"Republicans face working vacation to survive", poor bastards. [View All]

[elehhhhna]

Republicans face working vacation to survive
Sat Aug 5, 2006 11:21am ET

Thomas Ferraro

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican lawmakers will spend their month-long vacation trying to dispel criticism of a "do-nothing" U.S. Congress, ease concerns about the Iraq war and persuade unhappy voters to re-elect them in November.

"For this summer vacation, re-election is job one," said Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political science professor who tracks congressional races. "Many Republicans are scared, and they should be."

The Senate took off early on Friday, a week after the House of Representatives left town, uncertain whether either chamber would still be in Republican hands next year.


Many Democratic and Republican lawmakers, particularly those in leadership roles, are forgoing sun and fun for town-hall meetings and campaign speeches as they jockey for position before the November 7 election.

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2006-08-05T152043Z_01_N04454785_RTRUKOC_0_US-CONGRESS.xml&src=rss&rpc=22