Have the GOP's prospects improved?

[AztecWilliam]

Clearly, they have. However, no one should start betting the farm on a Republican comeback across the board just yet.

I never did present my treatise on the future of American politics before the AztecTalk political board was euthanized. I still want to pontificate on that topic, but first here are some thoughts on the political climate at this moment.

spectator.org/archives/2009/07/30/the-republican-recovery

AzWm

[AlwaysAnAztec]

Short answer;

- NO -

If anything, they have gotten worse

[aztecwin]

Jul 30, 2009 15:45:57 GMT -8 AlwaysAnAztec said:

Short answer;

- NO -

If anything, they have gotten worse

I would like to see your reasoning. It seems to me that things are looking up even when the GOP has no emerging star to lead it.

[Bob Forsythe]

That's why the Democrats' best pickup opportunities are in Obama districts where the incumbents are not running for re-election: Mark Kirk in Illinois, Jim Gerlach in Pennsylvania, John McHugh in New York, and maybe soon Michael Castle in Delaware.

I can't speak for the other three, but McHugh represents my home town in Northern New York and the mere fact that it's seen as being up for grabs says a ton. That district is rock-solid Republican and has been since Lincoln ran for office. The Congressmen also tend to serve for a long time. Once you're elected, there would have to be a dead woman or a live boy that would cause you to not get reelected. Barack may have won the district last year, but it is not in any way, shape or form a Democratic district. It's not as right-wingnut a district as you might find in equally rural areas of the South, but it is quite conservative.

Quite frankly, I think one of the reasons for the sort of turn-around is the time Hillary spent up there, particularly at Drum. She kicked ass on her visits to Drum and her support of the 10th Mt. Division and given the number of jobs Drum provides in an area that would be close to 20 percent unemployment instead of the current 9.5 percent and support from a Senator, when Senators in the past couldn't give a crap about the North Country, is something people up there don't forget.

=Bob