Right now the folks who are in charge of getting Republicans re-elected to the House are facing hard choices. With September just a couple of weeks off, the National Republican Congressional Committee is no doubt debating which Congressional races to try to save this fall, and which to write off. Assuming that Vladimir Putin doesn't interfere, the professional prognosticators are saying the GOP is up against tough odds to keep the majority.
Analyses from three big guns — the Cook Political Report, FiveThirtyEight.com and Sabato's Crystal Ball — all agree that one of the six most endangered incumbents is Barbara Comstock in Virginia's 10th. We cats despise Comstock as we despise our own Republican House member, Elise Stefanik, because they are Republican women who try to skate through with undeserved reputations as "moderates" when, in reality, they vote with Benedict Donald practically down the line.
Virginia-10 is a crucial district for a lot of reasons, and not just because Comstock is only a couple of years into representing it. It's one of those hallowed suburban/exurban places that used to be solidly red but has morphed into purple/light blue as more diverse folks have moved into it. It will be closely watched on Election Night as a bellwether of what's to come.
But there's another factor at work, too, and one that's sure to influence the NRCC's decision: VA-10's Eastern Time Zone location in a solidly purple state (one that Hillary Clinton carried and that went dramatically blue in its 2017 elections for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General and the state legislature). If Comstock is to fall on November 6, she'll be one of the first Republicans to do so. (Polls will close at 7.) Her defeat will set the tone for the whole night. So the GOP will be forced to spend money on her even if she's a hopeless cause.
Imagining all this, we cats are flashing back to Election Night in Canada in October 2015. The first results from the Maritime Provinces came in, and they were so solidly Liberal that the CBC anchors were left nearly speechless, blinking at one another in amazement. May our own midterms be as definitive as that. It would make us cats PURR.
(PHOTO: That's Comstock on the left. Enough said.)
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