Did Obama Win a Proxy War against McCain?
HP-Yesterday, little-known Democrat Bill Foster scored a major upset and won the congressional seat held for 20 years by former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, a Republican. The race was a proxy war between Barack Obama and John McCain. Obama cut an add for Foster
Meanwhile, McCain campaigned for the Republican candidate Jim Oberweis, and fundraised for his campaign. Watch the two of them (about 2 minutes in):
House GOP funk worsens
Politico-For National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Cole (Okla.), every week seems to bring a new set of problems. On Saturday night, things got even worse.
With Democrat Bill Foster’s victory in the Illinois 14th District special election, Democrats now hold the seats occupied only 21 months ago by former Speaker Dennis Hastert (Ill.) and former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (Texas) — the two GOP lawmakers who ran the House from 1998 to 2006.
Since September, Cole has faced a barrage of bad news:
The NRCC lags behind the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee by nearly $30 million in cash on hand.
• GOP House leadership endured an embarrassing scuffle when Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) tried to fire Cole’s top two staffers, during which Cole threatened to resign.
• There has been a wave of retirement announcements by veteran Republican lawmakers that will force the NRCC to defend what were once seen as safe GOP seats.
• Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) was indicted on 35 federal corruption charges, which puts another Republican-controlled district in play.
• And the FBI continues its criminal investigation into a brewing accounting scandal that centers on the former NRCC treasurer’s activities.
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Democrat Wins Hastert’s Seat in Illinois
By DEANNA BELLANDI
TH-Nearly two years after taking control of Congress, the Democrats have claimed another prize by capturing former GOP House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s seat _ a development that Republicans say is not a harbinger of things to come.
The longtime Republican district fell to the Democrats Saturday when wealthy scientist and businessman Bill Foster snatched the seat in a closely watched special election.
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The only difference between the two candidates, Iraq…otherwise, their messages were pretty close.
Hastert has never been accused of being conservative…no big loss here.