CQ Race Ratings Changes, Part Two: Democrats Gain Ground (CQ)

[jefferson_dem]

CQ Race Ratings Changes, Part Two: Democrats Gain Ground
By Greg Giroux, Marie Horrigan, Rachel Kapochunas and Annie Johnson, CQ Staff

With the nation’s political environment running strongly against the Republicans for the second consecutive election, more congressional races than expected are now trending in the Democrats’ favor — prompting CQ Politics to change its ratings on 23 contests in the past two days, all indicating stronger chances for the Democratic contenders.

These changes do not necessarily imply that the Democrats are on the verge of enormous gains. The Republican Party still holds the edge in most of the contests that CQ Politics now deems more competitive.

But the Democrats’ success at recruiting and helping raise money for an expanded field of long-shot challengers is, at the very least, forcing the Republicans to spread their resources thin playing defense in many additional races — which in turn limits the GOP’s ability to apply maximum effort to their bids to take over Democratic seats. As a result, the majorities that the Democrats won in the Senate and the House in 2006 not only appear secure, but the party appears increasingly likely to make sizable gains in both chambers.

Most of the Democratic challengers and open-seat candidates in these re-rated races have been chosen by their party’s officials for the ”Red to Blue” program run by the Democratic Congressional Campaign (DCCC), the House Democrats’ political arm. The name of this program, which provides fundraising and logistical assistance to selected candidates deemed competitive, is based on the party’s effort to convert Republican-held districts — typically colored red on political maps — to Democratic blue.

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http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000002976433

[Motown_Johnny]

1. Didn't Rolling Stone just report that voters were being purged in Colorado to steal the state?