House Republicans vow change after losing 3rd seat

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

May 15, 2008

WASHINGTON - Stunned House Republicans vowed campaign changes yesterday and debated the wisdom of attacking Democratic presidential front-runner Barack Obama in congressional races after their third straight election defeat in once-friendly territory.

"The political atmosphere ... is the worst since Watergate and far more toxic than the fall of 2006 when we lost 30 seats," Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia wrote the leadership in a bluntly worded memo.

"Clearly, I think we've got to do a better job" going into the November elections, said the Republican leader, Rep. John Boehner, one day after Democrat Travis Childers won a Mississippi congressional victory. That seat had been Republican since 1994.

Davis noted that polls show Americans overwhelmingly believe the country is headed down the wrong track, President George W. Bush is unpopular, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee enjoyed a cash advantage of $44 million to $7 million as of March 31.

Childers' victory came one week after Rep. Don Cazayoux won a House seat in the Baton Rouge, La., area that had been Republican for three decades. Recently, Rep. Bill Foster won in Illinois to succeed former House Speaker Dennis Hastert.

All three races were necessitated by resignations by incumbent Republicans.

Childers and Cazayoux both ran as Conservatives, but Republicans sought to link them to Obama in TV ads. Some Republicans said the tactic appeared to backfire, prompting blacks to turn out in unexpectedly large numbers and vote for Democrats.