Steny Hoyer confident Dems will hold House of Representatives

Politico ^ | 09/08/2010 | Richard Cohen

[SeekAndFind]

Amid a barrage of bad campaign news and polls, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) remained upbeat as he continues his recess appearances for vulnerable Democratic members.

“Our candidates are energized and not hanging their tails between their legs. They are confident,” he told POLITICO from Colorado, where he campaigned Tuesday with Rep. Betsy Markey (D-Colo.), who is one of the most vulnerable Democratic members of Congress.

His appearance with Markey carried an additional message because she was one of four House Democrats whom The New York Times on Sunday mentioned are in races that “could quickly move out of their reach.”

Calling the article “inaccurate,” he added that he will be appearing in Ohio on Thursday for Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Ohio), and that Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-Md.) led by 3 points in his own poll early this summer. The Times listed Kilroy and Kratovil —along with Markey and Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Va.)—as possible early victims of Democrats “triage.”

“There is not a member that we don’t think can win,” Hoyer said. In particular, he emphasized that his home-state colleague Kratovil “won’t be dropped” by Democratic leaders, despite the fact that political pundits list him as one of their most endangered members.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said the Times “erroneously suggests that the DCCC has decided not to allocate resources to specific campaigns. That simply is not the case.”

Hoyer conceded that Democrats are struggling with the effects of bad economic news, especially the high jobless number that was reported at 9.6 percent last Friday. “The unemployment number is troubling, to say the least,” he said, though he added that the economy has been creating new jobs.

He also lamented as a sign of low public confidence the $1.8 trillion in reserves that are being held by American companies.

But he left no doubt that of his continued confidence that Democrats will retain House control in November. “The context is very tough. You have to be asleep not to understand that.” But his party will prevail because they have “great candidates,” he added.

Hoyer challenged recent suggestions that House Republicans are on a roll. “If I were a Republican, I would not be sanguine that the public is happy with me….We still hold the lead in polls on who do you like. We haven’t led the generic polls because the public wants change.”

During the recess, Hoyer has appeared at local events with at least 20 Democratic members.

[Recovering_Democrat]

"Our voter fraud operation is fully operational. Watch us as we demonstrate it on the innocent electorate in a few short weeks."

[Buckeye Battle Cry]

I honestly believe that the only way the GOP does not re-take the house is if the election is somehow suspended. Perhaps this is what Steny is hinting at.

[LibLieSlayer]

Thanks for the heads up... I knew it was from Belushi... at least I got that right.

LLS