Reply #98: Oops! Good catch! And, like Alexander(LA), Shimkus(IL), Boehner(OH), and

[ProgressiveEconomist]

Hastert(OH), Reynolds(NY) represents a state where the Governor is likely to be a Democrat next year.

I recently realized that even the most furious media frenzy might take more than 38 days to build up a head of steam strong enough to have "resignation" on the lips of all the talking heads in the MSM. Any Republican worth his or her salt ought to be able to stonewall longer than that.

But, even if they are re-elected, should an Ethics Committee or Special Counsel report lead to their resignations, IIRC Governors will have much say in picking interim US Reps until the 2008 election or a Special Election. And all those governors are very likely to be Democrats!

Blanco's (LA) 4-year term began just three years ago;

Blagojevich (IL) leads Topinka by 10 points ( http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/state/15600132.htm );

Stickland (OH) leads Blackwell by 12 points ( http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060927/NEWS01/309270009 ); and

Spitzer (NY) leads Faso 72% - 21% ( http://www.newyorkbusiness.com/news.cms?id=14769 ), which would be the largest margin EVER in NY State!

The kinds of candidates parties put up against shoo-ins like the House leaders and most other incumbents tend to be "sacrificial lambs", political neophytes filling out their resumes. But all the Democratic opponents of these incumbents might have to do to help swing control of the House to Pelosi is show up! They might get lucky and win seats in DC their first times out. But even if they don't, they may be able to precipitate local media frenzies that will empower Democratic governors to appoint successors. Of course chances are Governors would choose Democrats other than those who ran and lost. Bad for them, but still good for Democrats!

See http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2267912 for a lot more on this topic.