Feeling Blue
Former Rep. Dan Blue, who was state House Speaker before the 1994 Republican take over, has been selected to replace Rep. Bernard Allen, a Wake County Democrat who died earlier this month. Allen had no opposition in this year's election, so Blue will serve through 2008.
Blue got some instant buzz as a potential candidate for the Speaker’s job again, entering the mix along with other folks like Hugh Holliman from Davidson County and Joe Hackney of Orange County.
All of which is swell, except for the fact there’s an election in less than two weeks and the Democrats have to keep their majority in the House for any of that buzz to be worth anything.
That’s not out of the question by any stretch. If you had asked me over the summer what the House will look like next January, I would have said there was a better than 50-50 chance the GOP would be in control. But national politics has had a deleterious effect on that possibility.
As the Democrats get excited about their chances of winning more Congressional seats, they mobilize more voters. More Democrats showing up to the polls mean fewer chances for Republicans to take advantage of quirky turnout and pull some upsets.
But don’t expect the GOP to give up. From the leadership to the rank and file, there is a strong belief that this is the year of all years to try to pull an upset and they’re going to put some muscle into it. Swimming against the national tide makes that harder, but not impossible.
So stay tuned for Nov. 7.
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