We stage a come back in the Northeast then we’re set for a huge sweep:
…green Republican shoots are emerging from the spring muck. The most conspicuous one involves the falling fortunes of embattled Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd, up for re-election next year. A new poll has the once seemingly invincible Democrat tied with former Congressman Rep. Rob Simmons, a Republican from eastern Connecticut.
Contrary to myth, New England is not firmly sewn in the Democratic bag. Three of the states — Connecticut, Vermont and Rhode Island — have Republican governors. Meanwhile, independents make up huge voting blocs throughout the region.
In Connecticut, 45 percent of registered voters are independents. Only 34 percent are Democrats, and the remaining 21 percent Republican.
True, a Democrat took away Simmons’ House seat in 2006. But the three-term rep lost it by only 83 votes and in a dismal year for Republicans nationally. In recent elections, two other Connecticut House Republicans, Nancy Johnson and the aforementioned Shays, were defeated but not trounced.
“All those Republicans lost because of George W. Bush,” Kenneth Dautrich, an adviser to Republican Gov. Jodi Rel, told me. “He’s gone.”
Like a ticking time bomb, 2010 approaches for the Democrats.
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