GOP Strategists Whisper Fears Of Greater Losses in November

[babylonsister]

GOP Strategists Whisper Fears Of Greater Losses in November

By Chris Cillizza and Shailagh Murray
washingtonpost.com Staff Writer and Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 4, 2008; A11


With the party already struggling to generate enthusiasm for its brand, Republican strategists fear that an outpouring of public anger generated by Congress's struggle to pass a rescue package for the financial industry may contribute to a disaster at the polls for the GOP in November.

"The crisis has affected the entire ticket," said Jan van Lohuizen, a Republican consultant who handled the polling for President Bush's reelection campaign. "The worse the state's economy, the greater the impact."

Republicans are trying to defend at least 18 House seats in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida, economic trouble spots that double as election battlegrounds. Rising unemployment, the meltdown in the housing market, and a credit crunch besieging consumers and manufacturers alike were factors in Sen. John McCain's decision Thursday to pull campaign resources out of Michigan. The McCain campaign's exit from the state leaves a pair of vulnerable Republicans, Reps. Tim Walberg and Joe Knollenberg, with a weakened party infrastructure heading into Nov. 4. Attempting to sound optimistic, Knollenberg, who opposed the bailout bill on Monday but supported a revised version yesterday, said simply, "I am going to fight harder."

In the Senate, where Democrats have been on offense all year as they try to attain a filibuster-proof, 60-seat majority, Republican incumbents are suddenly teetering in North Carolina, Kentucky and Georgia because of the economic crisis, according to several GOP strategists closely tracking the contests.

more...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/03/AR2008100303699_pf.html

[kestrel91316]

1. By the time we get through with them in November, there

isn't going to BE a GOP anymore.

Well, a girl can dream, right?

[Lorentz]

2. In a Canadian election in the early 90s...

... the ruling party -- the Progressive Conservatives -- were so unpopular that they were literally elected off the map. They went from being a majority government, to winning only 3 seats in Parliament. I keep hoping that we'll see a repeat of this, but having the Dems take back the WH and Congress is good enough.

[coalition_unwilling]

3. I'll be satisfied to see them banished to the

wilderness for a couple generations, a la '32 - '94.

Let's keep our Rovian 1000-Year Reich dreams in check, shall we? :)

[Beetwasher]

4. Actually, It Is NOT That Farfetched An Idea That The Repub Party May Split Up Into

at least a couple of different factions. We may in fact see the end of the Republican party as we've known it. For real. We may see it split into a traditional conservative (less government/libertarian type) party and a far right religious whacko party.