Mitch McConnell is talking like a man who is certain his party will pick up seats in the fall. But I think he’s counting his chickens before they hatch. As things look now, it’s almost certain that the Dems will lose two seats (North Dakota and Arkansas) and that they will gain one (Florida), but the rest of the contested races are far too close to call at this early stage. I’m simply unimpressed and unintimidated by candidates like Rand Paul, Sharron Angle, Pat Toomey, Mark Kirk, Kelly Ayotte, Roy Blunt, Rob Portman, Dan Coats, and Carly Fiorina. I don’t think incumbents like Richard Burr, Chuck Grassley, and David Vitter should consider themselves safe. Everything is too fluid to make confident predictions right now. Even Mike Castle in Delaware doesn’t strike me as very energetic or charismatic. What’s more, the Democrats are fielding stronger, more compelling candidates in every single one of these races. I remain worried but optimistic.
About The Author
BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
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I think excessive confidence is a big part of the Party of No hustle. The GOP is essentially throwing the inside the beltway “expectations game” (no matter what, they won’t do as well in November as McConnel and Boehner are posturing), in order to win the Party of No game. McConnel can’t hold the line with the 5 or so sane members of his caucus unless he can say “just hold on a little bit longer, its working, we’re going to take back the senate in november.” Keeping climate change and immigration reform bottled up in the senate was a huge win for conservatives- the equivalent of progressives stopping the bush tax cuts. By the time its January 2011 and there’s a new congress, McConnell and Boehner will both probably have a few more seats (although neither will have a majority) and they’ll move on to a different strategy to stop progressive legislation.
I agree. The Republicans are killing themselves. They will win little. When Obama gets on the trail he will make fools of them. To tell you the truth I’m fired up about the midterms.
Think of the possibilities:
You miss endless wars and economic collapse then vote Republican.
No hyperbole either.
want to call attention to Bush’s “endless wars”. Considering Afghanistan.
If you miss the party that was nation building over there while guiding us to an economic collapse over here. Vote Republican.
Lockstep obstruction can cause GOP candidates to go down in lockstep, but only the the people in their districts understand what they are really doing.