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Democrats face midterm meltdown
Financial Times ^ | 08/31/10 | Edward Luce

Posted on 08/31/2010 7:51:45 PM PDT by MissesBush

Barack Obama’s Democratic party faces a series of dramatic defeats at every level of government in Washington and beyond in the November midterm elections, according to leading analysts and opinion polls.

The University of Virginia’s widely monitored Crystal Ball will on Wednesday forecast sweeping setbacks on Capitol Hill and the loss of a clutch of state governorships on November 2.

EDITOR’S CHOICE Obama struggles to convince voters - Aug-30Obama: Popularity peaks and troughs - Aug-26Opinion: Obama is right on China - Aug-30View from DC videos - Nov-11In depth: The Obama presidency - Aug-06In depth: US states of emergency - Jul-27It follows a Gallup poll that showed the Republicans with a 10 percentage point lead over the Democrats – the widest margin in 68 years. Separately, a University of Buffalo paper has predicted a 51-seat gain for Republicans in November.

The Democrats have a 39-seat majority in the House of Representatives. Many believe Democratic control of the Senate is also at risk.

“Voters are going to deliver a big fat message to President Obama, which he will not want to hear,” said Larry Sabato, who runs Crystal Ball. “The Republican base is at least 50 degrees further to the right than where it was when Newt Gingrich took control of the House in 1994, so we would be looking at two years of absolutely nothing getting done on Capitol Hill.”

The numbers, which threaten Mr Obama with a “wave election” similar to those of 1994 and 2006, when Democrats wrested back control of the House after 12 years, also extend to key states.

According to local polls, Democrats are on course to lose the governorships of traditionally left-leaning states such as Michigan and Pennsylvania and may be vulnerable in Illinois, long a party bastion.

Such is the scale of the expected losses that analysts are already focused on how Mr Obama can turn Republican domination to his advantage in his 2012 re-election race.

Washington is awash with speculation on whether the Republicans will over-reach as Mr Gingrich did in 1995 when Bill Clinton won a stand-off that had resulted in the shutdown of government.

“The political environment for Democrats is now every bit as poisonous as it was for them in 1994 and for Republicans in 2006,” said Charlie Cook, the widely tracked electoral forecaster.

The expected groundswell is driven by the composition of voter turnout, which at about 40 per cent would be significantly lower than the 63 per cent that brought Mr Obama to power. According to polls, likely Republican voters are twice as motivated to vote as Democrats.

That “enthusiasm gap” was on display last weekend at the Tea Party movement’s rally in Washington.

Recent polls show that 61 per cent of Americans “always or usually” live from pay cheque to pay cheque, up from 49 per cent in 2008.


TOPICS: Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2010election; 2010midterms; backlash; gopcomeback; landslide; midterms
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To: MissesBush
“The Republican base is at least 50 degrees further to the right than where it was when Newt Gingrich took control of the House in 1994, so we Communists would be looking at two years of absolutely nothing getting done on Capitol Hill.”
41 posted on 09/01/2010 5:49:01 AM PDT by Edgerunner (Second Amendment Spoken Here)
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To: MissesBush

Demoncrats and Rinos be gone.


42 posted on 09/01/2010 6:03:33 AM PDT by crosshairs (If I agreed with a liberal, then we would BOTH be wrong.)
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To: MissesBush

“....so we would be looking at two years of absolutely nothing getting done on Capitol Hill.”

Oh please, oh please, oh please......
Music to my ears!


43 posted on 09/01/2010 6:46:27 AM PDT by bkopto (“I like being President. And it turns out I’m pretty good at it.” Barack H. Obama, February 2009.)
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To: TomServo

Two years of continuing resolutions as the battle royale between Obama and the USA unfolds. It will be Obama vs. America.


44 posted on 09/01/2010 6:47:21 AM PDT by screaminsunshine (m)
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To: AlmaKing

That’d be a great start.


45 posted on 09/01/2010 7:21:02 AM PDT by TomServo
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To: Flavious_Maximus
The local, state and fed governments are going to be trimmed down everywhere.

The statehouses make up the next front in the war to retake this country. We need for at least thirty eight of them to become solidly Conservative in addition to the two-thirds majorities in both houses of Congress so that the needed Amendments to the Constitution can be voted in. Of course, seeing the efforts of Chris Christie duplicated in every statehouse in the country would be a definite plus.

46 posted on 09/01/2010 7:56:07 AM PDT by Tonytitan
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To: umgud

Pity that it’s us that have to clean up the messes and the Dems get to enjoy the results.


47 posted on 09/01/2010 9:29:12 AM PDT by Niuhuru (The Internet is the digital AIDS; adapting and successfully destroying the MSM host.)
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To: bkopto

Just not getting anything done is no longer sufficient, we need massive repeals of things like health care and other left wing nutcase legislation.


48 posted on 09/01/2010 10:04:03 AM PDT by RipSawyer (Trying to reason with a leftist is like trying to catch sunshine in a fish net at midnight.)
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To: MissesBush

You’re both correct. Get out and vote in November, drive the Reds out, roll back Obamacare and put AMERICANS back in charge. Melt, Baby, Melt!;)


49 posted on 09/01/2010 10:17:18 AM PDT by Frank_2001
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To: MissesBush

The interesting thing is that Obama has managed to transform House and Senate elections to the national level versus “local politics” which normally is the case. Voters simply know that a vote for a democrat is a vote for Obama’s policies and programs going forward. This election cycle seems to transcend party affiliation and local politics.

Perhaps we are not screwed.


50 posted on 09/01/2010 11:45:32 AM PDT by unique
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To: MissesBush

I predict that on the morning of November 3rd, the GOP will be postured to fill 41 more seats than the Dems in Congress come January 2011. I PREDICT: GOP 238 Seats DEMS 197.


51 posted on 09/01/2010 12:23:53 PM PDT by no dems (DeMINT / PALIN 2012 or PALIN / DeMINT 2012.......Either is fine with me!)
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To: no dems

I’d take that number up to 49 seats.


52 posted on 09/01/2010 2:35:57 PM PDT by MissesBush (Stay angry--right through November)
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To: MissesBush

Remember folks, it will be cast as “racist” to try to repeal the silly health care law. How dare the Republicans take away health care from minorities, children and people with disabilities! I can already see the commercials.


53 posted on 09/02/2010 5:07:22 AM PDT by TJ Jackson
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