Despite the fact that the elections are six months away, the guessing has begun as to which party will control the White House and both Chambers of the Congress.
House Republicans currently outnumber Democrats, 222-212, with one independent who usually votes with Democrats. At present, Republicans have 23 open seats to defend; Democrats only 7. Democrats need only a net gain of six seats
to retake the House.
In the Senate, Democrats face a much tougher challenge, with Republicans outnumbering them 55 to 45. There are 10 seats considered to be "toss-ups", of which Republicans control 8 (Roth in Delaware, Abraham in Michigan, Ashcroft
in Missouri, Burns in Montana, Santorum in Pennsylvania, Chafee in Rhode Island, Jeffords in Vermont and Gorton in Washington). Democrats have only two vulnerable seats (Robb in Virginia and Feinstein in California). There are also five open seats: Florida (R), Nevada (D), New Jersey (D), New York (D) and Nebraska (D).
According to pollster Linda DiVall, this upcoming presidential election is not being driven by issues, but rather leadership and trustworthiness traits. She added that the West Coast will be the deciding factor in who wins the White House. Mark Mellman, Democratic pollster, added that the high level of division in the Republican Party is hurting them in this election, compared to the rather unified Democratic front.
Back to Wireline Contents
American Wire Producers Association
6232 Roudsby Lane Alexandria, VA 22315-5285
Tel (703) 971-6454 | Fax (703) 971-6997 | E-mail info@awpa.org
