Yesterday Dan linked to the unusual update that Charlie Cook recently issued on 2010 races. As Ace notes, Cook seems to have decided to trust his gut more than his models, and says a loss of more than 20 seats is not at all unlikely. “Many veteran Congressional election watchers, including Democratic ones, report an eerie sense of déjà vu, with a consensus forming that | Read More »
When Democrats gained a firm lock on all the power in Washington, one thing that seemed sure to follow was a huge edge in fundraising. After all, Barack Obama is a one-man money machine, and Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi would surely be able to raise tons of cash from industries worried how Congress might treat them. Instead, their fundraising has been lackluster – and | Read More »
Growing up in New York, I recall an old commercial for the lottery that sought to sucker in the math-challenged by telling them ‘you gotta be in it to win it.’ While I still consider that an indefensible way for a state to get people to throw away their money, it’s undoubtedly true when it comes to political campaigns. You may be unable to predict | Read More »
On Friday I posted a summary of a briefing I received regarding the outlook for 2010 House races. Several readers offered comments or questions about specific races. Yesterday I received an E-mail from NRCC Political Director Brian Walsh, who has some responses on specific points: I would like to thank everyone for providing feedback on Brian’s post about the upcoming 2010 elections and candidate recruitment. | Read More »
I recently had the opportunity to have a lengthy discussion (on background) with a source at the National Republican Congressional Committee, regarding the state of their planning for 2010. My strongest impression is that this is a team of professionals that has learned the lessons of the last few cycles and who are doing a good job setting the table for a strong cycle. No | Read More »
Looking back at recent political history, one of the common features of wave elections is a nationally-known, toxic incumbent who becomes the face of the unpopular incumbent party. In 2006, Tom DeLay and Mark Foley were the unpopular faces of the Republican party whom Americans were forced to look at and hear about on the news each night. In 1994, it was people like Dan | Read More »
Texas Republican Congressman Pete Sessions is running against Tom Cole (R-OK) for chairmanship of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). This is the letter he sent to his colleagues yesterday, seeking their support: November 10, 2008 Dear Republican Colleague: The challenges facing our Conference are serious and pressing. Across the country, we have suffered electoral setbacks that have emboldened left-wing special interest groups. Their legislative | Read More »
Barack Obama released his August fundraising numbers today, and it was an impressive haul: $66 million — the best month ever for a presidential candidate. Interestingly, Obama’s campaign hasn’t addressed why they felt compelled to release this information a week earlier than they had planned. Given the spate of bad news about the direction of the campaign, you have to think it was to stanch | Read More »
![[RS]](/t/img/logo-footer.jpg){kind=logo}