Massachusetts
UPDATE: Jeff was interviewed by our good friend Pamela from Atlas Shrugged. He also is the subject of a Quincy Republicans post as well.
Connecticut
The Danbury News-Times reports: “Political pundits said the attention the race has received from national party leaders shows they believe Cappiello has a good shot at taking the seat from first-term Democrat Chris Murphy.”
Cappiello has been a vocal advocate for an “All of the Above” energy reform strategy. His plan lifts the ban on offshore oil and gas drilling, encourages the use of nuclear power, streamlines fuel production and limits “boutique fuels,” invests in cleaner technologies for the future, and more.
"We shouldn't be so reliant on foreign sources of oil," says Cappiello. "It's a matter of personal, economic and national security."
When he isn’t missing big votes, Murphy adheres to Pelosi’s often debunked “use it or lose it” canard, arguing that energy companies should “drill on the 68 million acres of untapped land under their control.” The Washington Post debunked this in an editorial:
“The notion that oil companies are just sitting on oil leases is a myth. With oil prices still above $100 a barrel, that charge never made sense.”Moreover, there have been 14 key votes so far in the 110th Congress where the Democratic Majority had the opportunity to step up and do the right thing on energy reform. Chris Murphy voted against lowering energy costs all 14 times.
Cappiello is a lifelong resident of Danbury, CT and is currently serving his fifth term in the State Senate. There he's been a leader in holding the line on excessive state spending while investing in health care and education priorities without raising taxes.
As of June 30, Cappiello raised $1.114 million and nearly matched Murphy's fundraising total for April 1 – June 30.
UPDATE 2: New Hampshire
New Hampshire
This just in...
Today, Leader Boehner visited New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District to assist GOP challenger Jeb Bradley and promote Republicans’ “All of the Above” energy reform plan opposed by freshman Democrat Rep. Carol Shea-Porter.
Bradley is running on a reform agenda aimed at providing real energy solutions, and bringing “New Hampshire's common sense values of frugality, limited government, low taxes, personal responsibility, and individual freedom” to Washington. He’s making heavy use of modern media technologies – including YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, and Blip.tv – to deliver his message to voters.
A recent survey showed Shea-Porter “6 points behind” Bradley. In May, Politico reported that Shea-Porter "looks to be in serious political trouble…" and “faces a credible Republican challenger in November." Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post says “voters may be experiencing a bit of buyer's remorse this time around.”
Who can blame them? The average price for a gallon of gas in New Hampshire today is $3.77. That’s nearly 40 percent higher than when Democrats took control of Congress – a “Pelosi Premium” of $1.44. And the New York Times reports that “Home Energy Prices Are Expected to Soar”:
“The average heating oil bill in states like Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire, in a region where eight million households use heating oil to fire their furnaces, is set to jump by as much as $1,500 this winter compared with last year…”
Faced with this energy crisis, Shea-Porter did what most other Democrats did: she voted to take a month-long break.
...
Shea-Porter has voted against lowering energy costs on 14 key votes so far in the 110th Congress. She voted to prohibit production of the 1.5 trillion barrels of oil in oil shale on federal lands (Roll Call 574), and voted against a proposal promote alternative fuels and projects that have the potential to lower gasoline and diesel prices (Roll Call 216), and more.
