Democrats see early edge in 2008 race

[Lasher]

Source: MarketWatch

Better fundraising, along with Bush's poor ratings, helping Democrats

By William L. Watts, MarketWatch

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- There's a lot of blood to be let between now and the 2008 presidential conventions, but early fundraising tallies and President Bush's historically low approval ratings continue to paint an optimistic picture for Democrats eager to re-take the White House, analysts say.

Final first-quarter 2007 fundraising figures filed with the Federal Election Commission by the contenders for the Democratic and Republican nominations over the weekend showed Democrats had raised substantially more cash than their GOP counterparts. The top three Democratic candidates ended the quarter with a total of $60.8 million on hand, more than twice the $29 million held by the top three Republicans.

And recent national polls show Bush's approval rating remains stuck below 40%. A USA Today/Gallup survey released last week put Bush's approval rating at 38%, continuing a seven-month string of sub-40% ratings. That trend has only been rivaled by Harry Truman in 1952 and Richard Nixon in 1974, USA Today noted. In both cases, the White House was lost to the opposition party in the next presidential election.

Given Bush's poor ratings, Democrats' fundraising edge, and other factors, the stars appear to be aligned for a Democratic presidential victory in 2008, said Greg Valliere, chief political strategist at Stanford Washington Research Group, a firm that tracks political and policy issues for investors.

Read more: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/experts-early-democratic-advantage-2008/story.aspx?guid=%7B42763B51-DADC-4F7D-8764-29AFE361EBB7%7D

[ronnykmarshall]

1. Chickens. Hatching.

Let's not count.

[Lasher]

2. Sometimes it's good to encourage the troops. (EOM)

[GoddessOfGuinness]

5. Agreed...

That practice is partly to blame for the last presidential loss...along with crooked elections.

[Norrin Radd]

3. We still need to be vigilant about election fraud, though. n/t

[MissMillie]

4. it's not just about taking the WH.... we need to keep congress

And we can do that by sticking to our plan to to what the American people asked us to do last November. They no longer wish to give Bush a rubber stamp for his warmongering in the Middle-East. They wish for us to exercise oversight.

If we back away from that, we will not keep Congress.

[Lasher]

6. Things look even more promising in the Senate

Of the seats up for election in 2008, 21 are held by Republicans and 12 by Democrats and Wayne Allard (R) of Colorado is retiring.

OTOH preliminary predictions suggest races in the Senate could be just about even coming out of the gate regardless of our having about half the number of incumbents to defend.

I agree with your asessment. I think Congressional Democrats are playing their oversight role just about right.