo students take their test in March.

Still, it’s up to the Legislature if ITBS stays or goes.

“I think we have to be careful,” said Sharon Steckman, D-Mason City, a former teacher and ranking member on the House Education Committee. “We don’t know what Smarter Balanced is going to look like because no one has seen it yet.”

Jean Hessburg, spokeswoman for the Iowa State Education Association, said the union doesn’t have a position on the test.

“If Smarter Balanced turns out to be as good as it’s billed to be, it’s great,” she said. “But we don’t know what it will be.”

Read more: http://globegazette.com/news/local/iowa-test-of-basic-skills-may-be-on-way-out/article_3667b230-4fc0-11e1-a680-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz1lcs4AzhI



Vander Plaats’ group again attacks anti-bullying conference

DES MOINES – Iowa Democratic Party Chairwoman Sue Dvorsky released the following statement in response to Bob Vander Plaats’ Family Leader’s outrageous comments, in which the organization called an anti-bullying conference “dangerous” and “radical.”

“Bob Vander Plaats’ regressive attacks on equality in this state are shameful. To say that a conference, which encourages an accepting environment, in which all Iowa students, can safely learn, is utterly outrageous. Governor Branstad’s support for this event highlights the fact that Iowa is moving forward and that, regardless of party, we can support efforts to make our schools safe for LGBTQ youth.

“Once again, the Family Leader is more interested in fostering division than building an Iowa where all families are accepted and treated with the dignity they deserve. We hope Republicans will stand up to Vander Plaats’ bullying and continue to support efforts to improve safety and acceptance in Iowa schools.”