Latest headlines from the Cook Political Report

House GOP Faces A Long March, Not A Sprint

bnaylor — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:23:36 -0600

In the final stretch going into President Bill Clinton's first midterm election in 1994, Republicans needed a 40-seat gain to capture control of the House. As of now, once the new 111th Congress is sworn in (the count looks likely to be 257 Democrats to 178 Republicans), the GOP will again need a 40-seat net gain to win a majority. Read on

More Losses For Senate Republicans?

bnaylor — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:21:12 -0600

After losing a total of 13 or 14 seats (depending on the outcome in Minnesota) in the nightmarish 2006 and 2008 Senate elections, Republicans must be fantasizing about 2012, when 24 Democratic and just nine Republican Senate seats will be up for grabs. Read on

CO SENATE: Another day, another appointed Senator

bnaylor — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 14:38:55 -0600

President-Elect Barack Obama’s selection of Democratic Sen. Ken Salazar to be Secretary of the Interior means that Democratic Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter will need to appoint someone to fill the remaining two years of Salazar’s term and run for a full term in 2010. Read on

Senate's Power Rests With Centrists

bnaylor — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 09:33:55 -0600

With Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss's 57.5 percent to 42.5 percent victory in Georgia's runoff, Minnesota's contest is the only 2008 Senate race that remains undecided. Both Republican incumbent Norm Coleman and Democratic challenger Al Franken claim to hold the lead. Read on

Wild and Woolly Finish

bnaylor — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 10:21:50 -0600

It seems entirely appropriate that this tumultuous and unpredictable election year would start coming to a close with the kind of events we have seen in Georgia, Louisiana, Minnesota and Ohio in recent days. Read on

IL SENATE: Blagojevich’s Big Mess

bnaylor — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 12:15:14 -0600

Of the three impending vacancies in the Senate – the seats of President-Elect Barack Obama in Illinois, Vice President-Elect Joe Biden in Delaware and Secretary of State Designate Hillary Rodham Clinton in New York—the appointment to replace Obama was supposed to be the easiest and had the least potential for serious controversy. Read on

Saturday Night Celebration For the GOP

bnaylor — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 13:14:16 -0600

Since 2005, it has been poor form to characterize anything relating to Louisiana politics as a “perfect storm.” But there are few other ways to describe the last-minute scenario of events that sunk Democratic Rep. Bill Jefferson, who is awaiting trial for bribery charges, in his New Orleans district on Saturday. Read on

Change You Can Count On

bnaylor — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 09:04:16 -0600

Arguably the most important development that will shape the direction of public policy over the next few years wasn't the November 4 election but the economic calamity that hit in September. The seizing up of the credit markets, the plummet in the stock market, and the realization that the economy was in big trouble changed everything. Read on

How To Right The GOP

bnaylor — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 09:41:03 -0600

The single most important factor that determines where American politics will go over the next two years is how President-elect Barack Obama fares in office. If he makes more than a few strategic or tactical miscues, his honeymoon will be abbreviated and Republicans will have the opportunity to bounce back from two consecutive disastrous elections. Read on

2008 SENATE: The Arbitrariness of the Number 60

bnaylor — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 11:23:41 -0600

2008 SENATE: The Arbitrariness of the Number 60
By Charlie Cook Read on