Foxx Hunt

Hasn't been too many years since some conservative Republicans were calling for an end to the Endangered Species List. Now they're on it.

An article in this a.m.'s WashPost quotes Amy Walter, of the highly respected Cook Political Report: "In a nationalized election, the typical laws of gravity get thrown out the window. Under-funded candidates beat better-funded candidates, and entrenched incumbents lose to first-time challengers."

Stuart Rothenberg, another highly touted numbers cruncher, had 26 Republican House races on his "competitive" or "endangered" list last September. He's now upped that number to 42. Wonder how extensive that list will be by the end of August?

One of those newly competitive districts offers some possibly instructive tips for N.C. Dems running against invincible-seeming Republican incumbents. In the Virginia district represented by first-term Republican Thelma Drake, her opponent, Democrat Phil Kellam "believes the most effective line of attack is to paint Drake as a loyal vote for the president at a time when Bush's popularity has declined even in red states he carried in 2004. 'She is grafted to this president,' Kellam said."

Drake can't be any more a rubberstamp for Bush than our own Madam Foxx.

The national Democratic Party is running radio ads attacking Drake for backing Bush's plan to revamp Social Security. We hope Foxx's opponent, Roger Sharpe, will especially note that: radio ads ... Bush's plan to revamp Social Security.

Madam Foxx is especially vulnerable in rural areas of the NC-5 for her bold statements dissing Social Security.

Just by pointing out the obvious, challenger Kellam already has incumbent Drake on the angry defensive.

How big a hint do we need for how to go after The Madam? On the morning following the May 2nd primary, and just by revealing the truth that Foxx is bought off by big oil, Roger Sharpe induced her to go defensively ballistic in the W-S Journal. Since then she's been scrambling to appear sensitive about gas prices.

And appearance is ALL we're get out of her.