“You might remember that about this time in 2004, some of them were picking out their new offices in the West Wing,” Bush said of his own re-election bid. “The movers never got the call.”
That was the message President Bush had for supporters at a rally at Georgia Southern University. CNN reported both Bushes are hitting the campaign trail this week to pull for Republicans in tight races in both the House and Senate.
President Bush sees Democrats as already counting their chickens before they hatch and has reminded the red faithful that the elections aren’t over just yet. A number of races remain close, however, and with the President’s low approval rating and the ever-growing unpopularity of the war in Iraq, he has entered the campaigning process much later this year than in the 2002 mid-term elections where he held over a dozen rallies for party candidates.
CNN’s political blog also reported First Lady Laura Bush is hitting the trail this week, too. She has a planned event in New Hampshire today and will rally the Republican troops in 10 states as the final week of the campaign approaches. She’ll also be hitting North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa and California as the party attempts to motivate undecided voters in states where Republicans are facing discouraging poll numbers.
The President is scared and he should be. Democrats probably will not take back the Senate, but they may very likely take the house, as many races are leaning blue right now. Connecticut has become a battleground state as three Republicans are in serious jeopardy. The 5th district, which I wrote about in June, has gone from “likely Republican” to “lean Republican” and now it is a complete tossup. This is Nancy Johnson territory and she has never even come close to a serious challenge. Now, a young state senator named Chris Murphy might take it all away in what could be a Democratic revolution in Connecticut, a traditionally liberal state anyway, which has leaned more towards their fiscal affluence in the last 20 years.
Nothing is set in stone for next week. The polls are so close in most states that many are within the margin of error. Whichever party gets their members out there to actually vote next week will be the victor.