Senate Cattle Call (October 2010)

As October winds down, it’s time that we put up another Senate cattle call. By now, you should all be familiar with the rules: Rank the Senate seats that are up this year in order of likelihood of flipping from one party to the other. The traditional SSP way is to include seats held by both parties in a single list (separate lists make comparisons harder). Go as far down the list as you like.

It might also be helpful to indicate the cutoff point where you think the losses end and the retentions begin. But that’s up to you!

House Cattle Call (September 2010)

It’s high time we do a House Cattle Call, seeing as we haven’t done one all cycle.

In case you haven’t done one of these before, rank House seats in order of likelihood of flipping from one party to the other. The traditional SSP way is to include seats held by both parties in a single list (separate lists make comparisons harder). Go as far down the list as you like. If you need some food for thought, check out Swing State’s House race ratings. Have fun!  

Gubernatorial Cattle Call (September 2010)

In lieu of a morning digest, let’s continue our series of community surveys by holding a cattle call for all the Governor’s races up this year.

In case you haven’t done one of these before, rank the gov seats that are up this fall in order of likelihood of flipping party control. The traditional SSP way is to include seats held by both parties in a single list (separate lists make comparisons harder). Go as far down the list as you like. If you need some food for thought, check out Swing State’s gubernatorial race ratings. Have fun!

Senate Cattle Call (September 2010)

It’s high time that we dust off our community cattle calls – we haven’t put up a thread like this since April. Whoops! But I can assure you that this won’t be our last cattle call of the election season.

The traditional rules still apply: In the comments, rank the Senate seats that are up this year in order of likelihood of flipping from one party to the other. The traditional SSP way is to include seats held by both parties in a single list (separate lists make comparisons harder). Go as far down the list as you like. Have at it!

Senate Cattle Call (April 2010)

It’s time we got back in the habit of doing community cattle calls – we haven’t done one for the Senate in a year. Click that link to see how much things have changed since then.

In case you haven’t done one of these before, rank the senate seats that are up this year in order of likelihood of flipping from one party to the other. The traditional SSP way is to include seats held by both parties in a single list (separate lists make comparisons harder). Go as far down the list as you like. If you need some food for thought, check out Swing State’s senate race ratings. Have fun!

Gubernatorial Cattle Call (July ’09)

We’ve never done one of these before – a gubernatorial cattle call. There just weren’t enough races last cycle. But this time, we’ve got a ton, and a very unsettled landscape given the huge number of open seats.

In case you haven’t done one of these before, rank the gov seats that are up in 2009 & 2010 in order of likelihood of flipping. (So this includes New Jersey and Virginia.) The traditional SSP way is to include seats held by both parties in a single list (separate lists make comparisons harder). Go as far down the list as you like. If you need some food for thought, check out Swing State’s gubernatorial race ratings. Have fun!

House Cattle Call: Where is the Floor?

A normal House cattle call (which we have done in the past) would require you to submit a list of seats in order of their likelihood of flipping, but frankly, I find that a bit boring. Instead, why don’t we try this: Confining ourselves to the realm of realistic expectations, what is the best possible scenario for House Republicans on election night? In other words, let me put it this way: Where is “the floor” for Democratic gains in the House?

2006 was pretty bad for Republicans, but it could have been worse. They dodged a few bullets and won a fair share of squeakers (NC-08, NY-29, OH-02, FL-13, etc). It’s not inconceivable that a few incumbents could hang on again by the skin of their teeth. But looking at the key races, we have a handful in the bag already, and a number that are either leaning or tilting our way. In a wave year, “tossup” races tend to break at a greater than 50-50 rate for the victorious party, so I suspect that Democrats will be wrecking shop in this column, as well. And it’s very possible that we’ll see upsets in districts that are seemingly “leaning” or “likely” Republican, too.

So even at my most conservative guess, it’s hard for me to see Democrats picking up fewer than 20 seats. It’s amazing, but losing “only” 20 seats would count as a “good” night for Republicans — or perhaps “best-case nightmare” for the NRCC would be a better way of putting it. I’m sure that there are some people at the DCCC who would wring my neck for saying that, but increasingly, it seems to me like that’s the best that Tom Cole and friends can do right now. And even that is going to be a gloomy night for them.

One last note: that number doesn’t include any losses on our side. Tim Mahoney is a certain goner (just resign, dude), and while Kanjorski might still pull things out, he has an aura of political doom around him right now and it would be no shock to see him lose.

House Cattle Call: Less than a month to go!

If I remember right, it’s been a few of months since we had a House Cattle call, although we have Senate ones monthly.  A lot has happened in those few months. I think our chances in several strongly Republican Districts have greatly improved, and we’ve put away some districts that were competitive a few months ago.  Most of the Pundits are predicting gains greater than 20 seats, with 30 or more seats likely.  McCain is losing ground by the day, and Republicans nation wide are hemorrhaging support thanks to the Economic crisis.  Democratic incumbents are in increasingly less danger, with only approximately 5 seats in serious risk. Needless to say, this one is looking like a wave election possibly better than 2006.  Go as far down as you want, as we have no shortage of targets.