Posted on 11/01/2006 4:53:52 AM PST by saganite
The GOP has launched a rescue mission in the final weeks of the campaign to save two powerful northern California Republican congressmen hurt by deep discontent over the Iraq war and corruption in Washington.
President Bush attended fundraisers for both Rep. Richard Pombo and Rep. John Doolittle, and first lady Laura Bush plans to campaign for them later this week. The GOP's House campaign committee recently pumped in more than $1 million to help Pombo on next Tuesday's ballot.
But the non-partisan Cook Political Report this week shifted the Pombo race from ``leans Republican'' to a tossup, and a poll conducted last week by Constituent Dynamics found Democrat Jerry McNerney ahead, 48 to 46 percent.
``These seats, you'd think, would be safe, but these Republicans are being dragged down by dissatisfaction with the president, Congress and the war,'' said Anthony Corrado, a political scientist professor from Colby College in Maine, who tracks campaigns and spending.
``The two California races show what's taking place nationwide,'' he added, citing polls showing the Democrats poised to pick up more than the 15 seats needed to retake the House.
Pombo and Doolittle, once protected by carefully drawn congressional districts, are fighting for their lives in raucous, expensive races.
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(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
What's the scoop on these two races? I figured Pombo was safe. If he gets knocked off in California there won't ever be any discussion again about drilling in Alaska or offshore. We'll just have to take our lumps from the likes of Chavez.
McClintock is set to win the lieutenant governorship. (although that position does little).
Ain't going to happen.
As of yesterday, Doolittle was up by 10 pts. His seat is safe.
There was a piece in the paper this morning that President Bush will be in town on Sunday to stump for Jim Ryun, Congressman from the 2nd District in Kansas. Ryun is a 5 or 6 term representative from a solidly Republican district and admittedly has made some political gaffs over the years but there is no way he should be in trouble of losing. Yet the Republicans see the need to have the President stop in and support him, so that has to raise some questions and has to be a definite indication that the seat is in more danger than originally expected. One has to wonder just how many other seats does Rove and the administration see in danger, that aren't showing up on sites like RealClearPolitics.
Well, the President is going to places where he is seen as an advantage, which at this time is solidly republican places.
This will help raise money for these seats. It also might entice democrats to spend THEIR Money in these seats, taking money away from other places where Bush can't really show up right now and where the democrat's money MIGHT have made a difference.
Funny thing is, the press has been all over the "bush is bad for republican candidates" story, and yet they can't see that if they are correct, THIS is the best way to USE Bush.
It is hard to imagine republicans losing these seats, especially with Arnold doing so well, or maybe that is part of the problem, the conservatives who back Pombo are probably holding their noses to vote for Arnold.
Of course, i think part of the problem is the pollsters believe nobody wants to be a republican anymore, so they have all adjusted their polling information to show a lot more democrats.
I could well be wrong -- maybe people really DON'T want to be republicans anymore.
(lol). D-John Kerry went so far as to help Angelides this past Monday, he entered a classroom of pub ed students (yet not of a voting age?) to tell them to stay in education, to be "not lazy like he was at Yale, making D's" - or they might end up like himself in Vietnam or our Soldiers in the Mid-East - but if they made better grades than he did -- they'd probably end up as "bad" Presidents.
Was John Kerry making an anti-education statement?
That's what the latest presser implies.
Of voting ages.
A fundraiser for Angelides at a City College.
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