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Louisianas U.S. Senator-elect Mary Landrieu gets a big hug from her father MoonLandrieu and mother Verna at a news conference in New Orleans Wednesday Nov. 6, 1996. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)

Several red-state Democratic Senate candidates share more than the pressure of helping Harry Reid keep his job title.

They are all heirs to the family business: politics.

Its difficult to be a Democrat in a conservative state, but it seems to help a whole lot if your name is also a brand. Sens. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, and Mark Begich of Alaska are in difficult reelection fights, but are buoyed, in part, because of the legacy of their family names.

Then theres Michelle Nunn in Georgia, a newcomer to public office, but who likewise benefits from a well-regarded surname.

And even one of the few potential Democratic House pickups is the offspring of a famous political father Gwen Graham, running in a Florida swing district.

Its a coincidence that so many Democrats with family ties are in neck-and-neck fights this fall. But what is not a coincidence is the advantage it gives them in states that might otherwise be unwinnable for a Democrat today.

Mark Mellman, CEO of Mellman Group, the Democratic polling firm with big-league clients such asHarry Reid and Landrieu, said having a well-known last name helps give those politicians staying power.

Its true that in these red states, Democrats need every advantage they can get, he told the Loop. Having that strong brand name that is appealing to people, that has a real track record, its a real advantage.

John Anzalone, who runs another high-profile Democratic polling outfit and has poll-tested the impact of the candidates political dads in some of the aforementioned races, said it helps cut away at the Republican attack that Democrats are all rubber stamps for President Obama.

Excerpt from:
In the Loop: What do these red-state Democratic Senate candidates have in common? Their dads.

Seth Moulton's opposition to another ground war in Iraq is rooted in firsthand experience acquired from four tours. As a young Marine, he saw how quickly a militant threat could transform U.S. military advisers into a force entangled in the months-long battle for control of Najaf, some 100 miles south of Baghdad.

These are not simply the doubts of a former platoon leader three years after combat forces left. Moulton is challenging nine-term Democratic Rep. John Tierney in Tuesday's bitter, crowded Massachusetts primary. His military service has drawn attention to his first-time candidacy and made him a formidable foe to Tierney.

"Americans have to realize that when the president says he's sending military advisers to Iraq, make no mistake, these are U.S. special forces or Marines or Rangers or other units that are American ground troops," Moulton said in an interview. It was true in Vietnam, he points out. It was true of Iraq.

Moulton's reservations reflect a war-weary nation's skepticism about the next U.S. steps to fulfill President Barack Obama's vow to destroy Islamic State militants and rising fear about mission creep as American forces in Iraq now exceed 1,000.

The race in the northeast corner of Massachusetts stands as one of the few where an incumbent House Democrat is fighting off members of his own party. In June, New York Democrats gave Rep. Charlie Rangel a clear shot at a 23rd term in his primary. In California, seven-term Rep. Mike Honda is in a tough race with fellow Democrat Ro Khanna after they finished one-two in the state's jungle primary.

Democrats will hold those two seats, but Massachusetts' 6th Congressional District is up for grabs in November's general election. The GOP is upbeat about the prospects for Richard Tisei, a former state senator and openly gay Republican who nearly knocked out Tierney in 2012, losing by just 4,330 votes.

Tierney is a political survivor who won re-election despite a gambling scandal involving family members, including his wife. The Democratic stalwart who has focused on education and jobs during his 17 years in the House proudly boasts of his office's constituent service. He argues that experience is what matters to voters even as Democrats are expected to remain in the minority in the House.

"They can have a backbencher who's just trying to get their feet on the ground, especially here in the minority, or you can have somebody who's been there, who's respected by people on both sides," the 62-year-old Tierney said of Moulton in an interview.

Tierney is facing four Democratic rivals in the primary, including Moulton, a 35-year-old businessman.

The Harvard graduate who enlisted in the Marines in 2001 was first on the air with a campaign ad in which he tells voters, "I'm a progressive Democrat who opposed the war in Iraq. But I also was a Marine serving my country. So I went, led my platoon and always ate last after my men."

The rest is here:
Marine, Iraq Vet Aims to Oust House Democrat

Published September 09, 2014

Aug. 13, 2014: Chad Taylor discusses his campaign during an interview on the Statehouse grounds in Topeka, Kan.AP

Democratic candidate Chad Taylor has filed a petition with the Kansas Supreme Court to get his name removed from the Nov. 4 ballot in the U.S. Senate race.

Taylor filed his petition Tuesday, naming Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach as the defendant. Kobach is the state's chief elections officer and has refused to take Taylor's name off the ballot even though Taylor has ended his campaign.

Taylor was a candidate against three-term Republican Sen. Pat Roberts, but he announced last week he was ending his campaign in a move that boosted the chances of independent candidate Greg Orman.

Kobach ruled that Taylor failed to comply with state election laws by not stating in his withdrawal letter that he was incapable of fulfilling the duties of the office.

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Democrat Chad Taylor sues to get name off Kansas Senate ballot

A senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee says President Obama should seek congressional authorization to extend airstrikes against Islamic terrorists to locations in Syria.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) also says Obama should seek authorization to prolong airstrikes in Iraq against fighters with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

However, if the president intends to prolong the military campaign in Iraq or extend it into Syria, he needs to make the case directly to the American people and secure authorization from Congress, he said in a statementTuesday.

Lawmakers are divided over whether Obama should seek authorization. Several bills have been suggested to grant authorization, but other members say that if Obama presents a good strategy for tackling the terrorists, there is no need for a vote.

Schiff acknowledged that Americans are repulsed and enraged by ISISs murder of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and the horrors committed against the people of Iraq and Syria.

But Congress must carefully consider what it is being asked to approve regarding a military campaign that will extend from this presidency to the next, he said.Since the actions contemplated by the president go well beyond the immediate imperative of protecting Americans at risk, Congress is required to act."

Continue reading here:
Democrat: Get Congress's permission

edit Origin of the Democratic and Republican parties

The Democratic Party traces its origins to the anti-federalist factions around the time of Americas independence from British rule. These factions were organized into the Democrat Republican party by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and other influential opponents of the Federalists in 1792.

The Republican party is the younger of the two parties. Founded in 1854 by anti-slavery expansion activists and modernizers, the Republican Party rose to prominence with the election of Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president.

Since the division of the Republican Party in the election of 1912, the Democratic party has consistently positioned itself to the left of the Republican Party in economic as well as social matters. The economically left-leaning activist philosophy of Franklin D. Roosevelt, which has strongly influenced American liberalism, has shaped much of the party's economic agenda since 1932. Roosevelt's New Deal coalition usually controlled the national government until 1964.

The Republican Party was founded in 1854 by anti-slavery expansion activists and modernizers, it rose to prominence with the election of Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president. The party presided over the American Civil War and Reconstruction and was harried by internal factions and scandals towards the end of the 19th century. Today, the Republican Party supports a pro-business platform, with further foundations in economic libertarianism and a brand of social conservatism increasingly based on the viewpoints of the Religious Right.

While there may be several differences in opinion between individual Democrats and Republicans on certain issues, what follows is a generalization of their stand on several of these issues. A Democrat is typically known as a supporter of a broader range of social services in America than those advocated by Republicans. Republican philosophy is based on a limited influence of government and a dominant foreign policy.

Republicans are considered on the "right" end of the political spectrum while Democrats are on the "left." The far right generally is pro-religion, anti-bureaucracy, pro-military, pro-business and pro-personal responsibility.

Republicans, are usually considered conservative (fiscally as well as socially), maybe a little pious, pro-business and against the bureaucracy often associated with big government. They see big governments as wasteful and an obstacle to getting things done. Their approach is Darwinian in that the strong shall survive, cream rises to the top, etc.

To the far left of the spectrum are the extreme liberal, or the most extreme democrats. Democrats are considered more liberal. Democrats tend to favor an active role for government in society and believe that such involvement be it environmental regulations against polluting or anti-discrimination laws can improve the quality of peoples lives and help achieve the larger goals of opportunity and equality. On the other hand, Republicans tend to favor a limited role for government in society and believe that such reliance on the private sector (businesses and individuals) be it avoiding unnecessary environmental regulations or heavy-handed anti-discrimination laws can improve economic productivity and help achieve the larger goals of freedom and self-reliance

Republican philosophy leans more towards individual freedoms, rights and responsibilities. In contrast, Democrats attach greater importance to equality and social/community responsibility.

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Democrat vs Republican - Difference and Comparison | Diffen