If kerry is the nominee

[aldian159]

and wins (wishful thinking, I know, but work with me) the Senate gains one more GOP seat because Mitt would have a GOPer replace Kerry in the Senate.

This brings me to my next point: We've got four southern Dem senators leaving- Edwards (NC) Hollings (SC) Miller (GA) and Graham (FL). Miller won't be missed because of the DINO status, but, in terms of overall numbers, he is still a Democrat. These will be hard seats to keep. I only know of one GOP senator retiring in a Dem stronghold, and that' Peter Fitzgerald of IL (My state).

Anyway, even if we have a Dem president, how are we gonna get the Senate back? The House is as good as gone, espcially considering the fact that like 90% or more of incumbents win re-election. As great as having a Dem President would be, without the Senate and the House, what good will it do?

Thoughts? Any will do.

[creativelcro]

1. Answer: Kerry would be a lame duck president.

[aldian159]

2. What if dean wins, wouldn't he be a lame-duck president?

n/t

[mitchum]

9. Maybe the quackery is why he's a former physician?

Soon to be a former Amway distributor also...

[blm]

I predict Kerry will win with 56% of the vote.

And that means that the GOP will be exposed as craven users and chickenhawks and the Dems will regain Congress.

[jmaier]

3. I think that we're losing Breaux in LA also

I believe he announced that he is not running for reelection.

[aldian159]

5. Thanks for the info, however sad

this is starting to look like 1994 in that nobody ran on our side.

[earthside]

10. Dems Could Keep La Senate Seat

If john Kerry picks US Senator Mary Ladrieu as his running mate, Democrats will keep the seat Breaux is retiring from. As the VP candidate, she also might help the Democrat win in North Carolina and keep Florida.

With a "conservative" woman on the ticket, it is possible that Kerry will win big enough to win back the Senate or at least come close.

You heard it here first, THE VP pick for Kerry will be US Sen. Landrieu .... It could be a landslide!

[BeyondGeography]

4. Two years of hell, followed by scorched earth mid-terms

in 2006. The House will be the only thing possibly in reach, if we (hopefully) make gains this year.

[mot78]

6. I'll work my ass off in 2006 regardless of who's President

If it's a Democrat, our goal will be to further demolish the GOP agenda. But if it's *, our goal will be to find leadership strong enough to keep a coup at bay.

[DoctorBombay]

7. It's one more branch of government than we control right now

At this point, I'll take it. Shoot for Congress in 2006.

[Bucky]

8. Last two off-year election cycles, the president's party won seats

It's a weird new trend (and it may just be a coinky dink) but in both 1998 and 2002 the party of the sitting president picked up seats rather than lose seats, which was the old pattern going back to the 1930s. Call it a new power of the imperial presidency, but the trend in 50-50 America seems to be that whoever is in the Oval Office during a midterm election seems to be able to rally the nation to support his party.

I think that trend will continue in 2006. If Bush wins this year, he'll have unprecedented power to skeer the bejeezus out of voters even more in two years and drum up a thicker majority in Congress than what he has now. If we win, dumbass DeLay will over play his hand in crazyshit opposing whatever the real president does and wallah, Kerry or Clark or Edwards will be able to spank him good in the midterms. This trend may well continue as long as we have our permanently gerrymandered near 50-50 Congress.

[aldian159]

11. Sounds good

reminds me of when I first really studied the first term of clinton's presidency -Contract with America, failed health care plan, the shutdowns- and how in 1996 everyone was really pissed at the GOP so they lost like 10 of the seats they'd won in 1994.

[MurikanDemocrat]

12. One step at a time

Things have not gone so well with Republican control and people want a change. At least controlling one branch is a step in the right direction, and then there's mid terms.

It won't happen overnight, but if we're lucky we'll have 8 years. Even then, it will take some time to gain a clear majority if it ever comes to pass. Patience. One step at a time.

[liberalpragmatist]

13. We Can Do It

With the possible exception of Georgia, all the southern Senate races will be close and very competitive, but we have great candidates in all 4 states (Fla., La., N.C., and S.C.) Don't think it's impossible for us to hold all 4 -- it's very doable. We have even odds, quite possibly better-than-even odds in both La. and Fla. N.C. and S.C. are quite favorable as well, and if Edwards is on the ticket and the Democrats pour some money and effort into NC, Democratic turnout could be higher, which, even if we don't carry NC in the presidential race, could give Bowles the senate race. Tenenbaum's a great candidate in SC and is leading all the present polls.

Georgia, on the other hand, will be very difficult to hold. I recently read that some retired ambassador's seeking the seat. If he gets the nod, he'll keep it competitive and if there's a Dem landslide he could pull and upset, but that IS a pipe-dream.

We can also pick up Illinois, w/out a doubt, and probably Alaska too. Throw in at least one between Penn., Colo., Okla., and Missouri -- all races that indicate they could become competitive, and we can keep the Senate, even w/ Kerry as President. Pennsylvania's ours if Toomey beats Specter. Colorado could be ours if Wellington Webb (fmr. African-American Denver Mayor) runs -- he's indicated he may well do so after Gary Hart has announced he won't run. In Okla., Dem Brad Carson is running even with the Repubs' Kirk Humphreys, and in Missouri, Nancy Farmer could pull an upset if she runs a good campaign.

[aldian159]

15. Thanks for the info, it really helps

Is Stevens the one running in AK, or the other one (whose name escapes me, sorry)?

[rockymountaindem]

16. Let's kick some ass in Colorado!

While I'm disappointed that Gary Hart will not run, we have some candidates who can take on Benedict Arnold... oops, I mean Campbell.

Wellington Webb would be a cool candidate, but the fact that he's an African American won't help him much in Colorado since there are few black voters. However, everyone from Denver agrees that he was a good mayor and I can't think of a single bad thing anyone has said about him.

I've also heard that State Rep. Dan Grossberg is considering a run. I don't know much about him, but judging by his name I'd suspect he's Jewish, which, believe it or not may help him about the evangelicals who make up most of the population in my hometown of Colorado Springs. I'm probably wrong, but their pastors might fool themselves and their congregants into voting for him based on his faith, for the Lord said to Abraham "I will make a great nation out of you... I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you". Believe me, as one of the few Jews in that town, these evangelicals have a bizarre obsession with Jews. Believe me, I've seen their late-night infomercials. I doubt that would really help him, though.

I think our best bet in this race is State Attny. General Ken Salazar. He's a Hispanic, and there is a considerable number of Hispanics in CO. He is actually quite popular despite his membership in the Democratic party. He helped to fight that filthy redistricting ploy. He could definitely win, I think.

So, the moral of the story is... help our state as much as possible. We could win here... so if you have any money left over after donating to other campaigns, send it to Colorado. I mean, come on... how many other rectangular states are there? We may be square, but we're still cool.

[The Traveler]

14. This is one of the reasons ...

I believe Edwards, Kerry, and Graham were foolish to run for the nomination. We cannot really afford to lose senators right now. The consequences may well prove to be tragic. And would someone please tell Edwards and Kerry that they need to stop skipping out on critical votes? They are not relieved of the Senatorial duties just because they are campaigning for the nomination.