Monday, October 16, 2006

The Midterms

Some observations:

** John J. Miller—National Review’s national political reporter, puts two more Senate seats (Montana and Ohio) into the Democratic column.

** The New York Times’ Adam Nagourney is talking about the GOP giving up on Ohio’s Sen. Mike DeWine.

** TradeSports.com has the House GOP 2006 contract down to 32 percent—not looking good at all. The last Senate contract has dipped under 70.

**RealClearPolitics’ Jay Cost believes the House will go Democratic; but we don’t know if it’ll be 15 or 30 seats—that makes a big difference according to his statistical analysis.

** On Meet the Press yesterday, Rep. Mark Kennedy (R-MN) did a lousy job defending Bush’s tax cuts, economic growth, soaring revenues and the plunging budget deficit in his debate against Amy Klobuchar (D). The Minnesota Senate race is not looking good for the GOP.

** Economist Kevin Hassett correctly argues that the Democratic agenda is more of the same old, same old—tax the rich, class warfare and the minimum wage.

My thought: the Dems may in fact carry Congress; but if the Republicans return to their foundation, come together and retool their message, 2008 will be a far brighter year.