Alex Isenstadt's blog

DENVER - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) hosted an event at the Grand Hyatt today in support of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s top “Red to Blue” recruits.

The event, billed as a “Political Briefing and Campaign Update in Support of Red to Blue Candidates” was co-hosted by a wide array of House leaders including Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), Caucus Vice Chairman John Larson (D-Conn.) and DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), according to the invitation.

The DCCC’s Red to Blue fundraising program aims to benefit challengers and open seat candidates in competitive races. 45 candidates have been named to the program.

DENVER – Coming from San Francisco, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) is no stranger to protesters, and today, the 10-term congresswoman took on the protestors at the Democratic National Convention here.

At an outdoor press conference focused on renewable energy, Pelosi was interrupted by about 20 protesters wearing John McCain t-shirts and chanting their support for oil drilling.

“Drill here! Drill now!” they yelled.

“What you see before you are the handmaidens of big oil,” Pelosi said. “These drill-now people reflect the goals of the people in the White House.”

DENVER – Democrats hold a 37-vote edge over Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, and this cycle analysts predict almost universally that the party will expand its edge this fall.

But when it comes to the question of just how many seats Democrats will pick up, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) is mum. When PolitickerCA.com posed the question to Pelosi today in the lobby of the Grand Hyatt, the 10-term congresswoman continued her path to the elevator.

“She usually says she doesn't like to predict a number, just that our Democratic majority will be increased,” Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly said in an email.

Democrats gained a 236-199 majority over Republicans in the 2006 mid-term elections. The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan Washington tip sheet, currently estimated that Democrats will gain another 12 to 17 seats this cycle.  

DENVER – It’s not that Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles), the powerful chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, doesn’t want to expand the Democrats’ majority in the House.

He just thinks picking up seats in the Senate is more important.

“I think it would give us a much more comfortable margin in the House and that will be helpful in getting legislation through,” said Waxman when asked of the possibility of picking up 15 seats in the chamber. Today, the party holds a 37-seat majority over Republicans in the House and Washington odds makers estimate that Democrats will pick up another 12 to 17 seats this fall.

DENVER – Nick Leibham, the San Diego attorney who is trying to unseat U.S. Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-San Diego), is continuing his strategy of taking shots at Bilbray for refusing to come back to the district to debate.

“I think my opponent has an obligation to talk about the district every two years for his re-job interview, or, if I could put it a different way, he has an obligation to explain to himself to the voters every two years,” Leibham said while attending the Democratic National Convention here today.

Bilbray’s campaigned has steadfastly maintained that the four-term congressman is unwilling to hold debates in the district. Citing Bilbray’s hectic work schedule and need to be in Washington at a moment’s notice, his advisers have said that the Republican would only participate in electronic debates remotely from the nation’s capitol.

DENVER – Antonio Villaraiosa, widely seen as a potential Democratic candidate in the 2010 race for governor, wouldn’t get into specifics about the race for California’s top job while attending the Democratic National Convention.

Villaraigosa, who was elected as mayor of Los Angeles in 2005, was tight-lipped on the prospects of a run for the governor’s mansion.

“I’m focused on 2008, electing Barack Obama and Joe Biden. I’m focused on my re-election in 2009,” he said. “Nothing about 2010. I love what I do, I’m focused on my work.”

Standing in the lobby of the Grand Hyatt today, Villaraigosa was equally tight-lipped about a potential candidacy for Gavin Newsom, the San Francisco mayor who in recent weeks has been making moves towards a run.

DENVER – Former state treasurer Phil Angelides, who  waged a failed 2006 campaign for governor against Arnold Schwarzenegger, today was tight-lipped on whether he might seek the same position two years from now.

“I’ve made no decisions. I’ve ruled nothing in and nothing out,” Angelides said as he stood in the lobby of the Grand Hyatt on the first day of the Democratic National Convention.

Angelides, who made a fortune in the real estate business, said that he was focused on his current position as head of Apollo Alliance, an organization that promotes the use of clean energy. A race for the Golden State’s top post, he said, wasn’t on his mind.

“There are miles to go between now and 2010,” he said. “That election is a long time off.”

Jason Kinney and Roger Salazar, two leading California-based strategists, are re-launching the American Leadership Project. Head over to PolitickerCO.com for more on the story.

WASHINGTON - The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is out with its first independent expenditure in the 11th Congressional District, where U.S. Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-Pleasanton) is fighting for a second term.

The committee reported spending about $1,400 on mail services in the district, which encompasses the Central Valley area. McNerney is facing off against Republican businessman Dean Andal in what is widely seen as one of the most competitive House races in the country. The Pindell Report currently ranks the race as the 19th most competitive House contest.

McNerney is coming off a 13,000-vote victory over former U.S. Rep. Richard Pombo. The district has historically trended Republican, with George Bush winning 53 percent and 54 percent of the vote in 2000 and 2004, respectively.

Trying to capitalize on the energy issue, the National Republican Congressional Committee is out with a television advertisement hitting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and the Democratic leadership.

“High energy prices are creating financial hardships for America’s family’s, driving up the cost of energy we buy, forcing layoffs, costing jobs,” a narrator says in the 30-second spot. “Now more than ever we need new sources of American energy. But Democrats are flocking the boat to increase the supply of American oil. Instead, they voted for a five-week paid vacation. Tell Pelosi to end the paid vacation. It’s time for Democrats to work with Republicans on real energy solutions.”

The advertisement, produced by GOP ad man Scott Howell, is running nationwide on FOX broadcast stations. The committee purchased a relatively small buy of $22,000 to air the spot. Unlike the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the NRCC has yet to begin targeting individual districts with television advertisements.