The Senate in 2006 & Beyond Senators

Ronald Brownstein writing in the LA Times has sobering news for the Democrats in the Senate:

“The party needs to win seats in Bush territory for any realistic chance to retake the chamber. Growing Republican dominance of Senate seats in states where George W. Bush has run best looms as the principal obstacle for Democrats hoping to retake the chamber in 2006 or beyond. …Democrats are unlikely to regain a Senate majority — in 2006 or soon thereafter — unless they can reverse the GOP consolidation of Senate seats in states that have supported Bush. Since 2000, both parties have gained Senate seats in the states they typically carry in presidential campaigns. But this political partitioning provides a clear advantage for Republicans because so many more states backed Bush in his bids for the presidency. You can cobble together a viable electoral college strategy with a minority of states, but you simply can't cobble together a Senate majority that way..."

The West is full of Senate seats and a lot of them are in red states. I count five GOP senators in Western red states up for re-election in '06. The Democrats have to defend only four Western seats. Two are in CA and HI and presumably safe. Hilary may be closing in on the '08 ticket, but if the party is going to hold back the nuclear forces in the Senate, Harry Reid needs those Senate seats that Hilary can't deliver. All politics is local, and the Western Democrats can't look like Eastern Democrats and win. One big problem for our side: "Man, we got so much more money than the Democrats!"--NRSC Chairman George Allen. A repositioned Democratic party in the Intermountain West is the place to put our talent and our money.

Leo Brown | June 1, 2005 | Comment on This Post (0 so far) Permalink: The Senate in 2006 & Beyond Senators

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