Posted on 09/03/2006 5:28:11 PM PDT by MikeA
Number Doubled Over the Summer
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.
Meanwhile, finger-pointing has begun as Republicans here and around the country blame the White House and the GOP congressional leadership for leaving Republican candidates in such a vulnerable position.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
The alternative is Speaker Pelosi, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel, Judiciary Chair John Conyers, Banking Committee Chair Barney Frank and on and on. Never ending socialist legislation will be the legacy of a Democratic House, and their attempts to destroy Bush's legacy with a campaign of Moveon.org-inspired innuendo leading to endless House investigations and doubtless an impeachment vote to avenge Clinton.
We will also see endless attempts to defund the continuing liberation of Iraq and even possibly the war on terror with new legislation to hobble the intelligence services and the monitoring of Al Qaeda phone communications and banking transactions.
The country in a time of war simply cannot afford the kind of gridlock and turmoil these hard-line partisans who populate the Democratic House leadership will bring to the nation and its governance and the president's last 2 years in office. Not voting to help keep these extremists away from controlling the House is simply not a self-indulgence we can afford in these times.
By the way, notice this line from the article:
economic anxiety caused by high gasoline prices and stagnant wages have alienated independent voters,
Guys like Balz, Broder and the rest of the Clown Car Media (CCM) are doing their part for the Democratic effort to lie about the state of the economy, including the Big Lie that wages are stagnant when even the New York Times was reporting this week that wages were UP 7% AFTER INFLATION for the 1st half of 2006. And notice they fail to report gas prices are coming down or even that low unemployment and robust economic growth are actually creating COUNTER INTUITIVE CROSS CURRENTS in American politics because Americans seem to be operating under a misconception about the state of the economy.
No, instead they continue to feed the public's misperceptions about the economy including the idea that gas prices are somehow a reflection of the condition of the economy. Obviously the reason is BECAUSE IT IS THE CLOWN CAR MEDIA THAT CREATED THOSE PERCEPTIONS TO BEGIN WITH AND WANT TO CONTINUE TO ENCOURAGE THEM.
Funny how under Clinton despite high gas prices relative to the time and many other problems, the media couldn't let a day go by without bragging about the economy on Clinton's behalf. Now that the economy is actually performing better now than at the equivalent point in Clinton's presidency, the media is lying and feeding the public's ignorant opinions about the state of things.
Anyway, back to my main point. If you vote for no other reason this fall, vote to punish the media for their endless cheerleading for a Democratic majority and their lies about the state of the economy and nothing but negative coverage of Iraq and the state of the nation. Send a message to the Clown Car Media with your vote and shock the hell out of them on November 8th by helping the GOP keep control. Then we'll use that energy to help Bush, Hastert and Blunt understand we want the GOP Congress to get back to governing like conservatives!
The alternative is Speaker Pelosi, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel, Judiciary Chair John Conyers, Banking Committee Chair Barney Frank and on and on. Never ending socialist legislation will be the legacy of a Democratic House, and their attempts to destroy Bush's legacy with a campaign of Moveon.org-inspired innuendo leading to endless House investigations and doubtless an impeachment vote to avenge Clinton.
I might also add, Republicans losing control of the Congress this fall will confirm to Al Qaeda that they managed to divide the nation on Iraq and they will see it as a major victory that they helped wrest control of Congress out of the hands of the president's party. The stakes are unbelievable folks! We don't have the luxury of pouting and punishing Republicans in the fall. In any other time maybe, not in these times.
Don't worry Freepers! Optimism man is here! I say the GOP gets 2 senate seats and 1 house seat.
No. Seriously. All of this beltway banter by the liberals is so unfounded. GOP to lose the house and maybe senate? Show me where. Everything I've seen indicates at the very worst the GOP's advantage is cut down considerably. Would that be bad? Yes. But if we keep the senate and house it's still a win. But let's aim a bit higher than that.
What is it you are afraid pelosi might do...saddle us with a trillion dollars in new entitlement spending? Nah, Bush beat her to it.
What you are seeing here is the liberal equivalent of prayer. Having no God to pray to, they have to predict the future as they hope it will turn out using the acolytes of the mainstream media to convince the people that this is what will happen. Polls are the liberal equivalent of heavenly signs. They show that the forces of nature are working in their direction.
I appreciate your optimism. But I think conservatives need to act as if this could be true and react accordingly. I think the GOP and conservatives need to work together as if coming from behind in the polls to ensure we preserve control. Complacency could be just as dangerous as the "I'm going to stay home and not vote!" mentality. We can't afford to assume anything. Better to do too much than to do too little.
This is the important election.
If you have an IQ greater than one in 10,000 folks, what is it?
You may remove your shoes, if you need to.
"No. Seriously."
So you don't believe the series of articles validating Democrat fund-raising pitches?? ;)
Dems so badly want local Repubs to run on "Iraq" they have been putting out this agit pop for weeks. MSM finds some Republican no-nothing to agree, really just repeating the weeks of stories about Dem gains.
It's local issues and immigration. Watch for many to run against, and distinguish themselves, from Bush.
Actually, I'm afraid Pelosi and pals will dish up our sovereignty to the U.N. on a freagin' platter (for starters).
Exactly! Barney Frank chair of the Banking Committee??? Gives new meaning to the phrase "queer as a three-dollar bill";))
Still, I will vote in disgust, and that only if the republican nominee is adamantly pro-life.
I haven't gotten a raise this year! But I blame my boss and my employer for that, not the frickin' President. For Pete's sake, the economy is almost the best it's ever been, we're far from losing the war, the idea the rats could run things is a joke -- we're even at the employment point where we need the freaking illegales.
I have complaints, big ones. But the pubs are far from showing they're not the ones that should be running things.
Quite the contrary! The GOP's internals are showing high energy from the base and I think there's a reason. Because conservatives realize just what's at stake here they will simply not stay home. Knowing that, I say the 'Pubs will win. Come on...do you really think that be projecting hope the base will stay away come Nov.7? Actually, by projecting such gloom and doom it makes conservatives think it's all worthless anyway and that it's time to make contingency plans...like move into theocratic communities with super-steel domes to project against godless heathens and jihadists. No, I'm a hopefull sort and I don't think that'll hurt our chances.
Hey, I'm all for optimism and there's nothing that excludes optimism in running as if we're 20 points behind! I think feeling like the dogs are barking at your heels always has the effect of making one run faster and harder. Nothing wrong with that! But thanks for your remarks, your optimism and hopefulness! We can all use them right now. But we all need to keep our "come from behind" energy too.
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