WA-08 makes DCCC list
Greg Sargent at TPMCafe reports on national Democrats' targeting in House races:
Then Sargent compares the DCCC list to a Karl Rove-generated list of "priority defense" uncovered during the attorneys scandal, and finds that there are eight districts in common. (WA-08 not among them. Make of it what you will.)
Sargent interviewed the DCCC's political director, Jon Vogel. Here's a snippet.
Please don't be upset, conservatives, it's just hard ball. It's how the game is played, you know, 'cause that's what you guys said all the freaking time. Elections have consequences, after all.
I expect Darcy Burner to be an even better candidate this time, so Reichert could be in even more trouble come next year if public support for the administration collapses even further. What do you think Reichert's chances are if support for Bush drops below 25%?
My crystal ball is at the cleaner's, but I like Burner's chances. She's now a seasoned campaigner, and while there will doubtless be some adjustments in the campaign (as there would in any second try,) it's pretty clear that Reichert is in for another serious challlenge.
Okay, this is interesting. A couple days ago I spoke with a few House Dem strategists who are surveying the 2008 electoral landscape. They are reasonably certain that they'll have substantially more success than in the past making inroads into GOP suburban districts across the country.Sargent posts a DCCC list of the top ten vulnerable GOP districts, and WA-08 (Dave Reichert) is number ten.
Then Sargent compares the DCCC list to a Karl Rove-generated list of "priority defense" uncovered during the attorneys scandal, and finds that there are eight districts in common. (WA-08 not among them. Make of it what you will.)
Sargent interviewed the DCCC's political director, Jon Vogel. Here's a snippet.
Vogel promises an intensive effort in suburban districts leading up to the 2008 elections, noting that the DCCC is already scouting for candidates to run against GOP Rep. Gerlach in Pennsylvania's sixth district.Hmmm. So the games that the GOP played, allowing Reichert to take seemingly independent votes while he really backed the administration on the war and everything else of consequence, can no longer be played? And now we get to shape the game? How very fun.
But will such efforts allow Dem strategists to reproduce 2006's success next year? Asked if candidates who survived close calls in 2006 had in some sense inoculated themselves against a challenge in 2008, Vogel disputed the idea. He argued that it sometimes takes repeated challenges to take out an incumbent and said that the fact that Dems now control Congress allows them to shape the legislative agenda in ways that put pressure on vulnerable Republicans by forcing them into unpopular positions.
Please don't be upset, conservatives, it's just hard ball. It's how the game is played, you know, 'cause that's what you guys said all the freaking time. Elections have consequences, after all.
I expect Darcy Burner to be an even better candidate this time, so Reichert could be in even more trouble come next year if public support for the administration collapses even further. What do you think Reichert's chances are if support for Bush drops below 25%?
My crystal ball is at the cleaner's, but I like Burner's chances. She's now a seasoned campaigner, and while there will doubtless be some adjustments in the campaign (as there would in any second try,) it's pretty clear that Reichert is in for another serious challlenge.
