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Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) declared Tuesday night that the
GOP is facing a tougher political environment than it did during the so-called Watergate
Election of 1974, when Democrats scored major gains in Congress.
“The bottom line is that Democrats will have big numbers
in the Senate and will be able to get a lot of their agenda done,” said Ensign,
head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), during a meeting
with reporters at the group’s headquarters. “I think this was an even tougher
cycle than Watergate was.”
Ensign held out hope Tuesday night that Republicans could
capture a Democratic Senate seat in Louisiana and defend Sen. Gordon Smith's
(R) seat in Oregon.
Ensign also said he felt good about embattled Sen. Norm
Coleman's (R) chances in Minnesota, noting that while Coleman trails Democrat
Al Franken, most of the votes counted so far came from heavily Democratic
precincts around Minneapolis.
Ensign said that Sen. John McCain (Ariz..), the
Republican nominee, hurt some candidates such as Sen. John Sununu (R), who lost
his bid for a second term in New Hampshire.
The NRSC chairman added that Sununu believed if McCain
came within a few points of winning the state, he could have held his seat. But
McCain fell well short in the Granite State despite strong past performances.
Ensign blamed the financial crisis, which exploded at the
end of September, as the biggest reason for Republicans' political woes.
“When the financial crisis hit, we got blamed,” said
Ensign, who asserted that about half the electorate still thinks Republicans
control Congress.
“The political environment this year was so toxic for
Republicans,” he said. “The stock market up, down a thousand points. That’s all
you heard on the news ... how tough the economy was.”
Ensign stated that Republicans were hurt by their
inability to recruit quality candidates to challenge Senate Democratic
incumbents such as Sen. Max Baucus (Mont.). As a result, Ensign argued,
Democrats did not have to play defense and could devote all their resources to
attacking GOP incumbents and supporting Democratic candidates running in open
Republican seats such as in Colorado, New Mexico and Virginia.
Ensign predicted that next cycle would be more favorable
for Republicans.
“I think it can be a much better election cycle for us
because I think Democrats are going to overreach,” he said, speculating that
Democrats would interpret this election as giving them a “huge mandate.”
Ensign stated that he would campaign against Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who faces reelection in 2010.
Ensign said the next chairman of the NRSC would inherit
about $3 million in debt. He said he was not interested in chairing the
committee for another cycle, drawing laughs from assembled reporters and GOP
staff.
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