February 8, 2010
Today, western Pennsylvanians mourn the passing of one of their most influential representatives to Congress ever. But once constituents come to terms with the loss of Democratic Rep. John Murtha and his towering seniority, their attention will turn to a special election to choose their first new House member since 1974. That February, the special election that brought Murtha to Congress was an early sign of President Nixon's weakness. Now, this seat becomes the 50th Democratic seat in the "Lean" or "Toss Up" columns.
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February 4, 2010
Charlie Cook, Jennifer Duffy, and David Wasserman release their latest projections for Republican gains in the House, Senate, and gubernatorial races this November.
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February 4, 2010
House Editor David Wasserman takes a look at the latest fundraising numbers and points out which campaigns flourished and which candidates fizzled. According to fundraising reports covering the final three months of 2009, Republicans now have candidates with at least $100,000 in cash on hand in 72 Democratic-held districts, up from 51 districts in September and 17 in June. Also, be sure to check out our updated “Risk Factors” chart, designed to help you keep tabs on which Democratic incumbents in the House are potentially vulnerable and why.
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February 4, 2010
Senior Editor Jennifer Duffy updates the range of potential net gains for Republicans in the Senate, concluding that the political environment, some recruiting successes and unexpected decisions by Democrats combine to put the GOP in a position to pick up between four and six seats. She also takes a look at whether Democrats’ majority is in danger, and provides updates on the 10 most vulnerable Democratic-held Senate seats.
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February 3, 2010
Former Republican Sen. Dan Coats will announce today that he will challenge Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh in November. Coats served in the Senate from January 3, 1989 until his retirement on January 3, 1999. Bayh won the open seat contest to succeed him. The race moves to Lean Democratic.
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"The bible of the political community."
- Bob Schieffer
"The pharaoh had Joseph. The Greeks had the Oracle at Delphi. Washington has Charlie Cook."
- Dana Milbank, The Washington Post
January 30, 2010
Having given himself "a good, solid B-plus" for his first year in office and declaring he would "rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president," President Obama has a lot of people, even in his own party, wondering what on earth constitutes a good performance to his way of thinking.
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