McConnell: Chances are slim to win back Senate in ’08

Despite rock-bottom approval ratings for Congress, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Wednesday the chances are “rather slim” that Republicans will win a Senate majority in 2008.

“There’s no question that if you just look at the numbers, we have a daunting task,” McConnell said at a Wednesday news conference on the eve of the year-end congressional adjournment. “I think the chances of you all calling me the majority leader a year from now are rather slim because of the number situation.”

{mosads}Out of 35 Senate seats up for reelection in 2008, 23 belong to Republicans, and Democrats either are leading or competitive in four of the five open seats in which no appointed incumbent is seeking reelection.

McConnell said Republicans have a “good chance of staying roughly where we are” with 49 GOP senators. But even if their minority slips to 45, 46 or 47 members, he said, “Senate Republicans will be able to have an impact on public policy.”

McConnell, who is also up for reelection in 2008, has long acknowledged the difficulties of retaking the majority next year.

But on Wednesday he argued that the Republicans seeking reelection would be in strong positions because they have shaped a number of high-profile bills that have been sent to the president’s desk, such as the newly enacted energy law, and have blocked “terrible” bills, such as a mandate to bring troops home from Iraq.

“Neither side totally dominates the Senate, no matter who may be up or down in the numbers,” McConnell said. “And you really have to meet in the middle to do something, and we've been doing that the last couple of weeks, which is why I predict the ratings of Congress are likely to inch up.”

McConnell also said that whoever the Democratic presidential nominee is, he or she could be a “hard sell” in states with competitive Senate races, which will help the respective GOP Senate candidate.

Democrats scoff at that notion, arguing that Republicans will be haunted at the polls for McConnell’s unprecedented use of Senate rules to block popular legislation from becoming law.