Unless you live in Hawaii, you probably have no idea who he is. But if you follow politics, you’ll soon be hearing the name a lot more.

First, to be clear, Honolulu Councilman Charles Djou (R) has an extremely uphill battle for the seat in Hawaii’s 1st Congressional District. The district is heavily Democrat as far as voters go, and it’s been about two decades since a Republican held the seat.

But thanks to Democratic Rep. Neil Abercrombie, who is now running for Governor, the seat is vacant. There are a few things in play that could help Djou pull off an upset in the race.

First, Djou faces no primary challengers, and the Democrats are squaring off for a bruising three way fight between Ed Case, Colleen Hanabusa, and Mike Gabbard.

Many pundits and analysts believe even more Democrats will soon join the fight for the Democrat side of the ticket, forcing a costly primary election that could give Djou a healthy upper hand.

Second, as in the case of Massachusetts and Scott Brown, the political environment is absolutely toxic for Democrats. In 2008 the electorate voted for “change,” but were instead handed more of the same. A lot more of the same, in fact.

The tone seems to be one that suggests Democrats had an opportunity to prove their ability to actually change the rot in Washington, but instead they stunk it up even more.

Four weeks out from the special election on MA, everyone was saying the race was a lost cause for Republicans. This particular election has significant similarities to the Special Race in MA, and we believe it could result in a similar outcome.

-Eric Odom

In late 2009, Obama was pulling heavy for New Jersey’s embattled Corzine, and Republicans stomped the Democrats. That same day, Bill Owens won in the special election for NY-23.

Bill Owens won without a visit from Obama.

Then, in January of 2010, in a special election for the open U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts, Obama heavily stumped for Martha Coakley (D). As we all know, Republican Scott Brown took the seat with a comfortable lead.

The trend so far suggests that Barack Obama presents little to no help for Democrats. In fact, it appears as though his “help” does more damage than good.

In a recent Mason-Dixon Poll, Nevadans seem somewhat put off by Obama’s latest visit to Nevada in a stump for Harry Reid.

A larger percentage of voters surveyed (17 percent) said they would be less likely to vote for Reid following the president’s visit than said they would be more likely to vote for him (7 percent). Seventy-five percent said Obama’s visit would have no effect on how they vote.

I’ve only been back in Nevada for a few days, so I haven’t yet gotten a feel for how the general opinion of Obama is here in Las Vegas, but it sounds like Obama is quickly becoming more toxic than Bush was in the campaign years of his Presidency.

Only time will tell, of course, but the statistics show a very telling story unfolding.

I just heard Debra Medina on the Glenn Beck radio show, and she really messed up badly. Glenn Beck said that people had accused her of being a 9-11 truther. Beck asked her straight up if she thought the government was in any way involved in 9-11 and the towers coming down.

She would not deny it. I expected her to say, “absolutely not. It’s absurd.” But she didn’t. She said that she didn’t have enough information and that there was a lot of things we don’t know.

You can listen to the clip via the following YouTube vid.

Her answer is very disconcerting. She claims there are legitimate questions about 9/11, but most Americans know that isn’t true. In fact, most Americans believe the people asking the “questions” about 9/11 are complete nuts.

She goes on to say she hasn’t “taken a position” as if this removes her from having to fully respond. In this particular case, her answer or non-answer is damning in my opinion.

You can find more background on Media and her ties to this fringe “truther movement” here.

-Eric Odom

For immediate release-February 4, 2010

Fresh Off NY-23 Humiliation, Gingrich Gives Bennett “Kiss of Dede”
In Utah, Former Speaker Endorses Another Big-Government Republican

WASHINGTON – The Club for Growth PAC today responded to comments by
former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, who yesterday attacked the
non-partisan Club for not blindly supporting all Washington Republican
incumbents. At an event in Utah yesterday, Gingrich endorsed Senator
Bob Bennett and criticized the Club PAC for opposing the three-term
incumbent, sponsor of the Wyden-Bennett government health care takeover
bill, and advocate of the Bridge to Nowhere and the Wall Street bailout.

“Last fall, as conservatives around the country rallied to help Doug
Hoffman in New York’s 23rd district special election, Newt Gingrich
supported the ultra-liberal Dede Scozzafava, right up to the day she
dropped out of the race and endorsed the liberal Democrat,” said Club
President Chris Chocola. “Newt has proven time and again that he will
support any Republican, regardless of policies and principles. That’s
his right, but the Club for Growth PAC puts principles over party.”

“Newt was wrong about New York-23, and he’s wrong about Utah,” Chocola
said. “And pretty soon, Bennett will wish Newt never gave him the kiss
of Dede.”

The Club for Growth PAC announced last month that it opposes Sen.
Bennett’s re-nomination for a fourth term in the U.S. Senate, citing the
Utah Republican’s history of troubling votes on economic issues.
Specifically:

* Bennett voted for TARP, the $750 billion Wall Street bailout;

* Bennett voted for the disgraceful “Bridge to Nowhere” earmark;

* Bennett refused to block funding for any further bailouts of
auto manufacturers;

* Bennett voted against redirecting wasteful Defense earmarks
toward improved health care for disabled veterans;

* Bennett voted against a resolution stating the Senate had a
“moral obligation” to cut spending;

* Bennett’s health care proposal would impose an
unconstitutional individual mandate, increase federal taxes and spending
by hundreds of billions of dollars, and force Americans to pay their
insurance premiums through the IRS.

###

PAID FOR BY CLUB FOR GROWTH PAC AND NOT AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE OR
CANDIDATE’S COMMITTEE. 202-955-5500.

Press release via Club for Growth PAC… obviously.

Fox has learned that six-term Rep. Marion Berry (D-AR) will retire at the end of this term.

Berry is the latest in a long list of both House Democrats and Republicans who have decided to step aside at the end of this Congress. But Berry’s retirement could prove to be particularly vexing for Democrats.

Just last week, Rep. Vic Snyder (D-AR) announced his retirement. And Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) is expected to face one of the toughest re-election campaigns for any Senate Democrat in the country. This shows a vulnerability for Democrats in the south. And a special weakness in Arkansas, where Snyder and Berry may have seen troubled waters ahead statewide with Lincoln at the top of the ballot.

Senator Blanche Lincoln is in big trouble. And with two house seats now in full play, Arkansas could see a major shift this year.

The excitement level is starting surge. There is media from all over the world. We’re right next to Radio Row and Fox News Radio is broadcasting from a few feet away.

There is no question that regardless of what happens tonight, this campaign is setting a new standard. New media has played a commanding role in covering this race.

From Michelle Malkin, to Erick Erickson and the gang at RedState, to the live broadcasts and blog coverage provided here locally throughout the past few days, a major portion of the narrative within the movement has originated online.

The bloggers here at the Brown Victory Party “Bloggers Row” are all credentialed. We have press passes, but we also have blogger passes that score us access to other areas and people.

The Brown campaign raised millions and millions of dollars online. They ran a “Voter Bomb” campaign that put tens of thousands of extra folks in the GOTV effort.

We’re now streaming live with some 450 live viewers and more than 3,600 unique viewers in the past 3 hours.

For new media minded political junkies, this is what we’ve all been waiting for. A campaign that embraces the online realm and does everything it can to give us the red carpet at the biggest event of the race.

Take note folks… this is how it’s done.

-Eric Odom