More delusional talk? Or do you think that they don't let the MSM sway them? Maybe it's spin but I think that Rove has been involved in too many elections to doubt his ability now:
White House political strategist Karl Rove yesterday confidently predicted that the Republican Party would hold the House and the Senate in next month's elections, dismissing fallout from the sex scandal involving former Rep. Mark Foley.It really looks like they have a strategy to me. They haven't even begun to fight. If we're going to believe polls, let's do so closer to the election.
At a luncheon with editors and reporters at The Washington Times, Mr. Rove -- who is widely credited as the architect of the party's historic 2002 midterm election gains -- said Republicans are beginning to make significant headway in defining their party's differences from congressional Democrats, especially on national security.
"I'm confident we're going to keep the Senate; I'm confident we're going to keep the House. The Foley matter has impact in some limited districts, but the research we have shows that people are differentiating between a vote for their congressman and a member from Florida," Mr. Rove said, referring to the Republican who resigned last month after his sexually explicit online messages to former congressional pages were discovered.
President Bush has begun to paint this year's election as a choice between strength and weakness on national security -- and the stark differences will show Americans the true nature of Democrats, Mr. Rove said.
"It is useful to remind people what [Democrats] said and what they do. I think they have given us here, especially in the last couple of weeks, a potent set of votes to talk about. You had 90 percent of House Democrats voting against the terrorist-surveillance program, nearly three-quarters of Senate Democrats and 80 percent of House Democrats voting against the terrorist-interrogation act. Something is fundamentally flawed."
In the hourlong interview, Mr. Rove was upbeat, telling stories from the campaign trail and joking about skewed political coverage that disproportionately shows Democrats poised to take control of Congress
[...]
The White House strategist is closely monitoring races across the country. He receives "68 polls a week for Senate, governor and House races," Mr. Rove said. "My head is about ready to explode."
Mr. Rove said history is on the Republican Party's side, noting that 97.5 percent of incumbents have been re-elected since 1996. This time, he said, there are "significantly" fewer open House seats than the Democrats had in 1994, when Republicans swept to power under then-Rep. Newt Gingrich's leadership.
Early in this campaign cycle, Mr. Rove said the White House compiled a list of 80 Republican incumbents who might face difficulty. From there, top strategists made sure "that they all had a campaign plan, that they all knew that they had a risk, that they all went out there and raised a bundle of money, and that they had a plan that was measurable."
"As a result, that's done a lot to get people prepared," he said.
And, in some ways, the campaign is just beginning, Mr. Rove added.
"For most Americans, particularly the marginal voters who are going to determine the outcome of the election, it started a couple weeks ago," he said. "Between now and the election, we will spend $100 million in target House and Senate races in the next 21 days."
(Link via Drudge Report)
Updated to add: further proof that these guys aren't delustional. Here's a look at what's happening behind the scene that the pundits and bloggers don't see:
If you're ever read a profile of Ken Mehlman, you know he is obsessed with metrics. For him, one of the most important sources of data is a weekly e-mail his political team prepares called the "Weekly Grassroots Report." It meticulously records the work of tens of thousands of volunteers in targeted states, counties and congressional districts across the country. The data summary allows the RNC to determine which states are meeting goals and which states are falling behind.
The RNC declined to share the most recent report, which was issued Monday. But two independent sources who saw last week's report professed to be surprised: not only was their no drop off last week, 12 states broke new voter contact records.
In a month, the party completed more than a million phone calls and door contacts conbined. Bigger states are putting up big numbers -- even Ohio, which lagged behind its targets all summer, has caught up. The RNC is particularly pleased with their progress in New Jersey, where they've rapidly set up a more aggressive version of their 72 Hour Program in light of the state's more competitive Senate race.
