"They Can't Handle The Big Ones"

That's a line heard on MSNBC in relation to Katrina and Iraq, and referring to the Bush WH. The problem for the GOP, come Tuesday, is that's how the country sees them. And the result?

Republicans entered the campaign's final weekend yesterday desperately trying to keep control of the Senate, with three or four tossup races likely to determine whether the GOP can cling to power there even as it sees its hold on the House eroding.

Strong public opposition to the Iraq war continues to hurt Republicans in many key races, but the Bush administration struck a defiant tone, signaling that the election results will not influence its strategy. Tuesday's balloting might influence Congress, Vice President Cheney said in an interview with ABC News, "but the president's made clear what his objective is. It's victory in Iraq. And it's full speed ahead on that basis. And that's exactly what we're going to do."

When your opponent is drowning, throw them an anvil.

As President George W. Bush jets across Red State America this weekend, Republican candidates are falling further behind Democratic rivals, according to the new NEWSWEEK poll. While the GOP has lagged behind Democrats throughout the campaign season, the trend in the past month--when NEWSWEEK conducted four polls in five weeks--had suggested the Republicans were building momentum in the homestretch.

No more. The new poll finds support for Republicans (and for President Bush) receding. For example, 53 percent of Americans want the Democrats to win enough seats to take control of one or both houses of Congress in the midterm elections on Tuesday. Those results are close to early October levels, while less than a third of Americans (32 percent) want Republicans to retain control. If the elections were held today, 54 percent of likely voters say they would support the Democratic candidate in their district versus 38 percent who would vote for the Republican-a 16-point edge for the Democrats.

Despite round-the-clock coverage of John Kerry's Iraq gaffe this week and non-stop rallies in which the President paints Democrats as weak-on-terror tax lovers, the political momentum has returned to the Democrats. Maybe that's because nearly a third of registered voters (32 percent) now say Iraq is the most important issue in deciding their vote. The economy comes in second at 19 percent. And just 12 percent say terrorism, the Republican trump card in the last three elections, is their most important issue. In fact, as millions of Americans fill in their employers' health-care selection forms for next year, terrorism is statistically tied with health care at 11 percent.

Meanwhile, the President's approval has fallen back to 35 percent, after a slow but steady rise from 33 percent at the beginning of October to 37 percent in the NEWSWEEK poll last week.

Trust the media to overread an insignificant rise in Bush's approval as something meaningful. And note the Iraq issue again rising to the top - not by itself, but certainly as a dominant issue, with terrorism lagging.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Part II of the GOP Weekend from Hell.

Comments

[DemFromCT]

The good news for Republicans is that their voters are coming home; 90 percent of likely Republican voters say they would vote for the GOP’s candidate if the elections were held today, not far behind the 95 percent of Democrats who back their party’s nominee. But independents say they would vote for the Democrat over the Republican in their district nearly 2 to 1 (26 percent versus 51 percent.)

we knew that. ;-)

[profmarcus]

if the dems take the house, lovely... if they take the senate, lovelier... neither victory, however hard one or both were fought for or how richly they were deserved, are going to save us from the criminals running this country... when cheney says "full speed ahead," regardless of what the election results are, what the mood of the country is, what polls say, what the facts are, what the military chiefs are saying, i know the REAL battle has yet to be joined... we would like to put our faith in our system and that a victory next week will be a major battle won... yes, it will be a major battle won, but i don't think we've seen the worst, not by a long shot... i think things are about to get major-league ugly, and, unless there's some deus ex machina out there that will completely knock the props out from under george and his criminal posse, it may be time to break out the rakes and hoes and start thinking about storming the bastille...

http://takeitpersonally.blogspot.com/

[fletch]

Trust the media to overread an insignificant rise in Bush's approval as something meaningful.

Likewise-- trust the "nutroots" to consider Bush's approval ratings to be meaningful in over 500 races where he is not a candidate...

I am not voting for GWB in this election.

Of course, I did not vote for GWB in 2000.(Harry Browne)

Also, I did not vote for GWB in 2004.(Peroutka)

But- given the actual choice that I will be voting on on Nov 7, 2006 between Deborah Pryce and Mary Jo Kilroy in the Ohio 12th Congressional House race--

Go Deb!

[Jodi]

"When your opponent is drowning, throw them an anvil."

That seems pretty logical and commonplace for politics.

Perhaps you meant "friend" instead of "opponent" to make your point.

[DemFromCT]

Nope. I mean your opponent. Friends I throw a life preserver.

[DemFromCT]

fletch, that's not right. An unpopular president drags down seats for his party.

see link

[DemFromCT]

btw, fletch, you'll enjoy reading stories like this on Wednesday.

n this stunningly beautiful American autumn of 2006, there is the whiff of fin de régime in the air - or rather of the end of two regimes. On Tuesday the United States votes in the most closely fought, and closely followed, mid-term elections in memory. Not only could they signify the end of Republican dominance on Capitol Hill which, apart from a hiatus in the Senate in 2001 and 2002, has lasted without interruption since Newt Gingrich and his shock troops over-ran both House and Senate in 1994, forcing Bill Clinton to protest forlornly that the Presidency was "still relevant". The other probable casualty is the era of George W Bush.

No, the name of the 44th President does not appear on any ballot this week, and even when the results are in, he will still be spending another 26 months and 12 days in the White House. Yet at these mid-terms, the 80 million or so Americans expected to vote will be doing far more than electing a new House of Representatives and re-assigning a third of the 100 seats in the Senate. They will be conducting a referendum on a presidency that is a subject of keen debate among historians over whether it is merely one of the worst, or the very worst, in the country's history.

[Jodi]

DemFromCt,

then I don't get your point. However on to more important things.

You gave me the answers to my question on CT,

but NOT on:

US Senate
US House
Washington, 8th

Please instruct this small grasshopper, oh mighty Poll Master.

:)

[Jodi]

Senate Nov 03 2006 The Weekly Standard
Race
17 contributors-

Rep Dem
48 52 Kristol
51 49 Barnes
51 49
49 51
48 52
49 51
50 50
50 50
50 50
52 48
49 51
53 47
51 49
50 50
51 49
52 48
52 48
----------------
50.35R 49.65D averages (rounded to hundredth)

This is how close it is in The Weekly Standard

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/012/893pltam.asp

[freepatriot]

fletch is wronger than that

435 House seats and 33 Senate seats does not equal "more than 500 races"

come on people, that was an easy one

fletch counts like a freeper

or a "memory expert"