Reply #43: NYT: In House Races, More G.O.P. Seats Look Vulnerable

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/21/washington/21house.html?hp&ex=1148184000&en=e1863751c038aa1d&ei=5094&partner=homepage

For months, even in the face of an avalanche of bad news for Republicans, Democratic ambitions for capturing Congress have collided with an electoral map created to protect Republicans from ouster. Despite polls showing rising support for Democrats and scorn for Republicans, analysts have said Democratic hopes for big gains remain remote, because so few seats are in contention.

That appears to be changing.

Over the past week, a handful of once-safe Republican Congressional seats have come into play, and other Republican incumbents are facing increasingly stiff re-election battles, according to analysts, pollsters and officials in both parties. The change amounts to a slight but significant shift in the playing field, and a potentially pivotal change in the dynamics of this midterm election.

In a Republican primary in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Representative Don Sherwood drew 56 percent of the vote against a little-known challenger, a display of weakness in a race that both parties now see as being in play. The Republican Congressional Campaign Committee has spent at least $1.9 million in the June 6 special election to replace Representative Randy Cunningham, who was forced out in an ethics investigation, in a California district that should be a cinch for Republicans.

On Friday, President Bush flew to the Congressional districts of two Republicans who had once seemed heading for easy re-election — Thelma Drake in Virginia and Geoff Davis in Kentucky — to help them raise money. A White House adviser said the decision to send Mr. Bush reflected concern about the challenges the first-term incumbents face.