House GOP’s fate tied closely to McCain, Cole says

Facing double-digit losses on Tuesday, Rep. Tom Cole (Okla.) said
Monday that House Republicans will rely heavily on presidential candidate Sen. John
McCain (Ariz.), adding: “We certainly won’t do well if he doesn’t.”

{mosads}The chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee
(NRCC) said on MSNBC that recent polling has given the GOP some optimism, but
that it needs McCain’s help.

“We’re linked pretty closely to John McCain,” Cole said, according
to a transcript. “He rallied a little bit last week, closing the polls in a lot
of places. That’s extraordinarily helpful to us. We certainly won’t do well if
he doesn’t.”

The NRCC has relied on McCain at the top of the ballot, because it
hasn’t been able to spend nearly as much money on individual races as its
Democratic counterpart.

The vast majority of those races are being contested in districts
that went for President Bush in 2000 and 2004.

The head of the Republicans’ Senate campaign committee, Sen. John
Ensign (Nev.), has been critical of the McCain campaign for its handling of
economic issues and its usage of vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.