2006 Senate Races Look Very Positive for Democrats

The new approval ratings for 2006 US Senate races are enough to make a Democrat's heart sing....and give great hope that the Democratic party will soon claim more than the present 44 of 100 US Senators.

Yesterday, SurveyUSA published updated approval data for each member of the US Senate. Assuming polls are reliable, Senate Democrats up for 2006 relection enter the campaign season with a healthy collective lead. Note also that the bottom four approval ratings are all for Republican senators, and four of five top ratings are for Democrats.

Of the 33 senators whose terms expire in 2006, 28 are running for reelection to the US Senate. The present positive approval ratings for the 28 senators, in order, are....

-- 75% Olympia Snowe (R-ME)
-- 67% Kent Conrad (D-ND)
-- 67% Ben Nelson (D-NE)
-- 65% Robert Byrd (D-WV)
-- 64% Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY)
-- 63% Kay Hutchinson (R-TX)
-- 63% Joseph Lieberman (D-CT)
-- 63% Trent Lott (R-MS)
-- 62% Thomas Carper (D-DE)
-- 62% Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
-- 62% Richard Lugar (R-IN)
-- 61% Edward Kennedy (D-MA)
-- 59% Daniel Akaka (D-HI)
-- 59% Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
-- 59% Herb Kohl (D-WI)
-- 59% Craig Thomas (R-WY)
-- 56% George Allen (R-VA)
-- 53% Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
-- 53% Lincoln Chafee (R-RI)
-- 53% Bill Nelson (D-FL)
-- 52% Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
-- 50% Jon Ensign (R-NV)
-- 50% Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
-- 50% Jim Talent (R-R-MO)
-- 47% Mike Dewine (R-OH)
-- 44% Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
-- 44% Rick Santorum (R-PA)
-- 42% Conrad Burns (R-MT)

Pols and pundits say that the major issues working for Senate Democrats and against Senate Republicans are: the rampant Republican culture of corruption and cronyism; the War in Iraq; and Republican budget priorities, especially wealthy tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires.

2006 will be a raucous and fascinating political season, one that will set the tone for the 2008 Presidential election.

So cheers to kicking off the 2006 Congressional races! May it be full of cheery blue-sky news.....and of Democratic-blue electoral victories.
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