techs
Lifer
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/200...usa_politics_senate_dc
Democrats are positioned to bolster their Senate majority in next year's elections, which would give them more clout regardless who succeeds President George W. Bush in the White House.
With Republicans dogged by retirements, scandals and the Iraq war, there's an outside chance Democrats will gain as many as nine seats in the 100-member Senate in the November 2008 elections, which would give them a pivotal 60.
That is the number of votes needed to clear Republican procedural roadblocks, which have been used to thwart the Democrats' efforts to force a change in Bush's policy on the Iraq war, particularly plans to withdraw U.S. troops.
The last time Democrats had an overriding majority in the Senate was in the 1977-1979 congressional session, when they held 61 seats.
"Sixty is not outside the realm of possibility," said Jennifer Duffy, who tracks Senate races for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
"But for that to happen, everything would have to break their way," she said. "Right now, it's way too early to say."
With the elections a year away, many Republicans are distancing themselves from Bush, whose approval rating was around 33 percent in recent polls. But they remain largely tied to his unpopular stance on the Iraq war, now in its fifth year.
Many are concerned about their future and Senate Democrats have raised more in campaign contributions than Republicans.
"We're going to lose seats," predicted a senior Senate Republican aide. "The political climate is not good for us."
Republicans now hold 22 of the 34 Senate seats up for re-election next year, while Democrats have 12. The Democrats all intend to seek re-election, and most are seen as shoo-ins.
Five Republican incumbents have already announced they will not seek another six-year term in 2008.
For sharply different reasons, Sens. Pete Domenici of New Mexico and Larry Craig of Idaho last week followed fellow Republicans John Warner of Virginia, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Wayne Allard of Colorado, in announcing they would not to seek re-election.
Domenici, 75, cited declining health, while Craig, 62, pointed to his disputed conviction in a undercover sex-sting in an airport men's room.
The Craig conviction has embarrassed Republicans, who portray themselves as the party of "conservative family values." The party also has been shaken by an expanding political corruption investigation in Alaska that has touched Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest serving Republican senator ever.
Stevens, who first joined the Senate in 1968, has denied any wrongdoing. But the probe has suddenly helped make the 83-year-old Alaskan vulnerable in the 2008 elections.
The Iraq war helped Democrats win control of Congress last year. It may also enable them to widen their majorities next year in the House of Representatives as well as the Senate.
Hehe. I guess its ok to let the right wing wackos know the truth now. What they thought was a "perpetual Republican majority" was actually the result of three things.
The Republican congressional victories in 2002 and 2004 were due to the tax cuts. It took til 2006 for people to see how reckless they were.
The second reason was the masterful use of the large amounts of info that is now known about Americans. Where the Democrats might target a building the Republicans knew who in the building to target. However, by 2006 the Dems had began to catch up in the use of the new technology. And by 2008 it will be an even matchup again.
The third thing was the massive amounts of campaign financing the Republicans had after giveing away the country to the rich and the corporations. With corporate America smelling a Democratic landslide, again, the Dems now have more money.
Democrats are positioned to bolster their Senate majority in next year's elections, which would give them more clout regardless who succeeds President George W. Bush in the White House.
With Republicans dogged by retirements, scandals and the Iraq war, there's an outside chance Democrats will gain as many as nine seats in the 100-member Senate in the November 2008 elections, which would give them a pivotal 60.
That is the number of votes needed to clear Republican procedural roadblocks, which have been used to thwart the Democrats' efforts to force a change in Bush's policy on the Iraq war, particularly plans to withdraw U.S. troops.
The last time Democrats had an overriding majority in the Senate was in the 1977-1979 congressional session, when they held 61 seats.
"Sixty is not outside the realm of possibility," said Jennifer Duffy, who tracks Senate races for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
"But for that to happen, everything would have to break their way," she said. "Right now, it's way too early to say."
With the elections a year away, many Republicans are distancing themselves from Bush, whose approval rating was around 33 percent in recent polls. But they remain largely tied to his unpopular stance on the Iraq war, now in its fifth year.
Many are concerned about their future and Senate Democrats have raised more in campaign contributions than Republicans.
"We're going to lose seats," predicted a senior Senate Republican aide. "The political climate is not good for us."
Republicans now hold 22 of the 34 Senate seats up for re-election next year, while Democrats have 12. The Democrats all intend to seek re-election, and most are seen as shoo-ins.
Five Republican incumbents have already announced they will not seek another six-year term in 2008.
For sharply different reasons, Sens. Pete Domenici of New Mexico and Larry Craig of Idaho last week followed fellow Republicans John Warner of Virginia, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Wayne Allard of Colorado, in announcing they would not to seek re-election.
Domenici, 75, cited declining health, while Craig, 62, pointed to his disputed conviction in a undercover sex-sting in an airport men's room.
The Craig conviction has embarrassed Republicans, who portray themselves as the party of "conservative family values." The party also has been shaken by an expanding political corruption investigation in Alaska that has touched Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest serving Republican senator ever.
Stevens, who first joined the Senate in 1968, has denied any wrongdoing. But the probe has suddenly helped make the 83-year-old Alaskan vulnerable in the 2008 elections.
The Iraq war helped Democrats win control of Congress last year. It may also enable them to widen their majorities next year in the House of Representatives as well as the Senate.
Hehe. I guess its ok to let the right wing wackos know the truth now. What they thought was a "perpetual Republican majority" was actually the result of three things.
The Republican congressional victories in 2002 and 2004 were due to the tax cuts. It took til 2006 for people to see how reckless they were.
The second reason was the masterful use of the large amounts of info that is now known about Americans. Where the Democrats might target a building the Republicans knew who in the building to target. However, by 2006 the Dems had began to catch up in the use of the new technology. And by 2008 it will be an even matchup again.
The third thing was the massive amounts of campaign financing the Republicans had after giveing away the country to the rich and the corporations. With corporate America smelling a Democratic landslide, again, the Dems now have more money.
