{"id":11790,"date":"2008-01-31T08:52:57","date_gmt":"2008-01-31T15:52:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2008\/01\/31\/dems-in-the-house.html"},"modified":"2008-01-31T08:52:57","modified_gmt":"2008-01-31T15:52:57","slug":"dems_in_the_house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/01\/31\/dems_in_the_house.html","title":{"rendered":"Dems in the House"},"content":{"rendered":"

While I’ve not been wowed by the performance of the Dems in Congress to date (I really dislike the Democratic leadership, and, hampered by GOP obstructions in the Senate, they’ve not really gotten much accomplished aside from being not quite so much of a rubber stamp for Bush), I’m pleased that it looks like the House will remain in their hands<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Representative Tom Davis, a moderate from Northern Virginia, on Wednesday became the fifth House Republican in the last week to announce that he would not seek re-election.<\/p>\n

That puts the roster of retirees at 28, one of the highest numbers recorded for the party in the House.<\/p>\n

With only five Democratic seats opening so far, party strategists and independent analysts say the disparity in open seats \u2014 typically the most competitive House fights, as voters oust relatively few incumbents \u2014 makes it highly unlikely that Republicans could seize the seats necessary to regain the House. The current House has 199 Republicans and 232 Democrats, with four vacancies to be filled by special elections.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Beyond that, at least one of the Dem seats is for Mark Udall, who’s vacating it to run for Senate. <\/p>\n

\n

Four of the 28 Republicans who are so far leaving the House quit before their terms ended. They will be replaced in special elections before November, giving the winners of those races at least the technical mantle of incumbency in the general election.<\/p>\n

That leaves 24 open Republican seats, though leaders of both parties expect at least a few more Republican retirements as state filing deadlines arrive. The high point for end-of-session Republican retirements is 27 in 1952, according to Congressional records.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Fund-raising has, to date, also been lopsided — though I suspect that may change once the presidential candidates are settled.<\/p>\n

The Senate may also swing away from the sliver majority that the Dems have, though not enough to force cloture.<\/p>\n

In the Senate, Republican retirements have also shifted the playing field, with six Republicans leaving and no Democrats retiring so far.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

I’ve traditionally been in favor of a mixed Congress\/President combo, with no one party holding both houses and the White House.  Less likelihood of harm that way.  But, honestly, I’ve been frustrated enough with the past several years that it might be time to let “single party rule” swing the other way, at least for a few years, to chart some serious course changes.<\/p>\n

We’ll see.<\/p>\n

(via Ginny<\/a>)<\/small> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While I’ve not been wowed by the performance of the Dems in Congress to date (I really dislike the Democratic leadership, and, hampered by GOP obstructions in the Senate, they’ve…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-elections-2008"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":128579,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/11\/05\/rt-marmel-heres-how-dems-lose-900-seats-since-2008-elections-because-there-are-no-off-year-elections.html","url_meta":{"origin":11790,"position":0},"title":"RT @Marmel Here’s how Dems lose 900 seats since 2008 elections.BECAUSE THERE ARE NO OFF YEAR ELECTIONS","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 5-Nov-15 10:27am","format":false,"excerpt":"RT @Marmel Here's how Dems lose 900 seats since 2008 elections. BECAUSE THERE ARE NO OFF YEAR ELECTIONS View on Twitter","rel":"","context":"In "~Tweets"","block_context":{"text":"~Tweets","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/tweets"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/CTD5fP9UEAAnb_Z.png%3Alarge.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/CTD5fP9UEAAnb_Z.png%3Alarge.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/CTD5fP9UEAAnb_Z.png%3Alarge.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":44134,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/08\/04\/cell-phone-calls-on-airplane-flights.html","url_meta":{"origin":11790,"position":1},"title":"Cell phone calls on airplane flights","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 4-Aug-14 10:15am","format":false,"excerpt":"So, no, I really am not wowed about the guy sitting next to me nattering into his phone all flight. But, hey, I'm not sure that's worse than his nattering to his travel partner all flight, or using the phones that used to grace the backs of seats before in-flight\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":133307,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/04\/21\/this-is-not-how-the-democrats-will-win.html","url_meta":{"origin":11790,"position":2},"title":"This is not how the Democrats will win","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 21-Apr-17 10:15am","format":false,"excerpt":"So I realize that campaign money is not an unlimited resource. And I personally have some political bones to pick with the Sanders-style populists within the broad confines of the Democratic movement.But the Democratic establishment in the DNC has been shooting itself in the foot (or, as +Stan Pedzick puts\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":130074,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/03\/those-who-pretend-to-forget-history-will-keep-pretending-they-havent-12.html","url_meta":{"origin":11790,"position":3},"title":"Those who pretend to forget history will keep pretending they haven't","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 3-Mar-16 4:59pm","format":false,"excerpt":"No, the KKK is not a \"leftist\" organization, or a \"progressive\" movement. I strongly suspect a survey of contemporary KKK members will not find many Democrats among their number. But we hear this argument all the time, alongside the \"Republicans were the champions of civil rights in the 60s because\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":132584,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/01\/19\/and-equal-campaign-funding-for-all.html","url_meta":{"origin":11790,"position":4},"title":"And Equal Campaign Funding for All","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 19-Jan-17 10:07am","format":false,"excerpt":"An interesting idea: regular low cost contributions distributed equally to Democratic candidates in every Congressional race. While I can see all sorts of potential problems (there are likely plenty of Dem candidates I don't particularly care for), I can also see some advantages (the party's own awful record in funding\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":130839,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/06\/09\/never-count-on-the-democrats-not-blowing-an-election.html","url_meta":{"origin":11790,"position":5},"title":"Never count on the Democrats NOT blowing an election","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 9-Jun-16 10:25pm","format":false,"excerpt":"While I have been generally in support of Clinton as the Democratic nominee, for a variety of mostly pragmatic reasons, if the Democratic establishment thinks her nomination means they can blow off the sizable chunk of pro-Sanders \/ anti-establishment voters who kept Clinton's efforts from being a casual saunter to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11790\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}