Posted on 10/20/2006 9:03:01 PM PDT by Uncledave
They're blowing it. If you track blogs and the MSM, blogs often run a week or so ahead of MSM themes. Here's what we have.
With the election over two weeks away, the Dems have started squabbling over an election they might not ever get to have.
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's prospects for becoming the nation's first female House speaker depend not only on a Democratic victory in November but also on her ability to prevent any Democrats from voting against her -- primarily centrists opposed to her liberal stances.
Is this really the time to be talking up Steny Hoyer as an alternative, given his slavish tendencies?
And another election two years down the road shouldn't be in the headlines right now.
Elizabeth Edwards, wife of White House hopeful John Edwards, says her choices in life have made her happier than Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton _ a possible Edwards' rival for the Democratic nomination.
Today, Rep. Harold Ford in Tennessee may well have done himself in as regards the Senate race. Go to the video - it isn't good. And while possibly an outlier, the latest from Zogby has him down by 7, which fits more with the desperation tactics he's using, confronting Corker and coming out for Lieberman, which he didn't need to do unless he isn't making it with moderates and conservatives in TN.
While not D versus R, it could be a portent of things to come as the Lamont campaign is going from hysterics to crashing to the ground 17 points down. Matt Stoller assures the faithful Lieberman's support is soft (eye-roll) ... but Joe isn't the one who needs a cushion right about now.
The investigation headlines aren't going to be Weldon, or Foley, they are going to read NIE. And THAT, my friends, is a national security issue.
Burns and Tester a toss-up? I thought Tester was all but a lock, despite Burns incredible financial advantage coming down the stretch ... which he still holds.
The Supremo's gave the okay to voter ID, for now. I wouldn't want to be a Democrat reacting to that in the public eye two weeks before an election. Bush's North Korea strategy worked two days after the Dems told the country it wouldn't.
Look for BushCo. to make a major announcement of a tactical shift in Iraq which will give marginal doubters at least enough hope to bite their lip and hold their nose when they vote.
And I had to come back and add the fall out from the sexual McCarthyism issue, which might not make it out of the political echo chamber, but is certain to impact across people who follow politics the most. And those people are the people who always vote.
Sherrod Brown has a back tax issue, would be Senate Leader Harry "sand lot" Reid has the land. But there are two weeks to go until the election and the Dems are further away from having a house in Congress than they were last week. The Senate may already have slipped away and I still say Santorum isn't going out without some kind of late major play against Casey - and he is closing, at that.
This isn't the direction the Dems or the media thought things would be going just now. And that is going to make news in the days ahead. Elections always close and it always makes news. The Dems have made the mistake of getting too far out of the gate too early in every recent election and ultimately, they've lost.
This is now showing the early signs of a repeat.
Which party wants to raise taxes?
Which party tried to kill the Patriot Act?
Which party has NO agenda?
Which party blames others for their shortcomings?
Which party is the party of the ACLU?
Which party is overwhelmingly pro-abortion?
Which party puts power in front of American security?
To me, this election is a no brainer. Handing control of congress to the dems by not voting will come back to bite many conservatives in the coming years.....
And lower speed limits! I don't want to go back to that!!!
Let me correct this.
Which party has no agenda they want the general populace to know about?
Hint: See other items in eerigeno's list.
.
But would you go for the two-point conversion to make it 95-0? I would, and then I'd on-side kick with 0:01 left.
That is so gay.
/s
"Are The Dems Blowing It?"
Lewinsky puns notwithstanding, I think it's a past tense issue at this point.
My (Democratic) party has made some big political mistakes this election cycle. The biggest in my view is the continuing failure to outline a positive agenda to contrast with the Republicans. It's one thing to convince people that your opposition is _____ (insert the negative term of your choice). It is quite another to convince them that they should show up and vote for you.
Congressional elections have lower turnout and are typically determined by which party can mobilize it's base. Those in the middle (Independents and lukewarm Republicans and Democrats) show up for Presidential elections. But they have to have a good reason to show up on an off year. My party has given the folks in the middle a lot of reason to think that the Republicans are a bunch of bums, but not much reason to think that the Democrats will be significantly better.
Second is the issue of hubris. I think that a lot of Democrats have convinced themselves that they this election is in the bag. It isn't, and no election ever is until the votes have been counted.
Third, I think the attacks on Republicans have peaked early. I don't agree with a political strategy that says that the best way to win an election is to publicize bad news about your opposition. But be that as it may, if you're going to rely on that, timing is everything.
My prediction. The Democrats might win one house of Congress. Contrary to the author of this article, I think the U.S. Senate is more in play than the House. And it is very possible that neither changes hands. I don't see a huge shift one way or the other.
If this were a Presidential election, I have no doubt that President Bush would lose. But it isn't.
Every Time Bill Clinton hits the campaign trail for a Democrat Candidate we win! I think we will have the democrats in shock! They will loose Maryland, New Jerseys.....we could have 60 votes with 7 or 8 Rhinos. God I love American Politics.
I wondered about the sudden talk over the last few weeks of shifting strategies in Iraq...personally I've always favored an Iraq divided into 3 semi-autonomous regions with a strong central government because of the ethnic, tribal divisions--I know it makes Turkey nervous but what the heck--they balked at letting us enter via the North so they don't get a vote IMHO.
To borrow and expand on something Rush said, the Dims used a handful of gadget plays to move the ball to the GOP 10-yard line, and then they spiked the ball and began their end zone dance. Problem is, that's not a touchdown, despite what they and the DBM tried to make us believe. That's a fumble, and the GOP picked up the ball and is now moving it down the field the other way.
And right now I'd say they've almost got it back to mid-field, and instead of reaching into the bag of tricks to do that, the GOP is using the fundamentals. Nothing flashy or spectacular, but they definitely are moving the ball.
Of course, they still have a long way to go to make it to Dim's end zone, and there's always a chance they could make another mistake and give up the ball again. And I would almost certainly look for at least one more attempt by the Dim-DBM sideline to disrupt the game with another phony scandal.
dingy harry has more scandals to come. I smell a "spend more time with my family" moment soon.
Clinton is all over the map..has commerical for prop. 87
in California...tax on oil drilling...I promptly voted
against it...if he's for anything..I'm against it...
Same wth the present day obstructionists..Schumer, Kerry,
Kennedy, Durbin, Boxer, Feingold, and few more that
need their A%% kicked. I sure as hell don't want to see
them take over the Senate...Lieberman, as Indep., will
be voting more with our guys since they all abandomed him
during primary...so whatdoyathink? Jake
If we think the infighting in the Clinton administration due to Hillary's manipulations of Bill's staff was shocking then, imagine what it would be if Hillary were elected and Bill were in the back-seat-driver's position! LOL! It's too ludicrous!
If this were a Presidential election, I have no doubt that President Bush would lose.
And you would be wrong about that. Again.
"Harry Reid issues seem to have vanished already."
I know myself there is enough material out there for another article, just a question of whether it gets popped before the election. Long term, I guarantee the Reid land questions aren't dead, just too many of them.
"And you would be wrong about that. Again."
Well, since I expected that President Bush would win the last two elections where he was actually on the ballot, I don't see where I've been wrong yet. I also did not indicate that I would view President Bush losing an election as a desirable end result. Just that I thought he would lose if he were running this go round.
I think it's fortunate for the the GOP that this is a midterm election. Contrary to the prevailing pundit wisdom, the GOP is actually in better shape to win a midterm election than they would be to win a Presidential election right now. This election is going to be all about turnout, and the GOP has *always* been better at turning out it's base. The wildcard in a Presidential election is the so-called independents, who tend to lean left. I think that for the most part, they're going to sit this one out.
Democrats are more motivated than normal this election, so I think it'll be a fairly close election regardless. I just don't see that my party is going to win a landslide. Maybe one house of Congress by a close margin. But I wouldn't bet the farm even on that.
I expect to see a lot of long faces at the DNC come November 8.
Barny Frank must be the head man now.
One minor correction: the Democrats can't lose Maryland.
Maryland currently has an incumbent Republican Governor. I'm hoping he retains office, but that's the question.
As for Michael Steele, even if he wins, we still have *shudder* Mikulski.
Worst case for the Democrats is a toss-up.
I can't believe I'm witnessing such historical inaccuracy! We all know that job was delegated to Monica Lewinsky.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.