House GOP leaders say they can win majority

“Can we win the majority? Yes we can,” said Rep. Kevin
McCarthy (Calif.), who heads the House GOP recruitment effort.

He and House GOP Whip Eric Cantor (Va.) both offered
optimism at a Thursday breakfast with reporters in the wake of the big win for
their party in Massachusetts on Tuesday night.

{mosads}Both have previously voiced the possibility that the GOP could
win back the House despite the number of victories that would take. There are
257 Democrats in the House compared to 178 Republicans.

But the GOP confidence seems to be growing with Tuesday’s
victory by Republican Scott Brown in the Massachusetts Senate race. That’s helped
motivate additional candidates vying for seats in traditionally Democratic
strongholds, the Republicans said.

McCarthy said Brown carried seven of the 10 Congressional districts in Massachusetts, and noted that none are represented by a Republican.

“He carried [Democratic Rep.] Barney Frank’s district,” McCarthy said. “It
tells me at a macro level that we have the ability to win the majority.”’

McCarthy said the number of Democratic retirements would
prove key to the outcome.

Five House Democrats have announced they’ll retire at the
end of the year and are not running for another office, including Reps. John
Tanner (Tenn.), Brian Baird (Wash.), Dennis Moore (Kan.) and Vic Snyder
(Ark.).

McCarthy told reporters that he called a number of potential
candidates on the day after Brown’s victory. One of those recruits, Richard
Hanna, announced on Wednesday he’d enter the 2010 race.

Hanna lost in 2008 by to Democratic Rep. Michael Acruri
(N.Y).

Democrats largely dismissed Brown’s victory as a Coakley
loss. They said their candidate was a poor one and took for granted a win in
the liberal Bay State.

But Cantor said Massachusetts, coupled with GOP gubernatorial
victories in Virginia and New Jersey, spoke to a general disdain at the agenda
being pursued by Democrats in Washington.