Five rounds of election-eve commentary, or “One of These Things Is Not Like the Others”:
Political analyst Charlie Cook: “Going into Election Day, we see a 20-35 seat gain for Democrats in the House, a four to six seat gain for Democrats in the Senate and a six to eight seat gain for Democrats in the governors’ races … There is no evidence of a trend in the generic ballot test.”
Evans-Novak Political Report: “Democrats are set to gain 19 House seats, two Senate seats, and five governorships in tomorrow’s elections … The White House presents, as its rosiest scenario, a loss of 12 House seats. This is not entirely impossible, but it is too optimistic for the realistic observer.”
University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato: “The Crystal Ball still sees 4, 5 or 6 seats going to the Democrats, resting party control of the Senate squarely on the edge of the butter knife … When we add up all of our predictions, Democrats gain 29 seats in the House to command the same size majority the GOP currently holds, 232-203.”
Political analyst Stuart Rothenberg: “Democratic gain of 30-36 seats” in the House. “Democratic gain of 4-7 seats” in the Senate.
White House press secretary Tony Snow: “Well, what’s not to love, Rush? Here I’m working for the president of the United States; we’re in the middle of an exciting election campaign. We got a lot of ‘I told you so’ moments right now because polls are tightening and people are thinking about issues and saying, ‘Wait a minute. The president’s got an idea about how to proceed and the Democrats got empty saddlebags and all they’re doing is throwing mud at him.’ So, yeah, it’s a great time to be there. In a funny way I guess everything I’ve done in the media business for the last 27 years sort of fits into the press secretary job. So I just love it.”
