Posted on 09/16/2007 10:34:57 AM PDT by Clintonfatigued
A possible title bout between political heavyweights Mike Johanns and Bob Kerrey for the U.S. Senate has the makings of a marquee matchup.
The clash of past champions would offer voters a choice between two distinctly different personalities, each with a lengthy public record to defend.
It would be a fight with national implications: Democrats would view it as a chance to widen their Senate majority; Republicans would be forced to defend a seat in a red state.
The only thing missing? The fighters themselves.
Neither man has entered the ring, despite being heavily recruited by his party.
Democrat Kerrey says he will announce a decision soon; Republican Johanns has kept mum.
Before squaring off in the fall, each would have to win a preliminary bout: the May primaries.
Democrats likely would clear the field for a Kerrey return. Johanns, however, would have to knock out a growing field of GOP hopefuls.
A Kerrey vs. Johanns contest likely would center on two fronts: personality and public records.
In one corner: Kerrey's four years as governor in the 1980s and 12 years in the Senate. In the other: Johanns' seven years as governor and his service as President Bush's secretary of agriculture.
(Excerpt) Read more at omaha.com ...
If Bob Kerrey runs and Mike Johanns doesn’t, the situation will be dire. As if Republicans don’t have enough problems facing them.
This will be fun to watch.
We may have, yes.
While the GOP establishment very much wants Johanns to be the nominee in Nebraska, that’s not the case for Gilmore in Virginia.
I’m not so sure.
Jon Bruning is a pretty popular guy statewide.
Are Republican Senators Becoming Endangered Species?
Dick Morris & Eileen McGann
Democrats may hold up to 57 U.S. Senate seats after the 2008 election; almost enough to block a Republican filibuster and likely enough to assure passage of most of the Democratic program.
Checkmate.
However, it looks like the Democrats are going to nominate Hitlery, who is the most controversial nominee they could possibly put up. That doesn’t mean we should be overconfident, but her high negatives does keep us in play.
Looks pretty bad right now. Things could change but it would have to be dramatic for the GOP not to lose several seats. Sure would have been nice if they would have held on in ‘06 so they could have had at least 2 more years in the majority. ;(
That NH news is disastrous. I didn’t know Sununu was miles behind Shaheen. I’d hate to write off New Hampshire but it looks like it has completely gone over to the dark side. Are people just going mad?? Judd Gregg has always won by huge margins but I wonder if even he will call it quits next time rather than face defeat.
Please, Nebraska, stop sending Democrats to the US Senate, even if like Nelson they are more conservative than most. They still caucus with the Dems. and count toward giving them the majority, control of committees and procedures on the Senate floor.
Enough of Bob Kerrey.
“Judd Gregg has always won by huge margins but I wonder if even he will call it quits next time rather than face defeat.”
Not sure, but I think New Hampshire and other New England states that have more conservative pasts are being transformed by leftists moving in from Massachusetts and New York. The same effect is taking place as some conservative western states are Californicated by those fleeing that state.
The populations of California and New York (and Mass. comparatively) are so huge compared to many of the states they border that those fleeing the mess in those states can easily pollute the states they flee to. Not as good trend if those fleeing take their loony ideas with them.
Am I wrong or can this guy be tagged as a flipper if he's talked into a comeback?
Been there. Done that. Time to move on.
The only reason I can think of is that he's "Been there. Done that." in Manhattan, too and wants a change.
He may be too Manhattan for Nebraska by now, though.
The ONLY reason Sununu has that seat is he proclaimed himself as the "electable" candidate in 2002 and said Bob Smith shouldn't be running and needed to step aside. Sununu is now losing to Shaheen by over 20 points, worse than Bob Smith was. If Sununu would follow his OWN advice from five years ago, that seat wouldn't be "in play". A few years ago, Republicans held EVERY major office in NH. I refuse to believe New Hampshire was gone so far left in six short years that now "no" Republican can win statewide there.
If we'd simply run someone like Bruce Keough (i.e. an up-and-coming, popular conservative NH Republican that can't be tied to Bush and/or Iraq, and whose credentials aren't simply "my daddy held statewide office so I should too") that seat would be in play for us.
I urge all of you to write Sununu and tell the egomaniac that he needs to take his own advice from five years and step away from his kamikaze run so we can field someone electable. We can't afford to waste time and money dislodging this terminally unelectable fool in the primary.
As for the other states, running popular former governors does make winning those seats possible.
In South Dakota, Rounds can beat Johnson.
In Virginia, Gilmore can beat Warner.
In Nebraska, Johannas can beat Kerrey.
Granted, their Dem opponents are quite formible and have just as impressive credentials, so there's no gurantee of a win here, just a promise of a competitive race. It's up to the candidates themselves to pull it off.
The senatorial election will coincide with the presidential election (and Nebraska is a big-time red state). It could help the Republican candidate.
Rounds has already said he won’t run against Johnson. Now if Johnson were to retire, Rounds would consider it.
I’m sorry, but I don’t think Gilmore has the “charisma” to win election to a county school board, much less the Senate.
It was bound to happen: eventually the MA liberals would totally overrun NH too. But where are all the liberals coming from to overrun VA?
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