Keeping the Republic Blog

Let the Games Begin 9/4/06

I mentioned last week that the midterm elections are upon us (see KTR, p. 286) and as Labor Day is the official kick off of the election season, several papers run articles assessing the stakes in the election and the chances that the Democrats will take back control of one or both houses.  Four pieces are especially worth taking a look at.

• The New York Times is all over the subject this slow news weekend.  Adam Nagourney and Jim Rutenberg have a piece on the high stakes for Karl Rove, the president’s political advisor and the mastermind of Bush’s two successful presidential campaigns (Rove’s Word Is No Longer G.O.P. Gospel, 9/2/06.)  The legacy of the man that some people call “Bush’s Brain” will be seriously damaged if the Republicans fail to hang on to Congress.

• Historian David Greenberg does a good job of running through key midterm elections of the past, looking for lessons for Bush. (For Bush, Hope and Fear in Lessons of Midterms Past, 9/3/06)

• Robin Toner and Kate Zernike do a recap of where things stand for the two parties at the start of the campaign (G.O.P. Seen to Be in Peril of Losing House, 9/4/06.)

• Dan Balz and David Broder of the Washington Post cover some of the same ground, but look at how Republicans fortunes have changed (for the worse) since the start of the summer.  (More GOP Districts Counted as Vulnerable: Number Doubled Over the Summer, 9/3/06.)

As you read these analyses, and the ones we will see in the future, remember that this election is not over until it’s over. Many pundits and reporters have made up their mind that the Republicans will lose control of the House of Representatives come November.  That may well happen, but these folks are basing their predictions on factors that can change between now and then.  Keep an open and critical mind as you read!