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DEMOCRATS PLAN POLITICAL TRIAGE TO RETAIN HOUSE
insidebayarea.com ^ | September 4, 2010 | Jeff Zeleny and Carl Hulse

Posted on 09/04/2010 8:26:52 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar

As Democrats brace for a November wave that threatens their control of the House, party leaders are preparing a brutal triage of their own members in hopes of saving enough seats to keep a slim grip on the majority.

In the next two weeks, Democratic leaders will review new polls and other data that show whether vulnerable incumbents have a path to victory. If not, the party is poised to redirect money to concentrate on trying to protect up to two dozen lawmakers who appear to be in the strongest position to fend off their challengers.

"We are going to have to win these races one by one," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, conceding that the party would ultimately cut loose members who had not gained ground.

With the midterm campaign entering its final two months, Democrats acknowledged that several races could quickly move out of their reach, including re-election bids by Reps. Betsy Markey of Colorado, Tom Perriello of Virginia, Mary Jo Kilroy of Ohio and Frank Kratovil Jr. of Maryland, whose districts were among the 55 Democrats won from Republicans in the last two election cycles.

Reps. John M. Spratt Jr. of South Carolina, chairman of the Budget Committee, and Earl Pomeroy of North Dakota, who is seeking a 10th term, are among senior Democrats who have appeared to gain little ground in the summer months in the toxic political environment. A sputtering

(Excerpt) Read more at insidebayarea.com ...


TOPICS: Front Page News; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: congress; democrats; elections; pelosi; stupicide; switch
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To: Jet Jaguar
NYT: Dems plan ‘FIREWALL’ to save house."

I think that was a fat-finger.. it should have read "FAREWELL", not FIREWALL.

I think at this point, there is little that can stop this overloaded freight train. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth on MSNBC after these elections.

Honestly, I hope we only see a minor conservative victory; just enough to stop the bleeding. Momentum need to carry for 2 more years and the weight of the failures needs to stay firmly on the shoulders of democrats. Having a controlling majority will give the leftist commies way too much ammo to feed to the idiot voters in the runup to 2012 elections. bambam isn't going to sign ANY common sense legislation and the majority will get blamed in the media, regardless what Obama refuses to do.

It would be best to save the final push for 2012 and eat their lunch then... when it will have the most useful effect. We already know repealing anything is impossible as long as the ONE is at the helm. Losing the 2/3 majority will be a huge step in reassuring business that the debauchery has at least been halted.

then again, I'm just another chump, not a political expert.

41 posted on 09/04/2010 9:23:14 PM PDT by FunkyZero ("It's not about duck hunting !")
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To: saganite

August 2nd poll...

http://www.nationalreview.com/campaign-spot/242247/does-heath-shuler-sense-pressure-coming-his-blindside


42 posted on 09/04/2010 9:24:57 PM PDT by kcvl
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To: Stosh
"By the way, didn’t Obama promise he was going to use his political acumen and irresistable personal appeal to save their bacon?"

"The difference between then and now is you have me." I believe was the quote from Obortion The Ego

43 posted on 09/04/2010 9:25:22 PM PDT by TheClintons-STILLAnti-American
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To: Jet Jaguar

“If not, the party is poised to redirect money to concentrate on trying to protect up to two dozen lawmakers who appear to be in the strongest position to fend off their challengers.”

Translation: So long, ‘Blue Dogs’, and thanks for being a useful idiot!


44 posted on 09/04/2010 9:28:11 PM PDT by DemforBush (You might think that, *I* could not possibly comment.)
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To: SpaceBar

I see her as a kind of Jackalope, be nice to have
one on the wall, better yet if it said,
“Last of the Demos.”


45 posted on 09/04/2010 9:31:58 PM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: DemforBush

“Blue Dogs” are worse than useful idiots -— they are lying frauds who deceive gullible voters into (in effect) supporting the Pelosicrat/Obama agenda

good riddance


46 posted on 09/04/2010 9:33:56 PM PDT by Enchante ("The great enemy of clear language is insincerity." -- George Orwell --)
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To: Jet Jaguar

This is news?


47 posted on 09/04/2010 9:37:46 PM PDT by Soul Seeker (?)
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To: Jet Jaguar

I am shocked the headline was not “GOP Split, Dems Adopt Firewall to Save House.”


48 posted on 09/04/2010 9:45:14 PM PDT by JLS (Democrats: People who won't even let you enjoy an unseasonably warm winter day.)
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To: OrangeHoof

Beware the maoist’s trip to Cleveland. He will be dropping off millions for voter fraud.


49 posted on 09/04/2010 9:45:55 PM PDT by Carley (For those who fought for it, freedom has a flavor the protected will never know.)
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To: wendy1946
They mean to win via gaming and technique.

Deception and fraud come to mind as well...and we'll surely see Chicago thuggduggary on a roll.

50 posted on 09/04/2010 9:49:09 PM PDT by caww
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To: Old Teufel Hunden

Tat was my first thought.They waked the plank for Nancy and now when they need them the most the money will dry up?Not a great way to gain yes votes.


51 posted on 09/04/2010 9:50:07 PM PDT by chris_bdba
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To: DemforBush
Translation: So long, ‘Blue Dogs’, and thanks for being a useful idiot!

Blue Dog Stephi Herseth-Sandlin (D-SD) running for her 4th term is in trouble.

Twice as much money on hand; twice as much spent as (R) Kristi Noem, but Noem has come from 3 points behind in Feb, to currently 9 points ahead, and gaining.

That is despite voting against the Health Care bill, and fighting to save Ellsworth AFB from BRAC, among other things.

I guess people see that she (along with a few other Dems) was ALLOWED to vote against, to try to save her butt at home, since the House Madam, Pelosi, had more than enough whores voting “Yea” to pass it without them.

Hasn't helped Stephie a bit. Neither did campaigning for Edwards, then endorsing Obama for the SD primary.

52 posted on 09/04/2010 10:40:35 PM PDT by ApplegateRanch (Islam: A Satanically Transmitted Disease spread by unprotected intimate contact with the Koranus)
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To: Halgr
...so incredibly sad....America is doomed.

Do yourself a favor. End it now. Save yourself the pain and suffering that's sure to come.

Goodbye, Halgr. It was nice(?) knowin' ya.

53 posted on 09/04/2010 10:54:43 PM PDT by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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To: Danae
Yep. My first thought.

A national campaign trumpeting Democratic accomplishments on health care, education and Wall Street regulation has given way to a race-by-race defensive strategy. Democratic incumbents are moving to aggressively define their Republican opponents and individualize races in an effort to inoculate themselves from the national mood.

"Better put some ice on that." Bill Clinton

54 posted on 09/04/2010 10:55:18 PM PDT by GVnana (I'm a Mama Grizzly)
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To: FunkyZero

How will the majority get blamed for legislation that Zero vetoes? You mean in the minds of those who don’t really keep themselves informed? The left-wing media might try it, but I think enough people understand the presidential veto that they won’t get very far with that one.


55 posted on 09/04/2010 10:56:20 PM PDT by firebrand
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To: FunkyZero

I don’t think we should wait until 2012 to give it our best shot. No way.

Looking too far ahead and being too analystical are weakening forces. They are dispiriting, and can also lead to unintended consequences.

Even without a two-thirds majority, we can reverse anything that requires funding and stop the out-of-control freight train. We will have the chairmanships and can start impeachment and bring it to the floor.

This idea sounds similar to the Let Obama Win So We Can Have Another Reagan in 2012 strategy. There is always a little faction of the Dems who try this kind of thing to knock us off course. When Republicans fall for it, it usually has the demon of surrender, rather than good chess playing, as its motivation.


56 posted on 09/04/2010 11:10:52 PM PDT by firebrand
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To: Jet Jaguar

Both sides can use the same strategy: The closer the polls, the more money that should be allocated to winning the election in that district. Unwise to allocate much to the races where one side or the other has a big lead in the polls. Maximise the marginal utility of each dollar spent.


57 posted on 09/04/2010 11:16:26 PM PDT by sourcery (United We Stand, Divided We Fall: You have to give in order to get)
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To: firebrand
"You mean in the minds of those who don’t really keep themselves informed?"

Exactly. Look how many were sucked in with the frenzy of idiocy during the obama campaign.

There seemed to be 4 types of obama supporters:

1) Lifelong democrats who can for the most part, never have their minds changed.

2) Blacks. Not that I WANT to say it, but they voted in huge numbers and almost 1:1 for obama

3) People who watched leftist news outlets and ONLY leftist news outlets. They were completely oblivious to who this guy really was. I lump the Bush haters in here as well because they voted for obama due to inadequate intake of non-biased information.

4) Conservatives who refused to vote for McCain and what the republican party has become. Not the largest of the 4 groups, but the one that cost republicans the win.

Since most voters fell for the obama dominated media drive, I suggest that the same would be true if we ran a conservative majority in congress for 2 years while obama is at the helm. Heck, republicans are a small minority NOW and look at the blaming going on... "republicans do nothing" , "republicans are blocking everything".. "the no party". Can you imagine the media habits under a republican congress while bozo veto's everything?

Again, I'm not a political genius by any means, nor have I been active in politics or even interested in it for more than a few years, but my guess is that's the way it would go down. Maybe I just don't have enough confidence in my fellow citizens. Hell, Dan Coats won the primary in my state again. It was enough to make me want to throw up. I just don't know how folks can go and vote without knowing exactly what they are supporting, and that seems to be the case in Indiana at least.

58 posted on 09/04/2010 11:32:33 PM PDT by FunkyZero ("It's not about duck hunting !")
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To: FunkyZero

I don’t think you have thought about this in the right way. Beware Dem-promulgated defeatism.

And when you quote me, please don’t quote me out of context. I followed that sentence up with what I thought of your idea if you meant the relatively uninformed. I said I thought it didn’t apply, because everyone knows about the presidential veto. So don’t say “exactly,” as if we both think the same thing.


59 posted on 09/04/2010 11:43:37 PM PDT by firebrand
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To: Jet Jaguar

I’m not sure why they would publicly announce this with such fanfare...is this a trap? Otherwise, they’ve just told the NRCC exactly where the battle lines will be drawn ahead of time - what’s the purpose in doing that?


60 posted on 09/05/2010 12:00:46 AM PDT by Republican Wildcat
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