Sen. Schumer Sets Sights High for 2006
In what might be their biggest propaganda piece of the year, the AP takes dictation from Chuck Schumer on next year’s midterm elections. Here’s a stunning example of their Pravda-like ‘reporting’:
Schumer, the head of Senate Democrats’ campaign efforts, said Tuesday he is focusing on seven states where he believes they can take GOP-held Senate seats in 2006: Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, Montana, Tennessee, and Arizona. “If the stars align right we could actually take back the Senate,” Schumer said.
It’d be more accurate if he said that “If enough Republicans in Tennesee, Arizona, Montana, Missouri & Ohio move out AND we get lucky and hold onto the open seats in Minnesota and Maryland AND if the dead vote increases in Michigan and Washington turns out like we hope, we might have a shot at reducing the margin between Democrats and Republicans.”
As I pointed out last night, vulnerable Democrats include Bill Nelson of Florida, Maria Cantwell of Washington and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan. Then factor in the vulnerability of the open seats in Maryland and Minnesota, where Republicans have recruited great candidates and it’s suddenly apparent that the Senate will stay in Republican control awhile longer. Quite awhile longer. In fact, the worst outcome I can see for Republicans is to maintain their current edge in seats.
Democrats are pointing to Tennessee, Missouri and Montana as potential pickups. PLEASE. Talent is well-liked and articulate. He’ll win, though not with a huge margin. Conrad Burns is a solid conservative in a solidly conservative state and he’s been winning Senate races since before I was eligible to vote. At one point, I gave Harold Ford, Jr. a shot at winning Bill Frist’s seat but that was before he became a liberal apologist for John Kerry and Harry Reid. That won’t fly in Tennessee. While Tennessee isn’t as conservative as other southern states, it isn’t liberal, either, and that’s how Ford’s perceived.
Bruce Oppenheimer, a Vanderbilt University politics professor, said the conditions in Tennessee may be ripe for a Democratic win. “People think this race would lean Republican, all other things being equal. But it’s in play,” said Oppenheimer. “For the Democrats, it’s certainly doable.”
Prof. Oppenheimer couldn’t be more wrong. I suspect that he’s basing his opinion on Ford’s past image, not on his current image. Don’t quote me on this but I think the Republicans have recruited Ed Bryant, a popular former congressman, to run against Ford. If that’s true, that makes it even harder for Ford to win.
“I can say, without any amount of puffing, that no one was more responsible for our working out the Patriot Act to our satisfaction and to the benefit of the country than Schumer,” Reid said.
Harry inadvertantly points to the albatross that Republicans will hang around every Democratic challenger’s neck: his quote that “Think about what just happened 20 minutes ago. We killed the Patriot Act.” Spin it any way you want, Mr. Reid, but that’s gonna be a daily diet for Democrats this fall. Between that quote and Pelosi endorsing Murtha’s plan for unintentional surrender in Iraq, this should be a difficult thing to defend against.
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRing