"Dole and Reynolds were a disaster."
Incumbents lost. They chose people who the normal Republican couldn't support, ie Dist 8 in AZ. We lost that seat because that district was more moderate than who we gave it to in the primaries against the RNC. And what about Chaffee and Burns and Allen. The RNC gave them bigtime money and they all three still lost.
The people chosen to run against incumbent Dems were done through the primary system, not in a smoke filled room. No Dem incumbent lost. Some were vulnerable. The GOP wrote Burns off early and did not make a big push until late in the race. Many of the House races were very close. What kind of Rep effort was made to turnout the vote?
The GOP National Committee walked away from Graf and Harris. They essentially supported Lieberman in CT and not the Rep candidate. Giving money to the Chafee campaign and Laura Bush campaigning on his behalf was a major gaffe. Allen ran a poor race but some credit needs to given to the Dems for finding a unique candidate who could challenge him.
We now have two Dem senators from MT and ND. There is a Dem governor in WY and the House rep race is still in doubt. The Reps need to find good challengers in 2008. Otherwise, the Dems will not only hold on to what they have, they will increase their margins.