Democratic House congressional candidates are being told to shuck their federal-looking Brooks Brothers suits and don a grimy road crew jumper to get elected as the party restyles its image into a posse of problem-solvers.
Rep. Steve Israel, the New Yorker who heads the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, is energetically and confidently predicting a Democratic turnover if his gang can just convince voters that they stand ready to do whatever voters want, even if it means fixing potholes.
“Run like a mayor,” he said he urges his candidates. “If you run as congressional candidate you may lose. If you run as a mayor, you will win. You knock on somebody’s door and they say, ‘There’s a pothole on the street,’ and you tell them that’s not a federal responsibility, you will lose.”
Instead, said Israel, “you grab a shovel and some asphalt and pave the pothole, you will win.”
Polls show that the public hates Congress, though Republicans top Democrats on the generic ballot. But Israel has done the election math and his most “pessimistic” calculations have him winning the needed 25 seats to return Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi as speaker.
Basically, he sees 50-75 Republican seats “in play.” Some 46 are Republican-held districts won by President Obama. He figures to win 15 at a minimum. Another 18 are Republican-held districts won by Obama and Sen. John Kerry in 2004. He figures to pick up 12 of the historically Democratic seats. That gives him 27. But he wouldn’t be surprised to lose five of his 15 most threatened Democrats, bringing his gain to 22.
Add in a few upsets in districts where GOP members are in ethical trouble, and bingo, Israel says the election is his. “I’m telling you that it is within range,” said Israel.
