Lynn Westmoreland Has High Hopes for GOP in 2010

S.A. Miller of the Washington Times

Conservative and Republican candidates who sat on the sidelines during the Democratic electoral surges of 2006 and 2008 are jumping into the 2010 midterm elections with renewed confidence after President Obama's first year in office.

Rep. Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia, who heads the recruitment effort at the National Republican Congressional Committee, said he doesn't have to go looking for candidates anymore. He just has to answer the phone.

The class of new recruits, who run the gamut from legislative veterans hoping for comebacks to promising newcomers, has Republican officials eyeing significant gains in the House, Senate and governors' mansions after two disastrous election cycles.

In Tennessee's conservative-leaning 8th Congressional District, for example, farmer and gospel singer Stephen Fincher climbed down from his tractor last year to run against 11-term Rep. John S. Tanner, a Democrat who abruptly announced his retirement plans in early December.

The race is now considered wide open.

"My roots run deep in Tennessee, not politics," said Mr. Fincher, who raised an impressive $300,000 in the third quarter campaigning against the agenda of President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat.

Democratic officials say the Republican talk of recruiting prowess is false bravado to mask the party's persistent problems rebuilding credibility after what they describe as the excesses of President George W. Bush's tenure. Republicans, they say, have not raised enough funds for campaigns to recapture Congress and are competing with the conservative "tea party" movement that doesn't necessarily back the party's candidates.

"It's more quantity over quality," said Democratic political consultant Brian Smoot. "There still doesn't seem to be enthusiasm for the Republican brand."
With Democrats holding a 256-178 edge in the House with one current vacancy, Republicans would need a net gain of 40 seats to retake control of the chamber. In the Senate, Democrats hold a 58-40 edge, with two independents who caucus with the majority.

Still, Mr. Westmoreland, who said he once hoped for a 25-seat House gain, now says flipping as many as 45 seats isn't out of the question.