Can We Retake the House?

At its root, the problem is that a sizable percentage of the GOP caucuses in Congress are opposed to so much of what the federal government does that those who want to actually legislate are being marginalized and ostracized. The GOP tends to walk in lockstep, but there is no consensus on where they're going. On top of that, Mitt Romney isn't helping. His campaign is totally opaque and utterly lacking in any kind of ideological leadership. It even seems likely that many Republicans would prefer that he lose rather than turn over control of the party to his Massachusetts-based team. In any case, I'm beginning to suspect that commentators like George Will and Charles Krauthammer feel that way, considering their willingness to blast Romney for, respectively, not releasing his tax returns and allowing his wife to enter a dressage horse in the Olympics.

With the weakness of Mitt Romney as a candidate and the lack of coherence and loyalty within the Republican caucuses, it may be a mistake to predict the outcome of congressional elections based on the 2008 results in those districts. It's hard to say. The wheels definitely came off the GOP clown car in September and October of 2008. I think the wheels are starting to come off a little earlier this time around.

Can the GOP avoid terrifying swing-voters at their convention? Can Romney overcome his foot-in-mouth disease? Will outside money make all the difference?

I have said for a couple of years that this would not be a close election. I have believed for a long time that the American people would be more decisive this time, one way or the other, than they have been in recent times. I still believe that. And my gut tells me that the House of Representatives is in play.

http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2012/8/1/105011/2149