GOP Can Make Gains in House in '08

To hear most pundits tell it these days, a Democratic majority in the U.S. House of Representatives is the nearest thing to eternal life on earth. They note that 28 Republican House members are retiring in '08-a higher number than in the '06 election cycle-and that Democrats are performing splendidly in the candidate recruitment department.

Not so fast, says Rep. Tom Cole (R.OkIa.), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. At a breakfast for reporters hosted by the Christian Science Monitor last week, Cole voiced unusual optimism about his party's not only holding its own but actually making gains in the House in '08.

"The worst year since Watergate was '06," said Cole, recalling how two years ago, Democrats rode a wave of discontent with Republican spending and corruption on Capitol Hill to recapture a majority in the House for the first time in a dozen years. "But since then, they haven't taken a single seat away from us in special elections."

Cole noted that 61 House Democrats are running in. districts that George W. Bush carried in '04, while only eight Republicans are running in districts carried by John Kerry in the last presidential election. An even more interesting fact is that of 25 districts in which thè Democrat was last elected with less than 55% of the vote-historically a sign of vulnerability-all but eight are districts carried by Bush.

The party breakdown in the U.S. House is 231 Democrats, 198 Republicans, two vacant seats formerly held by Democrats and four vacant seats formerly in Republican hands. Here's a look at the most vulnerable House districts now in Democratic hands:

Copyright Human Events Publishing, Inc. Mar 10, 2008
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