Posted on 02/10/2006 5:57:29 PM PST by Clintonfatigued
Democrats are poised to defeat Rep. John Hostettler (R-Ind.) in November. And they better succeed — because if they don’t, they might as well forget about ever defeating him.
(Excerpt) Read more at rollcall.com ...
There's no doubt that Brad Ellsworth is Hostettler's strongest oppponent ever. This will be a key race.
Please, I predicted Hostettler would win easily in 2004.
Is this Stu's way of coming out of the closet?
Yeah, every two years Hostettler faces his toughest challenger ever. Same with Anne Northrup in Kentucky.
Given the strange things that happen in politics, the mere possibility of a vulnerable incumbent losing is hardly earth-shattering.
Hopefully the GOP will point out that while Ellsworth claims to hold conservative views on social/cultural issues, a vote for him is nonetheless a vote for the radically pro-abortion and pro-gay Nancy Pelosi to be Speaker.
"And with the national landscape strongly favoring change and Democrats..."
Yeah. Right. They "project" like this in my local red rags. ;)
"Yeah, every two years Hostettler faces his toughest challenger ever. Same with Anne Northrup in Kentucky."
The concern I have is that of Hostettler's 5 runs for reelection, only one of them (1998) came in a year when the Democrats did well nationally in House races. That year he faced Gail Riecken, a liberal Emily's List candidate who was not an ideal fit for the district. 1996 was very close, but 2000, 2002, and 2004 were all bad years for Democrat House candidates, and I don't think the 'Rats even ran a viable candidate in 2004.
Northup has built ties to the black community in Louisville and brought home federal dollars. Heather Wilson has a moderate image and doesn't hesitate to tack left to keep ABQ behind her. Hostettler presents himself to the voters as he is, a strong conservative who occasionally does some inexplicably weird things, and that makes him more vulnerable to a Democrat wave against a conservative candidate, in my opinion.
In 2004, the RATs ran "Hostettler's toughest challenger yet," Jon Jennings, a pro-life, pro-gun former DOJ official and former assistant to Bobby Knight at IU. Jennings spent a bit over $1.5 million, while Hostettler only spent a bit under $500,000, but Hostettler still won by 53%-45%. I'm sure that the latest reincarnation of "Hostettler's toughest challenger yet" will run at least 5% stronger than Kerry did, and he may even run 10% stronger than Kerry did, but that won't be enough to win.
Thanks; it must have been 2002 when the front-runner they wanted, the high-ranked state legislator they redrew the district for, decided not to run.
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