More on the midterms
Posted: Wednesday, August 30, 2006 12:41 PM by firstread
Sen. Chuck Schumer, chair of the Democratic Senate campaign committee, held an off-camera briefing yesterday in which he stated that Democrats are poised to make significant gains in November, although he admitted that taking back the Senate will be tough. "The campaigns continue to roll in our direction," he said. "We're feeling very, very good." Schumer noted that Democrats have a "good chance" of winning Virginia, something he admitted he wouldn't have said a few weeks ago (before Allen's "macaca" comment). He also observed that embattled GOP Sens. Mike DeWine, Rick Santorum, and Jim Talent have already spent millions on ads -- while his candidates haven't -- and those races haven't changed. "If you spend five and a half million and can't get over 40%, you have a huge problem," he said about Santorum.
Regarding the intra-party debate over how much financial help the DNC will deliver for the midterms, Schumer said that there are "ongoing negotiations" and that he is "hopeful we can come to an agreement that makes [everyone] happy." But he refused to discuss what those negotiations might entail. "We want the DNC's help in every possible way they can help."
The Arkansas News Bureau reports that the "one thing Republican Asa Hutchinson can count on from today's scheduled visit by George Bush is money for his gubernatorial campaign... A bump in stature among key independent voters may be too much to expect from a widely unpopular president whose job approval rating has dipped below 40 percent even in Arkansas, a state Bush carried handily in two presidential elections, observers said."
Note that the Tennessean makes a similar point in previewing Bush's visit there for Senate nominee Bob Corker: "In a race that's being watched across the nation, there's no doubt that the president can help Corker raise money for the two months ahead. But voters' views of the president, and their views of one of Bush's key issues - staying the course in Iraq - could help Corker or hurt him at the polls in November."
Regarding Connecticut's Senate race, Schumer yesterday noted that he will meet with nominee Ned Lamont in the coming days and intends to help him in any way he can. Does he consider Lieberman to be a Democrat? Schumer replied that Lieberman is running as an independent Democrat: "I'll take him at his word, but the DSCC is supporting Ned Lamont." The Hartford Courant suggests that Schumer might be hedging on Lieberman because Democrats could come up just short of a majority in the Senate and need every Democratic seat -- including a Lieberman-held seat -- they've got.
Maryland's two African-American members of Congress, both Democrats, are expected to endorse Senate candidate Kweisi Mfume today. Mfume is competing against one of their colleagues, Rep. Ben Cardin, who as of now is favored to win the September 12 primary.
In the Rhode Island's GOP Senate primary, which in many ways is the opposite situation from the Lieberman race in Connecticut, Bloomberg looks at how the "national Republican leadership is supporting [moderate incumbent Sen. Lincoln] Chafee, despite his many defections, because it believes he is the only one who can win the general election."
And Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) has called for a special election to "coincide" with the November general election to fill former Rep. Tom DeLay's seat. This "means that preferred GOP write-in candidate Shelley Sekula-Gibbs will have her name on the ballot, if she runs in the special election as well. Candidates have until Friday to file." Also, "Mr. Perry's decision could give the special election's winner a slight edge in seniority over other members of next year's freshman class in the U.S. House."
