Ensign: Um, we might not be retaking the Senate this year
posted at 10:17 pm on March 13, 2008 by Allahpundit
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A little something for the McCain-haters among us, who vowed after Florida to be done with the RINO and focus on the all-important task of winning back Congress. The old GOP goal: A two-seat pickup, restoring the party to a nifty 51/49 advantage. The new goal, it seems: Preventing a filibuster-proof Democratic majority.
Brought to you by the team who couldn’t find a challenger to a first-term incumbent in a red state.
A difficult week on the recruiting front has further prevented the committee from playing much offense in 2008, as wealthy candidates in New Jersey and South Dakota opted out and the window for recruiting top-tier candidates has apparently passed in most of the NRSC’s top-targeted states.
Ensign said about half of the Senate’s 49 GOP members are “not even close” to being on pace to raise the amount of money they are expected to for the committee and fellow candidates. The members are expected to raise between $750,000 and $3 million, depending on seniority and stature…
The filing deadline for two other targeted races, Iowa and Montana, is Friday and Thursday, respectively, and no major or well-funded candidate has yet signed up for either one.
With the West Virginia deadline already passed, the committee is basically limited to recruiting in New Jersey and South Dakota. It has less than a month, though Ensign said he hopes to have an answer from a candidate in the latter this weekend…
Ensign could have to defend upwards of 12 Republican-held seats in November, as Democrats have landed solid candidates in even some long-shot races.
He’s already basically given up on John Warner’s seat in Virginia, which Mark Warner should win in walkover. As for the House, 28 vacancies means we’re in even worse shape than in the Senate and neither the generic ballot nor the early bellwethers are encouraging. Exit question: Are Reid and Pelosi actually going to turn a 19% approval rating into a net gain in seats?
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Wow! All that, and this!
see-dubya on March 13, 2008 at 10:21 PM
Never thought you’d REALLY be missing Tom Delay, huh? The Hammer would at least have a friggin plan.
Sugar Land on March 13, 2008 at 10:23 PM
McCain hatred will never win back Congress. POTUS is the best chance of picking up some goods in the fall for Republican voters. The GOP better hope that he’s got some long coattails!
Pax americana on March 13, 2008 at 10:23 PM
That’s the spirit.
AbaddonsReign on March 13, 2008 at 10:28 PM
I always liked the Teh Hammer.
bigbeas on March 13, 2008 at 10:29 PM
There is still a good eight months before the election. With all the imploding the dems have done in just the last few weeks I still have hope. Keep the faith folks, it’s not over til it’s over. I’m supporting local races and hopefully everyone else will too.
Proudvet on March 13, 2008 at 10:31 PM
Get a Conservative nominated and elected PresidentGet a Conservative Senate
Get a Conservative House
Get a anti illegal “Immigration” majority in as many states as possible.
MB4 on March 13, 2008 at 10:32 PM
This is what mediocrity gets us. Long live moderates. Long live squishy ideals. RNC 2.0, or should I say Dem-lite. Can you blame the electorate? Why would the masses want watered down democrats, when they can have the real thing in Obama? Pawlenty, Crist, Arnold, McCain, Huckabee…. this is our Mount Losermore. Nothing quite inspires like full-fledged mediocrity.
Cold Steel on March 13, 2008 at 10:32 PM
That’s why we to hold our noses and turn out for McCain. Terrible news.
BadgerHawk on March 13, 2008 at 10:34 PM
I almost hate to say it, but as long as the majorities aren’t veto-proof, I kinda like having incompetent tools like Pelosi and Reid “running” the legislature…
…and congressional/senate Republicans being an effective and engergized minority rather than the incompetent tools they became by 2006.
A majority GOP in the Senate would make a big difference when it comes to judicial and other confirmations. but like the minority GOP, the minority Democrats were far better spoilers than rulers.
sulla on March 13, 2008 at 10:35 PM
Our best hope is holding the White House. We have little-to-know hope of maintaining in Congress - at least as of right now.
amerpundit on March 13, 2008 at 10:36 PM
What the hell happened to the GOP? Political competence has never been that strong, but this bunch is begging to go into the minority for all of eternity. I’m starting to wonder if they are actually going down the road of the Tory party of Great (not so much anymore) Britain. There are some scary parallels here. Any day I’m expecting the GOP to announce they are enacting a platform that is identical to the one the Democrats have put forward, only ‘better’.
AUINSC on March 13, 2008 at 10:38 PM
AUINSC on March 13, 2008 at 10:38 PM
Thank you.
It’s almost as if Republicans feel this sudden urge to repent and mend their evil ways. Compromise and bi-partisanship doesn’t include lowering standards and ideals. It also doesn’t include self-loathing and fear. Being called Republican is now almost worse than being called liberal.
Cold Steel on March 13, 2008 at 10:42 PM
Mary Landrieu is offering an amendment to reduce the capital gains tax to 35%….oh, boy. They amuse me.
SouthernGent on March 13, 2008 at 10:42 PM
MB4 on March 13, 2008 at 10:43 PM
John Kyl is ripping Landrieu to shreds on the Senate floor…lol. I need to get a life…I’m watching C-SPAN! as entertainment.
SouthernGent on March 13, 2008 at 10:44 PM
MB4 on March 13, 2008 at 10:43 PM
The Dems will find us on Mars. Obama is all-knowing. We’ll be tagged and taxed the first step off the shuttle.
Cold Steel on March 13, 2008 at 10:44 PM
Mega dittoes!
petefrt on March 13, 2008 at 10:47 PM
its been all downhill since Delay left
jp on March 13, 2008 at 10:47 PM
Yes.
And this is an instance in which I would LOVE to be wrong.
The GOP is P A T H E T I C. I had a rant about this on Jawa Radio the other night. Shameless plug, but dangerously on-topic for this thread!
Start at 30:31.
Good Lt on March 13, 2008 at 10:47 PM
Some of us have been saying that for a long time, AP! Forget about winning the presidency, the House or the Senate, and just hope to cross the filibuster threshold. It’s probably the best we can do.
Myself, I’ve been buying gold, and looking into property outside of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I’m certain that’s the best I can do.
paul006 on March 13, 2008 at 10:48 PM
How can this party be so unorganized? Its pathetic. The real reason the dems have made gains in Congress is by running moderate dems (despite the crazy liberal face of the party). Republicans did well when the party was a big tent.
Now the dems have the bigger tent- but it is fragile. They use the moderates to enforce their crazy agenda. I think the fact they’ve failed to produce any results is proof to the fact that while there are a lot of dems in name in congress, their party ain’t together either.
eski502 on March 13, 2008 at 10:50 PM
Good Lt on March 13, 2008 at 10:47 PM
That’s why we have 3 senators in the presidential race….because Congress is so wonderfully popular and well run. Each party has an opportunity to throw the other into the abyss, but each is imploding under their own mismanaged stupidity.
Cold Steel on March 13, 2008 at 10:51 PM
Why the heck do you have to post these kinds of stories this last at night?
Just ruined my day.
…going back to re-read the 100 year old at Hooters story.
Vigilante on March 13, 2008 at 10:53 PM
No surprise…the national GOP doesn’t do crap for Republicans in Arkansas and the state GOP has no platform, a defeatist attitude, no vision, no strategy, no money, and is terrible at recruiting quality candidates.
someguy on March 13, 2008 at 10:55 PM
Coo coo ca choo, Juan McCain
Plantation owners support you more than you will know
(Wo wo wo)
They bless you, Senor Juan McCain
Their financial support goes to those who hold open the gates
(Hey hey hey – hey hey hey)
Where have you gone, Barry Goldwater?
Conservatives turn their longing eyes to you
(Woo woo woo)
What’s that you say, Juan McCain
‘Mr Conservative’ you have driven far away?
(Hey hey hey – hey hey hey)
MB4 on March 13, 2008 at 10:55 PM
Elizabeth Dole’s seat is very safe here in NC, unless something unforeseen happens…like the democrats get a viable candidate against her. Not.Gonna.Happen.
SouthernGent on March 13, 2008 at 10:56 PM
Exactly…all the talk about “getting a thumping in 96″ and how “we got to get back to our roots” blah blah blah…
Once they start doing that, they might actually stop losing seats, not to mention picking some up.
F15Mech on March 13, 2008 at 10:58 PM
At least we might have one seat left
eski502 on March 13, 2008 at 10:59 PM
Not if we keep our cloaking devices on full power.
MB4 on March 13, 2008 at 11:02 PM
Some potential spots for us to pick up, and given how pathetic the GOP is, these candidates are gonna likely be banking on national grassroots support to stand a chance.
doubleplusundead on March 13, 2008 at 11:03 PM
MB4 rocks! :)
petefrt on March 13, 2008 at 11:05 PM
Yes. The current group of RepubicRATs are not at all interested in the majority. You can pick whatever reason you wish.
Exit follow-up: Will Reid enter 2009 with effectively a filibuster-proof majority, and if not, will he use the nuclear option?
steveegg on March 13, 2008 at 11:06 PM
SECOND LOOK AT BUYING SEALAND!
steveegg on March 13, 2008 at 11:09 PM
I seriously ought to consider going back into politics. Its not like I can do any worse than what is going on now.
William Amos on March 13, 2008 at 11:10 PM
What 12 seats are in danger?
SouthernGent on March 13, 2008 at 11:10 PM
Which was almost much everyone here until he won the nomination. Viva McSame!
aengus on March 13, 2008 at 11:11 PM
I’m starting to hear, “Second verse, worse than the first.”
steveegg on March 13, 2008 at 11:12 PM
Please do.
aengus on March 13, 2008 at 11:12 PM
I saw this on a business/economy site yesterday.
Do you believe it?
I am inclined to.
“The Real Reason For America’s [looming] Recession 3-13-8 [and yes, it will probably be "It's the economy, stupid"]
I hope the following 14 reasons for the United States financial “recession” disaster are forwarded over and over again, until American Citizens get the message and demand better government.
1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year.
2. $2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens.
3. $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens.
4. $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English!
5. $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies.
6. $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens.
7. 30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens.
8. $90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare & social services by the American taxpayers.
9. $200 Billion Dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused by the illegal aliens.
10. The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that’s two and a half times that of white non-illegal aliens. In particular, their children, are going to make a huge additional crime problem in the US.
11. During the year of 2005 there were 4 to 10 MILLION illegal aliens that crossed our Southern Border also, as many as 19,500 illegal aliens from Terrorist Countries. Millions of pounds of drugs, cocaine, meth., heroin and marijuana, crossed into the U. S from the Southern border. Homeland Security Report.
12. The National Policy Institute, ‘estimated that the total cost of mass deportation would be between $206 and $230 billion or an average cost of between $41 and $46 billion annually over a five year period.’
13. In 2006 illegal aliens sent home $45 BILLION in remittances back to their countries of origin.
14. ‘The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One Million Sex Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants In The United States ‘.
The total cost is a whopping $ 338.3 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR!!!”
- Ursa Major
MB4 on March 13, 2008 at 11:13 PM
Timing is everything. I got a fundraising letter from Mitch McConnell in the mail today.
steveegg on March 13, 2008 at 11:17 PM
I still can’t get over this. The RNC leadership should be shot. Ok, well, I’m not a hyperbolic leftist, so let’s just ship them to Siberia. They’ve done far too much damage already.
vonspringer on March 13, 2008 at 11:20 PM
Yup, pretty much everyone here thought that he was a pig until someone put
lipstickthe Republican nomination on him. Now he isstill a pigour hero.MB4 on March 13, 2008 at 11:28 PM
This really is bad in the year where you had Democrats saying they don’t care about protecting America from terrorist attack.
BroncosRock on March 13, 2008 at 11:30 PM
Well I suppose I should care but honestly I do not. These are the same people that did not do anything constructive when they had the majority. Why did they not stop the pork ?A lot of them were for the amnesty fiasco. I am not giving them any money. I’ll only vote for or give to candidates that I can agree with.
SIJ6141 on March 13, 2008 at 11:42 PM
LOL. I do that sometimes. I just don’t tell anyone.
jaime on March 13, 2008 at 11:42 PM
I hope you have a lot of fun drafting a reply, and post a copy. I’m gonna want to link that.
see-dubya on March 13, 2008 at 11:43 PM
They’re responsible for this mess. They decided that acting like anything but Republicans was a neato game plan….Now they can stew in it. I won’t go to the trouble of casting a vote for any republican incumbent, or challenger in my state/district.
Once upon a time they at least pretended to be conservatives in election years. Sadly, they can’t even do that anymore. Yawn.
Ditto for McCandidate. Maybe I’ll vote Ron Paul! Just so I can say I voted.
DngrMse on March 13, 2008 at 11:48 PM
Blog pimpage–here’s an oldie: the See-Dub plan for taking back Congress. Make the Dems work for it and spend money to win. Don’t give a dime to the RNC; they’re apparently morons. Give it directly to the candidates.
Even the RINOs. Congress is our firewall.
see-dubya on March 13, 2008 at 11:50 PM
I feel your pain. I vowed I would never pull the lever for McCain, but, the alternative we will never survive.
chewydog on March 13, 2008 at 11:54 PM
You mean I have to go dig it out of the garbage? Oh well; I guess I could draft a reply this time rather than simply letting the garbage man pick it up on Tuesday.
steveegg on March 13, 2008 at 11:55 PM
Got a link?
chewydog on March 13, 2008 at 11:56 PM
Whose Face do you think that is staring at us from the surface of Mars?
Obama!
Aliens were building monuments to his glory before we invented the wheel.
Nosferightu on March 14, 2008 at 12:10 AM
Yeah, I just got a hands-out from the RNC this week. I checked “other” and ripped them a new one on the reverse side of the form. I’m sending it back on their $.41 because I’m just feeling mean and fed up. I’ve not seen such a pathetic, incompetent bunch ever.
hoosiermama on March 14, 2008 at 12:12 AM
Say what you want about Putin…he’s no fool. There’s no way he would let the RNC near Siberia. They would find a way to make it worse.
Nosferightu on March 14, 2008 at 12:14 AM
McCain’s Navy may be a motley crew but the alternative is unthinkable.
Mojave Mark on March 14, 2008 at 12:37 AM
If you haven’t already sent it back, we’d like to hear what you said.
steveegg on March 14, 2008 at 12:44 AM
President Obama will be a gas.
I hopeful for his change.
Vote ‘Bama!
LimeyGeek on March 14, 2008 at 12:47 AM
While as AP mentioned we have Warner in VA.
Personally speaking I am not really sure that is a big loss.
John Warner is my senator and based on his replies, when I cared enough to contact him, his replies were always canned and very transparent.
Do get me started on his voting record…
F15Mech on March 14, 2008 at 12:50 AM
Several of the items had individual links, but it would not post with them, so I took them all off. There must be a limit (one? two?) on the number of links.
MB4 on March 14, 2008 at 1:14 AM
Somebody with brains, ambition and a spinal column really, seriously needs to seize control of the Republican party, somehow, some way, and soon.
Cylor on March 14, 2008 at 1:22 AM
New Mexico’s in danger (and not only from our dum bass Governor) Domenici’s long standing Republican seat is in danger.
I’m Hoping, Praying (And Paying) that Steve Pearce gets it; he is a darn good conservative Congressman… One of the few real conservatives left in office and a great guy in general.
He is ‘neck and neck’ with Heather Wilson, a once fairly conservative, now pseudo-republican Congresswoman. But the Lefty-Dem Tom Udall is highly favored to win by the oddsmakers.
LegendHasIt on March 14, 2008 at 1:35 AM
The inevitable results of New Tone-ism and “bipartisanship”…
Halley on March 14, 2008 at 3:15 AM
Eacb time I get a fund raising letter from either the House or the Senate election committees, I use a bold Sharpie pan and write across the page and tell them until the SEAL THE BORDER and solve the illegal immigration problem WITHOUT amnesty or any thing that smell like amnesty, I am not sending them a DIME. I still get mailings, they haven’t figured it out and are wasting what money they have.
I maxed out trying to get Fred on the ticket this year, but do not plan to give McCain a dime, either. They are lucky I plan to VOTE this fall.
karenhasfreedom on March 14, 2008 at 3:21 AM
Let me try again, I shouldn’t post this late at night.
Each time I get a fund raising letter from either the House or the Senate election committees, I use a bold Sharpie pen and write across the page and tell them until they SEAL THE BORDER and solve the illegal immigration problem WITHOUT amnesty or anything that smells like amnesty, I am not sending them a DIME. I still get mailings, they haven’t figured it out and are wasting what money they have sending me soliicitations for funds.
I maxed out trying to get Fred on the ticket this year, but do not plan to give McCain a dime, either. They are lucky I plan to VOTE this fall. I am in a blue state they are dreaming about turning purple, but I think they are delusional (Michigan).
karenhasfreedom on March 14, 2008 at 3:24 AM
Blah blah blah, more polls, more pessimism.
Seriously, Republicans need to grow the *^%$ up and get a spine.
The polls have been notoriously accurate this year. We all know the media controls the polls and use them to influence us rather than to report the actual results. Screw the polls, and quite whining Ensign. I’d demote you if you weren’t already at the lowest rank.
BKennedy on March 14, 2008 at 4:46 AM
I’m not sure it’s fair to blame the RNC, NRSCC and NRCC for every bit of this.
If you think about it, not everyone is willing (or able) to drop their careers, uproot their families and move to the other side of the country for six years. Most Congresspeople fly back to their districts constantly, because their constituents demand it. I.e., they end up living out of their suitcases for much of their time in office.
Would you want to do that? I wouldn’t.
Plus, let’s look at the electoral math in the Senate. Chances are that, any newly elected R is going to be in the minority for much, if not all, of their term. With a mean, partisan Dem party calling the shots. Sound like fun to you?
And, in the House, with 28 open R seats, we face the probability of a Dem-held House for a very long time.
The last time I can remember an R president with both houses of Congress belonging to the Ds—Gerald Ford, the last two years of Reagan and Bush 41. Not banner years for Republicans legislatively, eh?
And, finally, the GOP money advantage is gone. The Dems are flush in cash. We, on the other hand, are so busy tearing at our own party apparatus that it can’t effectively respond. I guess we expect our GOP Senate and House candidates to get the money to run and win from…what, manna?
So, if you were a successful businessman/woman, with a family and kids in school, would you want to drop the life you’d work so hard to build and joust at electoral windmills this November.
No…I didn’t think so.
smagar on March 14, 2008 at 5:05 AM
Bush legacy lives on, and on, and on.
stenwin77 on March 14, 2008 at 8:31 AM
I agree with other posts here that the amnesty/border issue sealed the Repubs fate.
Hope it was worth killing the party - we were doomed either way: death by anger or death by aliens.
stenwin77 on March 14, 2008 at 8:34 AM
This is old news.
I’m surprised anyone really thought that Republicans were going to take back the House or Senate in 2008. The many retirements in the House and Senate is not surprising(many miss the perks of being in the majority, and that’s why they stayed). And from a numbers game, Republicans are still defending many, many seats in the Senate.
Unless there’s a radical shift in our country (i.e., a terrorist attack), the Republican’s best shot is going to be in 2012, when all the freshman Democratic Senators are up for re-election.
asc85 on March 14, 2008 at 9:10 AM
The GOP abandoned core values and principles for the past decade “minimum.” The GOP has been riddled with the same type of corruption and scandalous behavior that Democrats have put on display for the past hundred (or so) years. Far too many Republicans became addicted to the lust for power and fame, completely forgetting that they were simply representative’s of the people that elected them into office. The GOP didn’t respond very well to being the majority leaders, esp. during the Bush years. I would also contribute some of this damage to Bush himself; as much as I admire Bush for his commitment to winning the righteous battle against the enemies of America, I can’t stand the fact that Bush has pushed Globalism to the point where many of our corporations are leaving American soil in order to escape (survive) the ridiculous rules and regulations put on our businesses here in our homeland. Out sourcing off shore has been taken to new heights during the Bush era. Bush is either owned by the Mexican powers to be, or Bush simply has some sort of love affair with Mexicans that has allowed him to destroy the GOP in favor of protecting illegals while keeping our borders wide open and unprotected. The utter refusal to protect our border agents left a really bad taste in my mouth… Then, allowing our agents to get beaten half to death while in prison; well, these things can’t be overlooked.
For me, I have now registered as a Conservative. I will now vote for the individual rather than the party. I’m hoping to see a movement with Conservatives around the country; a fight for our own candidates; a fight for our values and principles to be upheld with NO excuses. The GOP has become the party of Globalism… The GOP lost it’s way, stood by and watched as Big Government dominated while the GOP was at the helm.
When the media displays the kind of behavior we have all witnessed during a time of war, and the GOP stands by and allows this behavior to go unattended, what kind of message does that send… When the people of America force both parties to allocate funds for a fence along the southern border to be constructed, and both parties quietly (secretly) kill the bill behind closed doors while stripping the funds, what are we to think… I say, enough with scumbag lawyers running our country; time for a new breed of politician, with a degree in something other than political science. While we are at it, can we take “lobbyist” and lock every one of them up for multiple violations of our law…
Keemo on March 14, 2008 at 9:15 AM
May be the story about the embezzlement of funds by the ex-treasurer of the RNCC explains some of this foolishness and incompetence.
landlines on March 14, 2008 at 1:06 PM
I agree with some of your points, smagar. This isn’t the most appealing time for someone to run for a Senate seat as a Republican. However, it seems like a failure of leadership and imagination to have arrived at the point where Sen. Ensign is already having to concede defeat in a number of races 8 months before any ballots are cast. There is no reason that the NRSC should find itself up against state filing deadlines without a fully committed candidate or without a “Plan B Candidate” if the preferred candidate drops out at the last minute. It is, frankly, embarrassing that the GOP won’t even have a candidate on the ballot in a eminently winnable race like that in Arkansas.
Sen. Schumer was able to find Democratic challengers even for safe Republican seats in 2006. For example, there was no reason to believe that Senator George Allen was in any danger in 2006 but the Democrats still persuaded Jim Webb to run. Then there was the “Macaca” incident and now I’m represented by Senator Webb.
Senator Pryor in Arkansas could come out tomorrow and tell the world that he is Client 10 of the Emperor VIP Club and he’d still win the race in November because he isn’t running against anyone.
Also, it’s absurd that the Sen. Ensign finds himself in a position where he’s saying that he won’t put money into races for OPEN SEATS that already “appear to be lost”. Why should we be in that position for any OPEN SEAT?
Why in the world, for example, didn’t Ensign find a better recruit for the Senator John Warner’s open seat in Virginia than Jim Gilmore? It was obvious from the beginning that Gilmore was going to lose to Mark Warner, but it’s never been obvious that ANY Republican would lose. Virginia is still a Red State (albeit with an extremely shallow Republican bench which is the reason we keep getting more Democrats in office, in my opinion) and Mark Warner’s record as governor is full of holes. There is simply no reason this should already be a lost seat.
When the NRSC is being shown up by a dim bulb like Chuck Schumer, we need some new leadership. Let’s get one of the stars of the Senate like DeMint, Cornyn, Kyle, or Coburn in there, not the guy who lost to Harry Reid by 498 votes the first time he ran for the Senate.
PasqualeEsposito on March 14, 2008 at 2:11 PM
This is because the RNC loves supporting RINOS that love pork and illegal immigration. Why we’re here is because the RNC refuses to support candidates who follow the conservative philosophy and support rich people who only want to line the pockets of family and friends and who would turn Independent or Democrat after the election if any of their constituency complains.
Sultry Beauty on March 14, 2008 at 4:23 PM
see-dubya got it - first this, and then it turns out they were skimming possibly over a million dollars.
Way to go elite class, way to go.
A Axe on March 14, 2008 at 8:49 PM