In the last couple days, there have been several posts across the blogosphere citing what various candidates running for Congress have said on FISA and retroactive immunity for the telecoms.  But so far, it's been all over the map.  I'll try to corral all their statements into this diary, so you can see who the "good guys" are.

First, let's start off with the current House and Senate members who voted against this bill.  They do deserve credit, as it's their jobs on the line.

Follow me below the fold to see the dozens of Democratic challengers who are standing up for the Constitution, and are against this FISA bill and retroactive immunity.

Ted Stevens has represented Alaska in the US Senate since 1968. To put this in perspective, at the time, Alaska hadn't even been a state for 10 years yet. Stevens was appointed to the seat after Democratic Senator Bob Bartlett died and in 1970 was elected to serve out Bartlett's term with 60% of the vote. In fact, in every subsequent re-election race Stevens has managed to win at least 66% of the vote.

That is about to change.

I am pleased to introduce our second Road to 60 candidate,  Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich who is giving Stevens a real run for his money this year. Polls show Begich in solid shape 4 months out, running statistically even with Stevens at worst (Rasmussen has Stevens up by 2) and up by 5 and even 7 points at best. Begich has already made this a top-tier race, certainly it's the highest tier of any of the races on our Road to 60 list, but we knew we had to get in the game in the Alaska senate race this year. Not only is Begich a great candidate but states like Alaska are exactly where we want to make Republicans spend -- hell, John McCain may actually be forced to go all the way up to Alaska to campaign to defend the state. They simply should not be losing this seat and we knew we had to be a part of sending a Democrat to the senate from Alaska.

Part of the reason for Begich's strength in the polls is, of course, thanks to Stevens' little, er, ethics problem. It's never good for a sitting senator to have his home raided by the FBI and IRS as Stevens' was last year as part of an investigation into his "ties to an Alaska energy services company, Veco, whose chief executive pleaded guilty in early May to a bribery scheme involving state lawmakers." (WaPo  7/31/07.) Veco CEO Bill Allen has even admitted that among the $400,000 in bribes he gave to legislators was labor renovating Stevens' home (more at RetireTed.com.) But the other shoe hasn't dropped and Stevens decided to run for re-election.

The more important reason we have a top tier race in Alaska, though, is that we have top tier candidate in Mark Begich. Begich, the son of Alaska's last Democratic congressman, the late Nick Begich who died in 1972 toward the end of his first term in congress, was elected Mayor of Anchorage in 2003 then again in 2006. During his tenure as mayor, Begich has strived to modernize Anchorage and under his leadership residents have approved hundreds of millions of dollars in public and private investment in the city after decades of neglect. He turned around the city's economy and has made the city safer through an increase in police on the streets and an investment in anti-gang and cyber crime initiatives. With Mark Begich at the helm, three quarters of Anchorage residents believe the city is going in the right direction.

Now, as with many red state Democrats, Mark is not conventionally "liberal."  An Alaskan since birth, Begich is a "lifetime member" of the NRA and advocates for safe and responsible drilling in ANWR, but that's not to say he won't bring a much needed progressive voice to the senate. Mark considers Alaska to be ground zero for global warming and has called for an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. He believes Alaska is uniquely equipped to be a world leader in renewable energies and will work to make that happen as senator. On Iraq, he is clear on his position that it is time for our troops to redeploy out of Iraq; on education, he would vote to repeal No Child Left Behind; in addition, Mark is a strong proponent of net neutrality and has called for more transparency in government as part of his comprehensive ethics pledge. And perhaps most important of all, Mark Begich will fight to preserve our constitutional rights.

While the Second Amendment receives much attention, Mark Begich believes that every part of the Bill of Rights must be protected with equal dedication. From warrantless wiretapping, to the assault on habeas corpus, to the pursuit of REAL ID cards and retroactive immunity for telecom companies that illegally helped the federal government spy on innocent Americans, the Bush administration has systematically infringed on Alaskans' constitutional rights. Mark Begich will fight to restore the Constitution and the government's respect for our civil liberties.

Seriously, I think of Mark Begich as this cycle's Jon Tester, so we are proud to include him on our Road To 60 list. To beat one of the longest sitting senators in US history, Begich is going to need all the resources he can get, so I hope you will contribute to his campaign at our ActBlue page. Begich already has Stevens on the run, as local blogger Phil Munger, over at Progressive Alaska tells us:

Pollsters all around the country are interested in this contest, as a Begich victory over Alaska's patron saint would be an almost seismic shift in Alaska and presumed Red State politics. This past week, two polls came out, one or the other showing each of the two in the lead - if the election were held "today." It is quite close, and Stevens is putting in more visits to tiny villages, and giving more speeches on "important" legislation he is backing, in the past month, than he usually pulls off in a good year.

So please give what you can to Begich's campaign, even if it's just $5, $10 or $20. But there's no reason to stop there, you can also vote for him in Barbara Boxer's "Choose A Challenger" contest. And for more on Begich, check  out his website and follow his every move at his Twitter page. We've been waiting for Alaska to follow in the footsteps of some of its mountain state brethren down here in the lower 48 and show some signs of a trend toward Democrats. It's looking like 2008 just might be the year; let's make sure of it by electing Mark Begich to the US Senate from Alaska.

I've got a few polls backed up in the queue, so rather than write them up individually, here is a compendium of some of the latest numbers:

• Louisiana: Overly worried about Mary Landrieu's prospects? The latest numbers her campaign commissioned from the Mellman Group show her ahead of Democrat-turned-Republican John Kennedy by a 49 percent to 33 percent margin. Bottom line, I don't think Landrieu's going to win by a huge margin, but I'm fairly sure she's going to win nevertheless. If the GOP couldn't beat her with all of their might in 2002, how are they supposed to defeat her this fall?

• Alaska: The Democrats might not have won a Senate election in Alaska in more than 30 years, but that's not stopping Anchorage's Democratic mayor Mark Begich from running an impressive campaign -- impressive not only to outside observers like me but also apparently to Alaskans themselves. According to the latest Rasmussen Reports poll, Ted Stevens, the longest serving Republican in the history of the Senate, leads Begich just 46 percent to 44 percent, well within the margin of error. DSCC polling actually puts Begich on top.

• Colorado: Democratic Congressman Mark Udall is moving on up, now leading former Republican Congressman Bob Schaffer by a 9-point margin, 49 percent to 40 percent, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports polling. Key sentences from the Rasmussen write up: "The Democrat has steadily pulled ahead over the past three polls, gaining three percentage points in each survey conducted. Prior to those surveys, the two candidates were essentially even." The other key from the poll is the 51 percent to 30 percent lead Udall enjoys among unaffiliated voters.

In a poll conducted back between May 6 and May 10 by the firm Hellenthal and Associates out of Anchorage, friend-of-the-tubes Ted Stevens looks to be in trouble against Democratic challenger Mark Begich:

The survey found 51 percent of those responding would vote for Begich in November's general election, compared to 44 percent who said they would back Stevens.

The poll indicates Begich is gaining name recognition across the state, but Stevens, who's served in the Senate since 1968, also remains popular.

Some 58 percent of responders said they felt very or somewhat positive toward Begich, while only 16 percent had a negative opinion of the 45-year-old Democratic mayor. Eleven percent of those responding didn't know of Begich.

For Stevens, the numbers were a little closer -- 49 percent had a positive opinion, while 40 percent had a negative opinion. All of the survey's 269 responders knew Stevens was the state's senior senator.

The poll's strangely small sample size of likely voters and MoE of +/- 6% does raise some questions. But the results track with what Research 2000 found in its mid-May poll for DailyKos:

Research 2000 for Daily Kos. 5/12-14. Likely voters. MoE 4% (12/3-6 results)

If 2008 election for U.S. Senate were held today, for whom would you vote for if the choices were between Mark Begich, the Democrat, and Ted Stevens, the Republican?

Stevens   (R) 43 (41)
Begich    (D) 48 (47)

Stevens faces a tough challenge - while nearly all Alaskans know him, the Hellenthal poll showed just under 50% actually have a positive opinion of him. The Reasearch 2000 poll shows worse numbers for Stevens, with combined "very favorable" or "favorable" number at just 38%.

As more Alaskans get to know Begich, we'll see if his negatives stay so low. But right now, it looks like Stevens is stuck with a  corruption ball and chain around his ankle.

So with less than half a year to go, it's time for another look at all the 2008 Senate races.  There are 35 seats up for election because of a scenario in Wyoming and Mississippi where both seats are up, due to the passing of Craig Thomas and the resignation of Trent Lott, respectively.  Now obviously, quite a few of the races are considered "safe" for the incumbent.  So I'll rank these in terms of tiers.  The top tier will be the races where the party holding the seat has a real shot of switching.  The second tier are races that could become top tier races, but are not at this point.  Tier III are ones where a major event would need to happen for the seat to come into play.  And the safe seats?  Well, Mike Gravel has a better shot at winning the presidency than those incumbents have of losing their races.

Follow me below the fold for all the races.  This is meant to be a primer for both newcomers and political junkies alike, so some of the information may seem repetitive for you junkies out there.  Also see my previous March diary to see what things have changed since my last update.

While I'm catching up on posting some things from late last week and over the weekend (finals and long drives can sap your energy), I think it's worth passing on the results of two new(ish) exciting polls out of Alaska:

Research 2000 for Daily Kos 600 LVs, 5/12-14, MoE +/- 4%

Ted Stevens (R): 43 percent (41 percent in December)
Mark Begich (D): 48 percent (47 percent in December)

Rasmussen Reports 500 LVs, 5/14, MoE +/- 4%

Ted Stevens (R): 45 percent (46 percent in April)
Mark Begich (D): 47 percent (45 percent in April)

As you can see, in neither of these polls does Mark Begich's lead over Ted Stevens fall outside of the margin of error. That said, Stevens is the longest serving Republican in the history of the Senate, representing Alaska for more than 80 percent of the time it has been a state. In other words, Stevens is Alaska -- or at least Alaska politics. So for Begich to even come close to Stevens, let alone come within the margin of error, let alone hold a lead (albeit a statistically insignificant one) is rather remarkable and a testament to the political potential of the Anchorage mayor. So if you want to help Begich make history, becoming the first Democrat since 1974 to win a federal race in the state (and only the second since his own father posthumously won reelection in 1972), head over to Act Blue today and make a difference.

This is rather disappointing (sub. req.):

Putting their friendship above party, Democratic Sen. Daniel Inouye (Hawaii) will headline a fundraiser today for one of the Democrats' top targets this cycle, Republican Sen. Ted Stevens (Alaska).

Inouye, who chairs the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, on which Stevens is the ranking member, is the "special guest" at the noon event at 101 Constitution Ave. NW. According to the invitation, the lunch is organized by a several high-profile lobbyists, including Stevens' former top aide, Lisa Sutherland. The fundraiser seeks $1,000 in contributions from individuals and $5,000 from political action committees to aid Stevens' bid for an eighth term this fall.

Dan Inouye and Ted Stevens have long been friends, representing America's two youngest and most westerly states together for the last 40 years. During that time, the two have served on committees with one another and worked to ensure funding for each other's state.

But while bipartisanship within the Senate chamber serves important purposes at times, fundraising for a member of another party -- particularly when that member is in serious electoral jeopardy -- is a whole other matter. This is particularly true when the incumbent up for reelection is endangered because of his own questionable actions, actions that led to the FBI and IRS raising his house and, more recently, an Interior Department investigation (again, sub. req.).

The good thing for the Democrats, notwithstanding Inouye's fundraising move, is the fact that they have an extremely strong and popular challenger for Stevens in Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, whose roots in the state run deep (his father represented Alaska in the United States House, for instance). What's more, Begich has a real shot at winning this race, with both Rasmussen Reports and Research 2000 polling showing him running at least neck-and-neck, and perhaps better, against Stevens. So if you want to counteract the Inouye fundraiser, head over to Begich's campaign site and make a contribution to his campaign today.

Earlier today the Begich campaign held a press conference where Mark expressed his strong support for Senator Jim Webb's efforts to pass a new G.I. Bill for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Begich is currently a candidate for US Senate from Alaska. Webb and 56 other senators have signed on in support of this legislation, which seeks to provide educational benefits for our veterans in line what veterans of past wars have received.

Joined by students and veterans at the University of Alaska, Anchorage, Begich called on Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) to join him in honoring the service of returning veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan and other areas of conflict since Sept. 11, 2001. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has already signed on to the bill. Begich said:

"When our veterans come home from Iraq, Afghanistan, or other areas, we want them to have the same educational opportunities as those who served before them in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. To support anything less is wrong."

"This is not complicated. Our veterans have sacrificed for America and we owe them this opportunity. I urge Sen. Stevens to join me in providing veterans the full cost of a college education, like he received after World War II, thanks to the G.I. Bill."