WP:More GOP Districts Counted as Vulnerable-Number Doubled Over the Summer

[Pirate Smile]

More GOP Districts Counted as Vulnerable
Number Doubled Over the Summer

By Dan Balz and David S. Broder
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, September 3, 2006; Page A01

Facing the most difficult political environment since they took control of Congress in 1994, Republicans begin the final two months of the midterm campaign in growing danger of losing the House while fighting to preserve at best a slim majority in the Senate, according to strategists and officials in both parties.

Over the summer, the political battlefield has expanded well beyond the roughly 20 GOP House seats originally thought to be vulnerable. Now some Republicans concede there may be almost twice as many districts from which Democrats could wrest the 15 additional seats they need to take control.

President Bush's low approval ratings, the sharp divisions over the war in Iraq, dissatisfaction with Congress, and economic anxiety caused by high gasoline prices and stagnant wages have alienated independent voters, energized the Democratic base and thrown once-safe Republican incumbents on the defensive.

As the campaign season begins, Democrats are trying to guard against premature celebration, even as their prospects are brighter than most ever imagined. Republicans are hoping for some outside event that would show the president and their party in a better light -- a spate of good news from Iraq, a foiled terrorist plot or an unlikely break in the deadlock over immigration on Capitol Hill.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/02/AR2006090200975.html

[AX10]

1. This must have been a hard article for the Post to write.

:kick:

Take nothing for granted. We must work towards a major victory this Fall!

[Pirate Smile]

6. I'm almost afraid to post this part. I'm don't want to jinx anything.

"'Voters Are Not Happy'

Nonetheless, everything points today to Democratic gains across the board on Nov. 7. Tim Hibbits, an independent pollster in Portland, Ore., who has been surveying voters for decades, said, "I'm not saying this is another 1994," when the then-dominant Democrats lost the House and Senate. "But voters are not happy. It's not just Iraq. It's also that most people don't feel better off economically."

Privately, many Republican strategists fear there may be no way to prevent the Democrats from winning the House, where Republicans hold 231 of 435 seats. One prominent consultant -- who like many of the people interviewed for this article spoke on the condition of anonymity to offer candid appraisals -- put the odds of a Democratic takeover at 75 percent. Another strategist who has worked as part of Bush's campaign team said he believes there is a 9-in-10 chance that Republicans will lose their 12-year-old House majority.

Other GOP officials, while nervous, believe they can hold the House with aggressive local campaigns and a national effort to focus on terrorism and security to raise voter fears about the consequences of Democratic control.

All predict one of the most negative midterm elections in memory, with virtually no positive advertising from the national GOP committees or individual GOP candidates."

[Ignacio Upton]

9. These "strategists" want us to become complacent

Ignore them and keep fighting! Bush and the GOP will try at nothing to hold on to power.

[dalloway]

16. Exactly!

[TwentyFive]

28. Yes - we must fight on 100%. A simple majority is not enough to IMPEACH!

We need a mandate to force impeachment of the war criminals, withdrawal from Iraq, and raise taxes on the richest 1% of Americans.

[kristendom]

18. Come November It'll Be Katrina#2

One can only hope,although things are looking mighty good now.

[INdemo]

29. Making sure the Democrats get to the polls is the key

there will always be those Democrats that talk about voting but on election day they need that little extra nudge.......

[onehandle]

2. Now this...Is news. nt

[seemslikeadream]

3. Republicans are hoping for

some outside event that would show the president and their party in a better light -- a spate of good news from Iraq, a foiled terrorist plot

[Ignacio Upton]

8. Well, they might get falling oil prices

But if oil prices stay in the 60's on Election Day, I don't think that will help them much.

[truthisfreedom]

4. ahh, a foiled terrorist plot... they want one that JUST about happens, and

the cavalry arrives at the critical moment, catching the "teraaists" red-handed and saving the day.

but... what does this have to do with rethugs? are all fbi agents rethugs? are all homeland security personell rethugs? are all police rethugs? i think not.

[John Q. Citizen]

5. Where's Osama when they really need him? Uh oh....n/t

[Joe Bacon]

17. Wait for the tape!

You KNOW Rove is just sitting on another Osama tape, he'll put it out the week before the election!

[UpInArms]

19. Osama bin Forgotten was so clean and well-groomed and dressed

so nicely with such a great video background set in November 2004 -

And... they rushed to play this taped speech on the air of every station at 3:00 p.m. on Friday before the Tuesday November 2004 elections.

:eyes:

[Ignacio Upton]

7. "a foiled terrorist plot"

More like another sucessful attack. They'll rejoice as Bush gets another opportunity to have a "bullhorn moment."

[Lasher]

14. War with Iran

Bush's job approval rating gained 33% and 14% from declaring war on “terror” and war on Iraq. Capturing Saddam gave him another 6%. Killing Al-Zaqarwi seems to be helping. He needs another approval-rating boost now more than ever, and he is talking of war with Iran. From past experience, it appears that two weeks before the November elections would be the most effective time for such an adventure.


http://zfacts.com/p/307.html

[Amonester]

21. Yeah. But *this* time, there is *something* (ah...um...) *different*.

http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/07082006/325/oil-soars-above-76-alaska-shutdown.html
~snip~
A further spike in oil prices resulting from a broader Middle East conflict would drag an already slowing U.S. economy into recession more easily now than a year ago, Standard & Poor's said on Monday.

The credit ratings agency forecast three scenarios -- with a $250 oil barrel sparking global recession in the worst of them, should Iran close the Strait of Hormuz, a bottleneck in the Gulf region between Iran and Oman by which tankers from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates transit.

...

"We do not want to use the oil weapon, it is they who would impose it upon us," he told a news conference.
http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/07082006/325/oil-soars-above-76-alaska-shutdown.html


Given the thousands of "mistakes" the greedy bastards did in Iraq (which according to them, criminal liars, was gonna be "easy" and "cheap" like a walk in the park...), who in their right minds would give them any credibility *this* time?

Yeah, think $3 per gallon is *bad* for the Gangster Of Pnac? Who wants to "gamble" $10~25 would be a "hell" ov' a lot worse??

Moi.

(And, hopefully, them 2.)

[Lasher]

25. I watched Santorum and Casey duke it out on Tim Russet's show today

Santorum kept challenging Casey to tell what he would do differently in Iraq. I hoped in vain that Casey would make the point that you have made about the lies that the Bush junta told us all in the runup to the Iraq war. Here is an example of what I wish he would have said:

Americans have come to realize that Darth Cheney and his fellow neocon cronies, with the complicit support of Junior, sold us a bill of goods to get support for the invasion of Iraq that they planned in 1998. I therefore don't believe the GOP can expect a vote of confidence in the November elections, particularly since the bush league lapdog Republican majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives have blocked all attempts to exercise Congressional oversight when it has never been needed more.

Something like that.

I really do believe that these fascists don't care about Americans, except for the 10% that comprises the wealthy elite. They'll invade Iran if they can get by with it because they don't believe they have to justify any outcome of that action. They see it as a self-fulfilling goal because it is part of their religion/ideology, just like the retention of power in Congress. Any means whatsoever are justified by these ends.

[Amonester]

27. I am *afraid* you may be right.

Although, I don't think they'll bomb Iran before the (electronic) sElections because of the reasons invoked by S&P (no less...), and that stealing seats with a 10/1 ratio against them in the polls, with tens of millions just losing their jobs, or not being able to even afford putting gas in their tanks to go to work (and come back home at night, given the fact that they'd still have a job), would be way too much... obvious (to say the least).

Nonetheless, even if the House ends up with a majority of Dems rightfully elected, in spite of the Fraud, I am *afraid* the Gangsters Of Pee~nac will go ahead and bomb that oil-rich country on the day after the midterms anyway, giving their stupid PowerPoint slides to their "yesmen~Generals" that will result in another major clusterf**k, and this time, millions are gonna pay the price of these incompetent bastards's ever-growing-greed.

Also, millions of lower-income Americans in the North would freeze to death next winter with those bloated *prices* being suddenly added to their heating bills, and we know how much the BFEE cabal "cares" about them...

Remember La Nouvelle Orléans.
:scared:

[cyclezealot]

10. God, I hope this true.

A Democratic House with anything less than a 25 seat majority, might even be a liability. Can't run the show without a decisive mandate. Of course, Americans don't like mandates. Something might get accomplished.
Stymied government is the answer, since middle of the road types, don't want to commit to real reform.
Nancy Pelosi being speaker, with a Repug agenda being crammed down her throat. That won't make Democrats look good.

[Gman]

11. With electronic voting...

I'm very skeptical.

[Born Free]

12. Is it time for Osama Bin Laden?

"As the campaign season begins, Democrats are trying to guard against premature celebration, even as their prospects are brighter than most ever imagined. Republicans are hoping for some outside event that would show the president and their party in a better light -- a spate of good news from Iraq, a foiled terrorist plot or an unlikely break in the deadlock over immigration on Capitol Hill."


Is the bush team desperate enough to turn in thier friend OBL? I don't think just a short message from Osama Bin Laden will be enough, republicans will have to turn him over to the justice department.

[longship]

13. This article barely scratches the surface.

Things are far worse for the Repukes than the Post is reporting here. There's little doubt that the House will be in Democratic Party hands next January. Repuke vote counters, including Novakula, are saying 25-30 seats may turn over. There are upwards of fifty Repuke seats in play, and the campaign is just now gearing up.

One interesting number which tells a helluva story is that not one Congresional seat currently held by the Democratic Party is in serious jeopardy. Not one!! There are some close races, but none are currently being projected as Repuke take-overs.

In spite of all the trouble the Repukes are in, all they know is "Stay the Course in Iraq", "Let's make the tax cuts permanent", etc. They're going to lose big in November, not because the Democratic Party leaders are brilliant strategists, but because ChimpCo and their minions are so unbelievably incompetent.

Can anybody imagine what *could* happen in November if the Democratic Party Congressional leadership actually stood up and fought the good fight for November?

Can you say "fifty House seats"? How about seven or eight Senate seats?
It's there, but we have to fight for it.

One thing's for sure. If we don't fight the fight, we're going to pull defeat out of the jaws of victory again.

But I want those forty to fifty House seats.

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

22. Maybe a vist from the boss, (bush) will help them in the fall. HA.

NOT! from a math point of view, the R's are screwed.

[Demeter]

15. WaPo and Washington Beltway Whistling By the Graveyard

It's going to be a slaughter.

[thoughttheater]

20. Can Dems Close The Deal

If the Democrats cannot close the deal with voters during the 2006 midterm election, one would be hard pressed to imagine when they will have a better opportunity. The Party badly needs to change perceptions that it lacks cohesion and the ability to define a plan that Americans can feel comfortable supporting. It appears that the Democrats are betting that voter dissatisfaction with the handling of the war in Iraq, high gas prices, and the economy will be sufficient to win in November. Unfortunately, the media has grown all too accustomed to repeating the GOP mantra that Democrats haven't offered any tangible alternatives. That coupled with the Republican terrorism barrage may make for a November nail biter.

www.thoughttheater.com

[RangerSmith]

23. They don't have to close the deal

take the House.

It's not going to be about ideology, it's going to be about throwing the bums out. Just like 94. People are going to send a message.

I really think that is all said and done.

The Senate is a whole different animal.

I also think that a Dem house weakens the '08 presidential chances, but I'd rather have the house and possibly the senate than the white house if given a choice of not controlling it all.

[European Socialist]

24. I can't believe the Repuke bums weren't thrown out in 2004. That's why...

I'll wait until the election results are in, to see if the Dems survive spinelessness.

[miketorse]

26. This is why...

gas prices are falling.

[krispos42]

30. This says it all...

http://www.evolvefish.com/fish/stickers.html

[FighttheFuture]

31. Yeah, right... never doubt the stupidity of Republicans...

to keep hitting themselves in the head with a hammer.

Basically, I'll believe it when I see it, until then, its all shit meant to lull liberals and energize dumbfucks, as far as I'm concerned!!