In the House, they say close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. Politico's Josh Kraushaar reports today on several candidates who came close to winning House seats in 2006, including WA 08's Darcy Burner (D), who lost to Rep. Dave Reichert (R) by just 2 points; IL 08's Dan Seals (D), who came close to surprising Rep. Mark Kirk (R), OH 15's Mary Jo Kilroy, who nearly knocked off Rep. Deborah Pryce (R), and NC 08's Larry Kissell, who was just a few hundred votes from beating Rep. Robin Hayes (R).
Ousted Congressmen Jeb Bradley (R-NH 01), Jim Ryun (R-KS 02) and Melissa Hart (R-PA 04) are challenging the freshmen who beat them last year, hoping to make it back to Congress.
Kraushaar's point: Many second-time candidates will find it more difficult to mount a bid this year than they did last year. Indeed, many are facing primary challenges. Some candidates, though, do have success the second time out. In 2004, his second bid at the seat, businessman Mike Sodrel beat Congressman Baron Hill in Indiana's 9th Congressional district. Two years later, in '06, Hill beat Sodrel for his old seat. Sodrel is said to be considering a fourth consecutive bid against Hill, though he hasn't announced whether he will run.
Must be something in that Southeast Indiana water that makes for successful repeat bids.
An overlooked section of today's Washington Post poll: Yes, Americans have a poor opinion of Congress, but not necessarily all of Congress. 46% approve of the job performance of Democrats in Congress, while 51% disapprove. That's better than the 34% who approve of Republicans' job performance and 64% who disapprove.
We wrote recently about some potential electoral trouble in which Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell could find himself, should Iraq remain in a bad state and Congressional Republicans continue to be so unpopular.
Today, more bad news for the Kentucky senator, as the state's Attorney General, Greg Stumbo, has formed an exploratory committee and is thinking about a bid in 2008. But Democrats should be warned, the race will not be a slam dunk. McConnell's home-state job approval rating, according to a SurveyUSA poll last month, sits at 52% approve/42% disapprove. Independents approve of his performance more than 2-to-1.
Attorneys general have a good track record when it comes to running for governor -- off the top of my head, the governors of Washington, Arizona, Florida, New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, and North Carolina are all former Attorneys General (Colorado Governor Bill Ritter was Denver District Attorney before his election). But the recent track record for AGs on a federal level is less clear. The last one to run for higher office: New Mexico's Patricia Madrid, who lost a hard-fought contest for Rep. Heather Wilson's (R-NM 01) seat.
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