As McCain Implodes, Think of a Senate 60
There are 25 days left in the race, and - barring the mother of all October surprises - the electoral map looks as though it’s becoming nearly impossible for McCain.
West Virginia is in play, for god’s sake.
Nearly every pollster, including right-leaning, has Obama above the 270 threshold. Many have him well into the 300s.
The angry tenor of McCain/Palin rallies has garnered the attention of the Secret Service. Today the cable channels ran with video of McCain having to grab the mic back from Minnesota supporter who called Obama ‘an arab’. This also happened:
When a man told him he was “scared” of an Obama presidency, Mr. McCain replied, “I want to be president of the United States and obviously I do not want Senator Obama to be, but I have to tell you — I have to tell you — he is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of as president of the United States.” The crowd booed loudly at Mr. McCain’s response.
The campaign is way off on its tone. Average people - notably the independents and right-leaning Dems McCain needs to pull - don’t want ranting crowds with pitchforks.
How can we tell? Well, Norm Coleman senate race is a fair indicator.
Coleman (R-MN) has seen his solid lead over Al Franken collapse in the last few days. Coleman’s response? Get as far away from the McCain strategy as possible. He’s stopped running all negative ads in the ‘nice’ state. [Update: Coleman also pulled out of a planned appearance with McCain.]
The question now becomes how many will McCain drag down with him. Minnesota voters no doubt got footage of that nasty rally on all channels tonight. Coleman’s move clearly indicates his desire to seperate himself from the kind of negativity that’s now associated with the top of his ticket.
It might not work.
Senate races all over the country that have no business being in play are up for grabs. Coleman’s seat was always going to face a strong challenge, but Georgia?
Saxby Chambliss might actual lose his seat to Jim Martin. And last night’s debate appears not to have gone well for the incumbent.
If you’re a returning reader your likely question is (as always), ‘What’s the point of all this?’
If McCain looks like he’s going to go down hard, the RNC is likely to use its money to staunch the bleeding in Senate and House races. If you’re thinking about making a political donation, it might be time to think about at least splitting your donation between Obama and some seat races.
Some choices:
- Al Franken in Minnesota
- Kay Hagen in North Carolina
- Jeff Merkley in Oregon
- Jim Martin in Georgia
- Ronnie Musgrove in Mississippi (B)
- hell, even Mitch McConnell’s seat might be within reach - Bruce Lunsford in Kentucky
Putting money into House races also stretches your contribution dollar (though donations to Obama invariably help candidates downticket as well).
60 in the Senate seemed unthinkable even just a short time ago. Despite my general advocacy of divided government, it’s hard to look at that number and not try to reach for it.
Sphere: Related Content