Running Scared
At a Christian Science Monitor luncheon this p.m., NRSC chair John Ensign (R-NV) gave a sober assessment of his party's '08 prospects, saying "it would be fairly miraculous" for the GOP to retake the Senate majority.
He reiterated past statements that a 3 seat-loss would be a "great night" for Senate GOPers, but that they didn't want to slip below a 4-seat loss. Ensign warned that the GOP Senate minority would be the only "firewall" to "stopping bad legislation" if Barack Obama is elected president and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi enters '09 with a strengthened House majority.
Although the NRSC has trailed the DSCC in fundraising for most of the cycle, Ensign said that donors are starting to respond to such concerns, and he emphasized "union check-off" legislation as particularly calamitous if Senate GOPers lacked the numbers to filibuster.
Ensign conceded that the current enviroment is working against his party. He said he has warned his colleagues: "If you have an R in front of your name, you'd better run scared" this year. But he insisted that, historically, "We've never had two back-to-back nationalized elections."
Ensign, quizzed about individual Senate races, said that 9 of the 10 most vulnerable seats are held by GOPers. Somewhat surprisingly, he included ME and excluded MS from this list, although recent polls show MS to be much more competitive at the moment than ME.
Ensign said Obama's record will ultimately be a drag on the Dem ticket in southern states, although some observers expect the reverse to be the case if there is a surge in black voter turnout. He also said John McCain's candidacy could help GOP candidates in NH, CO, and NM, while allowing that Obama keeps OR a more competitive race than it might otherwise be.
Ensign acknowledged that the AK and MN races would remain competitive to the end, though jabbed at Dems: "We're very fortunate to have Al Franken," and "Begich has baggage." When asked if the GOP's candidate in SD would be able to make any headway by demanding debates with Sen. Tim Johnson (D), Ensign cautioned: "Anytime someone has health problems, you have to be careful," but that in the Senate "you are expected to be able to go out on the floor and debate. ... It's a legitimate (issue)."
Although not related to the '08 cycle, when discussing how nat'l enviroments can affect individual races, Ensign noted that while tracking his own race in '06, his numbers fell by 13 points the day after the Mark Foley scandal broke, even though "I had nothing to do with any of that!"
(QUINN MCCORD)
What is your preference for the outcome of this year's congressional elections--a Congress controlled by Republicans or a Congress controlled by Democrats?
Republican-controlled Congress....... 33
Democrat-controlled Congress ......... 52
wsj/nbc
LOL: "Beggich has baggage"
Has he looked at the pony he has to bet on?
Just me. You're forgetting something. They actually LIKE corrupt Senators. I know, go figure.