HuffPo: The Democratic Route to Senate Control in 2016 (uh huh)

Huffington Post ^ | 11/6/2014 | Ryan Grim

[EDINVA]

Who’s your GOP candidate? I just don’t see anyone at this moment who can a) get the nomination and/or b) win in a landslide, even against Hillary.

[gallandro1]

In their fantasy world view they think winning tougher gun restrictions in a liberal state like Washington indicates that there’s a sea change on the horizon... no you won on an liberal issue in a liberal state. They also fail to grasp that medical marijuana isn’t necessarily a “liberal” issue as there are many in the middle, and many on the right who are fairly ambivalent about it.

Also they fail to grasp the basic concept of the differences between federal and state laws. Voters in a state may approve a $.50 increase in the state’s minimum wage (usually through a mechanism like raising sales tax on tobacco, or some other means), but that doesn’t mean they approve raising the minimum wage to $15.00 an hour nationwide. Most average Americans grasp Economics 101 on some level, but unfortunately when you live in Fantasyland, notions such as business costs and profits are a little beyond their infantile minds.

[newnhdad]

Don’t dismiss this.
The democrats depend on coat tails to gain seats and repubs depend on issues. I would not be surprised to see them take back the senate if they win the presidency because there are senators on the ballot in 16 from states where the dems win presidential votes pretty handily.

[PROCON]

Who’s your GOP candidate?

Ted Cruz excites a lot of 'pubs, but for proven executive experience my guy is Scott Walker.

[Soul of the South]

Per the article, Burr (NC) is on the list of potential Democrat wins in 2016. He has seniority in the GOP and will become a committee chairman in the new Senate. He has access to big GOP donors so it is unlikely Hagan or any other Democrat could beat him in fundraising. He is bland but comes across as a likable nice guy in the neighborhood, not a smooth professional politician. His staff does a great job with constituent work. His wife is a successful businesswoman and he lives in Winston-Salem, not Washington, DC.

Unless a personal scandal is uncovered it is tough to see Hagan run against Burr and win using the typical Democrat smear tactics. Burr is a known quantity to the voters and not a polarizing figure. Unlike Elizabeth Dole, who lost to Hagan in 2008, Burr is visible in the state and comes home to NC virtually every weekend. To win this seat the Democrats would be better served to field a charismatic unknown politician with a moderate voting record than rerunning Kay Hagan. No matter who they run, it will be easier for a Republican to beat Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts than a Democrat to beat Richard Burr in NC.

[Paladin2]

Plus there seems to be a different electorate in Presidential years from mid-term elections.

[Seattle Conservative]

Here’s list of all senators up for re-election in 2016

DEMOCRATS

Michael Bennet (Colorado)
Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut)
Barbara Boxer (California)
Patrick Leahy (Vermont)
Barbara Mikulski (Maryland)
Patty Murray (Washington)
Harry Reid (Nevada)
Charles Schumer (New York)
Ron Wyden (Oregon)

REPUBLICANS

Kelly Ayotte (New Hampshire)
Roy Blunt (Missouri)
John Boozman (Arkansas)
Richard Burr (North Carolina)
Dan Coats (Indiana)
Tom Coburn (Oklahoma) – Retiring in 2014. Seat TBD in 2014 special election.
Mike Crapo (Idaho)
Chuck Grassley (Iowa)
John Hoeven (North Dakota)
Johnny Isakson (Georgia)
Ron Johnson (Wisconsin)
Mark Kirk (Illinois)
Mike Lee (Utah)
John McCain (Arizona)
Jerry Moran (Kansas)
Lisa Murkowski (Alaska)
Rand Paul (Kentucky)
Rob Portman (Ohio)
Marco Rubio (Florida)
Richard Shelby (Alabama)
John Thune (South Dakota)
Pat Toomey (Pennsylvania)
David Vitter (Louisiana)

Hawaii, Oklahoma and South Carolina each have one Senate seat TBD in 2014 Special Election. Winner of 2014 special election will be up for re-election in 2016.

[VRW Conspirator]

or better yet, Elizabeth Warren.

At this point, I hope she is the Dem candidate. It will be entertaining to watch.

[goldstategop]

The War on Women meme didn’t help Mark Udall in Colorado and he got dumped.

It wasn’t very believable and he seemed to have no other issue to run on.

Exploiting a demographic for political gain gets old real fast.

[GOPJ]

Ryan Grim of the Huffington Post should check out this link to see the ‘respect’ Obama and democrats have brought to the United States.

Democrats are finished.

Young people of all races are turning against democrats...it’s O-VAR. It’s not happening for them - not now, not in 2016...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GcXXy-Jb6wU

[Defiant]

If Republicans run another milquetoast candidate, they are very likely to lose the Senate. The base won't show up and vulnerable candidates will go down. If they run a strong conservative candidate, they can save the vulnerable ones and not lose any seats. But if you told them that if they ran Ted Cruz or Scott Walker they would hold the Senate, they would still fight those guys to the death.

I saw what Reid did last time, getting an extra 5-10 percent from illegal votes and union thugs who shepherded their people to the polls. He is going to be tough to defeat no matter how bad it is for Democrats nationwide.

[EDINVA]

Not bad choices. The whole eligibility thing will arise if Cruz steps forward, tho SCOTUS opting out on Obama might make that easier for him. His problem is that it’s certified that he was not born in the USA and that his father at the time was not a US citizen. With Obama no one really ever knew his history (or anything else about him). We still don’t!

It’s going to be interesting to see who emerges, who opts out, and who’s the last one standing.

My personal opinion is that Hillary wears thin mighty fast. She’s just too hard on the eyes and ears! So I hope and pray the GOP alternative will be someone palatable to the public.

[Lexinom]

Of course the Dems will try to play the War on Women card again, but there’s a simple way around that. Who ever wins the party nomination to run against Clinton should quickly name Susana Martinez as their Vice Presidential running mate. Kills that meme dead.

That's what I've been saying for awhile now. She's solidly conservative, very popular in her state having cruised to re-election, down-to-earth, fluent in Spanish, and will neutralize the inane non-sequitur that being for border security equtes to being anti-Hispanic. She could bring a good chunk of the Hispanic vote to the GOP.

Walker/Martinez or Cruz/Martinez (if he could somehow prevail)...

[Lexinom]

Susana Martinez is good in her own right even without consideration to demographics.

[ExCTCitizen]

The HuffPost makers Salon look like a moderate magazine...Huff wants to see the Marxists back in charge...Real Americans don’t.