Free Republic

Thinking the unthinkable. Like all races, this campaign has come down to a lot of “if-then” statements. America is already unimpressed with the Pelosi-Reid Congress. This is, with a few changes, who President Obama would be making laws with — a House Ways and Means chairman who doesn’t understand the tax laws he writes, a House speaker who does freelance diplomacy with dictators... In the Senate, President Obama will have Robert Byrd holding the purse-strings in Appropriations, ensuring that most of the new president’s national initiatives will be based out of West Virginia. On the Banking Committee, Chris Dodd will...

The battle for the Senate has been overshadowed by the presidential race, but just as important as who will reside in the White House is whether Democrats can get 60 seats in the Senate. The "Magic 60" would give Democrats a filibuster-proof majority, and the keys to true power in the Senate. Assuming that their party leaders could keep Democratic senators in line, 60 votes would mean a fast track for their agenda, prevent Republicans from blocking it and a clear path for their nominations for the federal bench.

Buoyed by a political climate even more hospitable than the one in which they gained six seats in 2006, Senate Democrats can barely contain their glee at the prospect of expanding their razor-thin majority by five to seven seats. Senate Republican leaders no longer even try to argue that the Democrats' one-seat majority is in jeopardy or to play down predictions like that of Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Charles Schumer, who boasts that his party will pick up "a whole bunch of seats." Instead, Republicans characterize a four-seat Democratic gain as a "moral victory" for their party. They are...

The tricky 60 By: John Bresnahan July 21, 2008 06:58 PM EST Senate Democrats hope Barack Obama will lead them to a 60-seat, filibuster-proof majority in November. But it may be a case of “be careful what you wish for.� As some Democrats are quietly acknowledging, sweeping Democratic victories in the fall would put the party under enormous pressure to make good on its promises to end the Iraq war, turn back global warming, provide universal health care, reduce the price of gas, and protect Social Security and Medicare — or to suffer the consequences of failing. If past...

We're going to be on the defensive the next two cycles so I just wanted to again stress the importance of every single Senate race and the implications of all an Obama Presidency might be able to do 2012 looks alot better though

I haven't heard this mentioned by anyone, but just sitting around thinking this week...let's assume McLame wins the presidency. He has to resign the Senate. His governor, Napilitano or whatever her name is, is a Democrat operative. She will most assuredly put a liberal in his stead. And unless McLame has HUGE coattails (ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha) he is going to be dealing with a HEAVILY Democrat Senate. Maybe even filibuster proof. He for SURE will have two former SENATE colleagues (Hitlery and Hussein) whom he will have beaten to get the...

RUSH: Here's Matt in Southaven, Mississippi. I'm glad you waited. You're next on Open Line Friday. Hello. CALLER: Hi, Rush. It's an honor to talk to you, sir. RUSH: Yes, sir, thank you very much. CALLER: My question is based on this apparent campaign strategy that the fear and loathing of Hillary will be enough to win, and the whole concept of opposition politics, in 2004, John Kerry's entire campaign relied on people simply disliking Bush, and look where it got him. So my question is, is wanting someone else to lose ever enough to actually win? RUSH: In Hillary's...

Picture a President McCain making his first appeal to Congress. Certainly, it will include something about Iraq and national security and defense. And that will put him at odds with the majority Democrats. And he will likely be facing a Congress with larger majorities of Democrats. McCain wants legislative victories and he will have to turn to those majorities to get them enacted. And he will be happy to do so. Conservatives who have opposed him have cited his positions on a range of issues where he has sided with the Democrats - illegal immigration, campaign finance reform, global warming,...

With the departure of Mitt Romney, all conservative hopes for retaining the White House have diminished. The 2008 Republican presidential nominee will be Senator John McCain. Under the best of circumstances, retaining the White House following a two term presidency is difficult - in recent decades only Ronald Reagan was able to achieve this feat with the election of his sitting vice president, George H.W. Bush. This year, it is particularly difficult. No president in recent memory has been as despised by the left as George W. Bush. Between an expensive and unpopular war, worries over a souring economy, etc.,...

Before Congress left for this year, lawmakers in Colorado's delegation put down their markers for next year. "You can never start soon enough," said Alan Salazar, chief of staff to Rep. Mark Udall, D-Eldorado Springs. With the presidential election next year, he said, passing bills could become difficult. "So the sooner you get things done, the easier it is," Salazar said. Udall is one of those who introduced a bill in the last two weeks before the congressional session ended. Sen. Salazar's bill asks to study ways to protect the open space in and around Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests....

The Republicans have to defend 22 of 34 seats in the Senate, yet there are many Democrats in vulnerable, Republican-leaning states. With Congress at all-time low approval ratings, the Republicans have several chances to gain New Jersey. New Jersey is certainly a blue state, but Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s approval ratings are in the cellar, he is 83 years old, and, although serving three terms previously, has a rookie’s seniority. Sen. Menendez also had poor ratings when he beat State Sen. Tom Kean by about 10 points last year, but Kean’s performance was the best of any Republican challenger in a...

It may be too early to make any predictions about the 2008 elections, but it's likely Republicans will win back some House seats they lost last year. Indeed, as I noted in an earlier column, at least eight of the nine "most vulnerable" House seats are held by Democrats, according to veteran congressional elections analyst Stuart Rothenberg. In Florida's 16th District, for example, Republicans are heavily favored to recapture the seat that Democrat Tim Mahoney narrowly won after Mark Foley resigned in disgrace in the House page scandal. In Georgia's heavily Republican 8th District, Democrat Jim Marshall squeaked through with...