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 the political climate months before election day (or even days before). But if you hope to have any chance of winning seats that may be unexpectedly within reach, you have to have credible candidates. So far this cycle, it’s the Republican campaign committees that are winning the race to find strong candidates for potentially-winnable races:
It’s not just the Senate races, however. The National Republican Congressional Committee has announced sought-after candidates early and often. These include Martha Roby (Alabama’s 2nd District), Van Tran (California 47th), Charles Djou (Hawaii 1st), Vaughn Ward (Idaho 1st), not to mention rematches in two races that would allow Republicans to recapture seats lost in 2008; Andy Harris vs. Freshman Rep. Frank Kratovil (Maryland 1st) and former Rep. Steve Chabot facing the man who defeated him, Rep. Steve Driehaus (Ohio 1st).
