How worried are House Republicans? In today's New York Times, Adam Nagourney and Carl Hulse report in Republican Election Losses Stir Fall Fears. Some choice passages:
. . . Representative Tom Davis, Republican of Virginia and former leader of his party’s Congressional campaign committee, issued a dire warning that the Republican Party had been severely damaged, in no small part because of its identification with President Bush. Mr. Davis said that, unless Republican candidates changed course, they could lose 20 seats in the House and 6 in the Senate.
“They are canaries in the coal mine, warning of far greater losses in the fall, if steps are not taken to remedy the current climate,” Mr. Davis said in a memorandum. “The political atmosphere facing House Republicans this November is the worst since Watergate and is far more toxic than it was in 2006.”
* * * *
Scott Reed, a former chief of staff to the Republican National Committee, said the defeat would dampen fund-raising. “Republican leadership needs to really take a good look in the mirror,” Mr. Reed said. “They’re taking the party off the cliff.”. . .One House Republican rated the panic expressed at the meeting as a 7 on a scale of 10. . . .
The news isn't any more encouraging at CQ Politics or Politico. CQ Politics reports in GOP Seeks to Rebrand After Childers Victory:
[Steny] Hoyer noted that the new GOP slogan is also the slogan for Effexor, a prescription antidepressant drug, and said the drug’s listed side effects could be tied to those of the policies of what Hoyer now calls the “Bush-Boehner administration.”
“They blamed their earlier losses on flawed Republican candidates. But now they have to look in the mirror,” said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., the Democrats’ counterpart to Cole.
A last-minute visit to Mississippi by Vice President Dick Cheney only reminded voters what they don’t like about the Bush administration, Van Hollen said, quipping, “Cheney is just as dangerous to Republican candidates as he is to his hunting partners.”
In Politico's GOP cancer: Party could lose 20 more seats, we read:
For the past 18 months, ever since the 2006 elections, congressional Republicans have been like a hospital patient trying to convince visitors that he is not really all that sick: a bit under the weather; actually feel better than I sound; should be up and about any day; thanks for asking.
Suddenly — belatedly — all pretense is gone.
The Republican defeat in Tuesday’s special election in Mississippi, in a deeply conservative district where, in an average year, Democrats cannot even compete, was a clear sign that the GOP has the political equivalent of cancer that has spread throughout the body. Many House GOP operatives are privately predicting that the party could easily lose up to 20 seats this fall. . . .
Not everybody has gotten the picture; in Minnesota's First, the endorsed GOP candidate is waving around a quote from NRCC chair Tom Cole, extracted from a week-old letter dated May 7, 2008:
"With outstanding candidates like you, we are fully confident that in November we will begin the steady climb toward reclaiming the majority in Congress." Congressman Cole added, "We will do all we can to assist you in your race!"
That Republican primary race with Senator Day should be one heckova contest! We certainly wait with bated breath for the release of the NRCC's May monthly report in mid-June to see the actual dollar amount on the check .
The Politico article concludes:
Heading for the hills: Plainly, there are large headwinds blowing that no operative or party leader, no matter how skilled, could counteract. But this fact does not mean that Cole and his team have not made matters worse through what many Republican members see as poor fundraising and candidate recruitment, as well as faulty judgments about message and resource allocation.
The second-guessing on the Republican side is going to make it virtually impossible for leaders to impose any kind of discipline on their caucus when it comes to showdown votes in 2008 or to running on a unified message. At times such as this, it is every man and woman for themselves — plainly the smartest move for individuals but not necessarily for the party as a whole. . . .
The online journal also reports GOP can't rely on money advantage now and John Boehner is whining about the coverage, saying we do too have an agenda.*
Photo: Tom Cole in Politico.
* See below the fold for the moment in British cinema that Boehner's remarks brought to mind.
Hmmmm, so does this mean that we will no longer have "loyalty" Republican votes? Republicans *gasp* might even represent the wishes of their districts?
Posted by: Grace Kelly | May 15, 2008 at 09:03 PM