I know. With the election behind us we're "all" focussed on the Presidency now. Well, I'm not. Clinton came out of nowhere. Bush came out of nowhere. As far as that goes, Kerry came out of nowhere. I have no idea who's going to be running for the Presidency in 2008, but I know who's running for the Senate. Here's my question for anyone thinking about the Senate in 2008: Do we push the GOP further right, the Democrats further left, or both?
Excerpt from: "Yankee Republicans on last legs"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061113/ap_on_el_ge/yankee_republicansThe defeat of Chafee, arguably the most liberal GOP senator, and Ohio Sen. Mike DeWine, who at times aligned himself with GOP moderates, leaves Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both of Maine, and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania as perhaps the only reliably centrist Republicans in the Senate.
"It's truly regrettable," Snowe said. "Losing individuals like Linc Chafee and Mike DeWine, who were moderate consensus builders in the U.S. Senate, is a serious reversal."
Keeping that in mind, here's a list of all of the class II Senators, up for re-electon in 2008:
(What is a class? Article I, section 3 of the Constitution requires the Senate to be divided into three classes for purposes of elections. Senators are elected to six-year terms, and every two years the members of one class—approximately one-third of the Senators—face election or reelection. Terms for Senators in Class I expire in 2007, Class II in 2009, and Class III in 2011.)
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?Class=2Alexander, Lamar- (R - TN)
Allard, Wayne- (R - CO)
Baucus, Max- (D - MT)
Biden, Joseph R., Jr.- (D - DE)
Chambliss, Saxby- (R - GA)
Cochran, Thad- (R - MS)
Coleman, Norm- (R - MN)
Collins, Susan M.- (R - ME)
Cornyn, John- (R - TX)
Craig, Larry E.- (R - ID)
Dole, Elizabeth- (R - NC)
Domenici, Pete V.- (R - NM)
Durbin, Richard- (D - IL)
Enzi, Michael B.- (R - WY)
Graham, Lindsey- (R - SC)
Hagel, Chuck- (R - NE)
Harkin, Tom- (D - IA)
Inhofe, James M.- (R - OK)
Johnson, Tim- (D - SD)
Kerry, John F.- (D - MA)
Landrieu, Mary L.- (D - LA)
Lautenberg, Frank R.- (D - NJ)
Levin, Carl- (D - MI)
McConnell, Mitch- (R - KY)
Pryor, Mark L.- (D - AR)
Reed, Jack- (D - RI)
Roberts, Pat- (R - KS)
Rockefeller, John D., IV- (D - WV)
Sessions, Jeff- (R - AL)
Smith, Gordon H.- (R - OR)
Stevens, Ted- (R - AK)
Sununu, John E.- (R - NH)
Warner, John- (R - VA)
Correct me if I counted wrong, but I get 21 "R's and 12 "D's". That's almost twice as many Republicans up for re-election as Democrats. I like those odds, but it's NOT to early to start planning how best to take advantage of it. It's true that there are a few on each side who will undoubtedly sail to re-election. Warner on the "R" side, Biden on the "D" for example. But what can we affect, and how shall we affect it? That's the question.