The Hill: Republicans' 2006 Senate prospects sour

[Pirate Smile]

Republicans' 2006 Senate prospects sour

This is not how Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) hoped things would turn out.
High-profile candidates she hoped could defeat incumbent Democrats are shying away from 2006, and some of her own Republican colleagues are looking vulnerable.

On Monday, Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) bowed out of a race next year against Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.). Late last week, Gov. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) said he wouldn’t challenge Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) next year.

-snip-
Democratic consultant Peter Fenn had a different take. "Republican recruitment this cycle has been nothing short of disastrous," he said. "They have been about as successful as General Custer calling in reinforcements. ... Democrats are in an excellent position to pick up a substantial number of seats and, possibly, take back control."

Many conservatives, dismayed by the president's willingness to expand the federal government, say that months, if not years, of growing discontent may finally take its toll in 2006, when they expect Republican House members and senators to face unexpected primaries from the right.

http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Campaign/100505.html

:evilgrin:

[TallahasseeGrannie]

1. THE WORM TURNS! n/t

[Rowdyboy]

2. How very sad for them......

I can't wait until Trent Lott blows them away by announcing his retirement to work full time rebuilding his porch. Then we in Mississippi can replace him with former state attorney general Mike Moore (tobacco lawsuit originator) and regain a measure of sanity in our congressional delegation.

[Cha]

8. Not to rain on the parade

but I read a headline the other day about lott trying to position himself to take back the senate majority leadership.

Not that he would..that's delay's job }(

Good Luck with Mike Moore..is he a republican?

[Rowdyboy]

9. Supposedly, Lott is torn between going for the leadership again and

retiring. I HOPE when his efforts to build support is rebuffed, he'll decide to just retire. Ole Trent just can't stand being a back-bencher.

I'll admit though, that it's mostly wistful thinking on my part.I've hated that SOB since he first became my representative back in 1972. My contempt has only grown.

[Cha]

17. I just saw this on buzzflash..

about lot's view on miers..have you seen it?

"Lott: 'Not comfortable' with Miers' nomination"

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9598551/

[Deja Q]

3. Okay, so potentially wormy democrats will get elected in 2006...

The dems, by and large (though not all by any measure) are spineless AND just as guilty of being bought out by big corporate interests.

I do not have faith that anything will change for the better. I want to, but you bet repukes will slam any dem for even the slightest accident. (meanwhile dems do sod all when repukes engage in increasingly scandalous behaviour!) Never mind the politicians' ability to be bribed. People do not like government right now and I fear somebody with charisma will come in, convince the people that the Constitution should be sacked, and a New Order be instilled. (one that's still as corporate-friendly as ever if not moreso, but will take away peoples' remaining rights.)

Especially with the new energy crisis that can only worsen, given how our society treats oil (damn fools).

Like I said, enjoy life while you can.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

6. Gee, why do you even bother with politics at all with that attitude?

Shouldn't you be practicing your marksmanship in preparation for an armed rebellion instead?

[acmavm]

4. Which leads me back to something that's puzzled me for a LONG TIME.

Why would the republican party allow, or even go so far as to promote, such an obviously corrupt and inept incompetent as bush**? Why would the allow, or even go so far as to promote, such obviously corrupt and criminal cretins such as Wolfie, Cheney, Libby, Feith, Rice, etc, etc., etc.??? Why would they let this bunch of nutjobs, i.e. DeLay and Hastert, become the face of their party?

Always been puzzled by those questions.

[Lindsay]

5. Power corrupts.

And the Repugs have been corrupted by power, money, threats and promises.

[OzarkDem]

7. But are R incumbents worried about D challengers?

Examples cited by The Hill are only Repubs challenging Dem incumbents. OTOH, Dems aren't doing a good job of fielding candidates to R incumbents. From the same article:

Also, Nick said, Democrats have their own recruiting problems. Sens. John Ensign (R-Nev.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) are both up for reelection, and neither faces a serious race; in Ensign’s case, many Democrats say Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), a friend of Ensign’s, is doing little to recruit a candidate.

[safi0]

10. That just names two

Races. As far as those 2 races go, The Dem bench is NV is extremely weak and it looks like Jimmy Carter's son may run. As far as Snowe, we hate to say this, but Snowe is untouchable. She is quite possibly the most popular senator in America. As far as other states, they mentioned Harold Ford in TN, the Dems got there number 1 choice in PA, MO, solid candidate in Montana, although not our first choice we recruited some people who can win in RI, we got a top flight candidate in OH, and although not likely we have someone who can win in AZ. Since the number was 55 there were quetions about what would happen the Pukes getting to 60 or Dems. getting to 50 and taking back the Senate, right now I'd say the latter is much more likely.

As far as Lizzy Dole is concerned, she gets an F- in recruting against incumbent Dems. Right now I don't think one incumbent seeking re-election really looks like there in trouble, this could change but this doesn't look likely right now. As far as recruiting for open seats though she deserves a solid grade. There Pukes got there number 1 choice in MD, MN, and NJ.

[Pirate Smile]

15. I just saw that Jack Carter is going to run. Here:

"Carter to Run Against Ensign
Jack Carter, son of former president Jimmy Carter, said he intends to run for Senate against Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) in 2006, the Las Vegas Review Journal reports. Carter said he decided to run after seeing the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina.

Said Carter: "I had not planned to run for office. I have no infrastructure and this is new to me."

Next week Carter will meet with Minority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) staff to discuss his bid"

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2005/10/05/carter_to_run_against_ensign.html

[nvliberal]

18. Reid better not talk him out of it.

Ensign is a worthless piece of shit, as virtually all of the Republicans are, and we have to have Democrats in the Senate.

I couldn't give a shit less whether Ensign is a "friend" or not.

[Pirate Smile]

11. Schumer is in charge of recruiting. I hope he has something in the

works but I don't know. He is certainly doing a lot better then Dole.

[safi0]

12. I don't think a whole

Lot else will happen. We've made 7 seats held by Pukes competitive. Unless Trent Lott retires I don't see this number going up. On the other hand I think Repukes have made 3 competitive

[fujiyama]

13. Apparently he encouraged Hackett to run

so he's not doing bad in OH atleast. That's a must win - after all the governor there has a 15% approval rating! It'd be shameful not to take those two statewide offices.

[fujiyama]

14. It would be a monumental task

to take back either house, but if any year is a possibility, it's next year.

I am somewhat encouraged that we won't lose many seats. I think many of the incumbents are strong or will be facing weak opponents. We should be able to retain them.

We have to kick Santorum and DeWine out for sure. Those two seem to be the most likely pick ups...

We need a few good men and women to kick these elephants out and replace them with asses! LOL, OK that didn't sound right...

[Pirate Smile]

16. kick

[election_2004]

19. PA, MO, OH, MT

Santorum, Talent, DeWine, Burns - - these are the ones to target in '06.

TN and AZ: Ford and Pederson are the next tier of candidates who could also potentially pick up seats.

[safi0]

20. Don't forget

Rhode Island.