"Freshman Democrats face tough House run; Key target as GOP seeks a comeback" by Matt Viser, Globe Staff | August 8, 2010
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Representative Mary Jo Kilroy, one of nearly three dozen freshman Democrats elected on the coattails of President Obama, has been true to her campaign vows. She supported virtually every component of the Obama agenda, and she recently stood beside House Financial Services chairman Barney Frank of Newton to declare her pride in backing a financial regulatory bill.
Now, however, the Ohio Democrat is in the midst of a bitter reelection campaign, forced to defend her vote on financial reform. And health care. And climate change. And federal stimulus spending.
Like many first-term Democrats, Kilroy is hoping that her support of Obama’s priorities will help reelect her, even as Republicans plan to use the same votes against her. Fighting for her political life, Kilroy exemplifies the challenge facing the freshman class of Democrats across the country as the party strives to retain control of the US House....
As I see it those are 36 seats that go the other way this fall.
Overall, Republicans need to gain 39 seats to reclaim the majority. While all 435 House seats are at stake every two years, the nonpartisan analyst Stu Rothenberg has estimated that 88 seats are in play. Of those, 76 are currently held by Democrats.
In an INCUMBENTS OUT kind of year that means a CHANGE in the HOUSE!!!
Related: Buying a Change of Congress
Not that it will matter; in fact, it will probably make things worse. That seems to be the pattern when we change things, voters.
Among the most vulnerable are the 31 freshman Democrats seeking reelection, and Kilroy is considered to be in one of the tightest races because she is in a rematch of a race she won in 2008 by only 2,311 votes.
“Trouble is an understatement for many of them,’’ said David Wasserman, who follows House races for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, which rates nearly three-fourths of the freshman Democrats as being in competitive races. “They’ve won under ideal circumstances. They haven’t had to run in a neutral political environment, let alone a difficult political environment.’’
The freshman Democrats face a conundrum: They have few of the trappings of incumbency (longtime name recognition and a list of accomplishments) but many of its downsides (being portrayed as part of a broken system in Washington).
Like Kilroy, many freshman Democrats are facing tough challengers....
Of the 33 freshman Democrats who were elected in November 2008, one, Representative Eric Massa of New York, has resigned amid controversy, while another, Representative Parker Griffith of Alabama, switched parties and joined the Republicans (he then lost the Republican primary in June).
Related: Massa Probe Touches Pelosi
That's why he had to go.
Like Kilroy, a number of the remaining 31 freshman Democrats proudly promote how they have hewed to the Obama agenda....
And that is why they are going to lose.
Kilroy is standing by her votes, betting that voters in a swing district in Ohio will stick with Democrats and come to support hot-button issues such as health care, financial reform, and the federal stimulus.
The level of delusion by Democrats never ceases to amaze me.
The district stretches from urban areas in Columbus to leafy suburbs filled with golf courses, cornfields, and horse stables. It includes the 55,000-student Ohio State University campus and an economy driven by government jobs and banking and insurance industries....
In what used to be the manufacturing heart of America.
“You can’t beat a Republican by being a Republican, or pretending to be one,’’ said Representative Alan Grayson, a Florida Democrat who narrowly defeated a four-term Republican incumbent in 2008 and has become a favorite among liberals....
Grayson is ONE of the FEW (along with Kucinich and Paul) that SHOULD BE REELECTED!!
He just cited the REASON we are DOWN on DEMOCRATS!
The only freshman Democrats in New England are Representative Chellie Pingree of Maine, and Representative Jim Himes of Connecticut. Political analysts predict both will win reelection, although changes can occur swiftly in a volatile electorate....
Incumbents out. Get the message?
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"Obama’s choice wins in Colo. vote; McMahon a victor in Conn. GOP race" by Matt Viser, Globe Staff | August 11, 2010
WASHINGTON — In one of a handful of intensely watched primaries around the country, US Senator Michael Bennet last night fended off a feisty Democratic primary challenger in Colorado, bucking a wave of anti-incumbent fervor and demonstrating that President Obama still carries electoral clout....
Yeah, with one win.
Not very much clout there, agenda-pusher.
Bennet will face Ken Buck, a county prosecutor and favorite of the Tea Party movement who narrowly upset establishment candidate Jane Norton, a former lieutenant governor, with about 51 percent of the vote. Buck’s victory, political observers say, gives Democrats a better chance at retaining the pivotal seat because they’ll be running against a more conservative candidate.
Who is NOT a member of the INCUMBENT PARTY!
“That really jeopardizes a seat the Republicans otherwise would have had a real shot at,’’ Robert D. Loevy, a political science professor at Colorado College, said last night. “The race appears to me to be a contest between a more middle-of-the-road Democrat and more right wing Republican, and that tends to favor the Democrats in Colorado.’’
Related: Tea Party Will Lose For Winning
That's Boston Globe logic for you!
You know, the same people who predicted Martha Coakley would win by double-digits.
The primaries are the latest chapter in an intense fight for control of Congress and state capitols across the country....
Linda McMahon’s victory is yet another by political newcomers defying political conventional wisdom by upsetting incumbents and party-backed candidates. This year, being seen as part of the Washington establishment has been more of a hindrance than help for many candidates.
Try ALL!
The PEOPLE are FURIOUS at that place for NOT DOING ONE THING WE WANTED and DOING THINGS WE DID NOT WANT!!!
“These are people the establishment would have liked to see go away,’’ said David Cohen, political science professor at the University of Akron....
Sorry, we are NOT GOING AWAY!!!
In the race to replace Connecticut’s retiring Republican Governor Jodi Rell, Stamford Mayor Tom Malloy upset businessman Ned Lamont for the Democratic nomination. Lamont had been leading in the most recent polls....
I smell a rigging!
Also see: Brown's Senate Service Template
Keep your money next time, Neddie.
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And now the spin:
"A mixed political bag in Tuesday’s primaries; Outsiders and incumbents both fare well" by Dan Balz, Washington Post | August 12, 2010
Tuesday’s primary elections produced a series of seemingly contradictory claims and interpretations: a good night for outsiders and the Tea Party movement, an equally good night for incumbents and President Obama. What it all means for November is the real question.
It means a changed House, sorry.
Has the anti-incumbent fever begun to break?
Why would it have?
NOTHING has changed and the public is still be lied to -- and they know it. I hate to keep beating the issue, MSM, but we are NOT HAPPY AT ALL OUT HERE!!
Have the WARS ENDED YET (and I am really not interested in delays and excuses; give the order to about-face and forward-march)!?
Appointed Democratic Senator Michael Bennet’s victory in Colorado, coming after Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln’s win in Arkansas two months ago, might be seen as evidence that it has — except Democratic strategists do not think that is necessarily the case.
Related: Tea or Coffee, America?
Looks like you liberals had one stolen from you down there.
Blanche was behind in the polls, huh?
Democrats are smart; they know they only need a couple of Senate seats to keep control of that chamber (plus it is easier to rig a statewide election).
Is antiestablishment, pro-outsider sentiment just as powerful as it has been advertised all year?
It is INCREASING with each passing day that NOTHING CHANGES!
Ken Buck’s Tea Party-fueled victory in Colorado’s GOP Senate primary lends credence to that conclusion. So does outsider Linda McMahon’s easy defeat of a former House member in the Senate primary in Connecticut.
But former representative Nathan Deal’s victory over Sarah Palin-backed Karen Handel in Georgia’s Republican gubernatorial primary demonstrated that even in the GOP, a Washington label is not always fatal.
More significant, strategists in both parties say, is that the Tea Party movement — although providing energy that could bring big Republican gains in November — may be creating opportunities for Democrats by helping to nominate less-electable GOP candidates.
Yeah, you are better off losing, pffft!
What bass-ackward logic, huh?
On the Democratic side, one question is whether the president and his operation, whose political clout had been called into question by earlier losses this year, can redeem themselves....
Too late. If he pulls out the troops tomorrow, okay, but anything short of that. I'm out of patience, sorry.
Obama remains a less welcome surrogate in some parts of the country this year than at any time since he emerged on the national stage.
Related: 2006 All Over Again
Hard to believe it, isn't it?
In the same week that Bennet’s victory gave the president a boost, Texas Democratic gubernatorial nominee Bill White decided not to appear with him during Obama’s trip to the Lone Star State....
Related: Around AmeriKa: Obama Makes a Killing in Texas
That's some change.
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