Ensign Charts Course for GOP to Retake Senate

Surveying the 2008 playing field, Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, the man charged with the unenviable task of leading Republicans back to the majority in 2008, lists five seats currently held by his party -- Colorado, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon and Minnesota -- as trouble spots.

All of those, except Colorado, were carried by Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts in the 2004 presidential race, a trend that suggests a potential repeat of the 2006 election, when Democrats successfully tied Republicans in blue states to their unpopular party leaders. Nowhere was that strategy more evident than in Rhode Island, where Sen. Lincoln Chafee, who carried a political last name as good as gold, just couldn't overcome the handicap of an "R" after his last name.

But drawing conclusions from Chafee's loss for Republican prospects in 2008 is wrongheaded for one simple reason, according to Ensign. "I didn't think [Chafee] was a good candidate," he said. "Not taking anything away from Linc, but these are better candidates."

Ensign's surprising candor -- the Senate is the clubbiest of institutions, and speaking ill of even a former colleague is typically frowned upon -- well suits the challenge before him. President Bush's approval rating remains mired in the mid-30s, the war in Iraq grows more unpopular by the day, and to top it off, Republicans must defend 21 seats in the next election while Democrats are playing defense on 12.

"There wasn't a long line of people who wanted this job," acknowledged Ensign, who was elected without opposition as the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee late last year.

In some ways, Ensign benefits from the perception within Washington that Sen. Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina, the immediate past NRSC chair, was a failure in most important ways, including fundraising and candidate recruitment.

Dole's NRSC was massively outraised by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee under the leadership of Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York in 2006. Schumer's back at the helm for 2008, and this time he's in the majority.

"I'm not competing against Elizabeth Dole. I'm competing against Chuck Schumer," said Ensign, who says he "ripped this place apart from a business perspective" with the aim of increasing efficiency.

On the recruitment front, Ensign is focusing the majority of his time on finding challengers to Democratic incumbents in Louisiana, South Dakota, Montana and Iowa because those senators have faced tough races before and there is enough of a Republican tilt to make him optimistic.

Those efforts, which are still in the early stages, depend heavily on whether the electoral landscape begins to even out heading into 2008.

"You cannot predict the political landscape a year and a half from now," said Ensign. "All you can do is focus on the things you can control."

Two days: Four former Senate majority leaders -- Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), George Mitchell (D-Maine), Howard Baker (R-Tenn.) and Bob Dole (R-Kan.) -- announce the formation of the Bipartisan Policy Center. The new organization's goal? "Improving the quality of American discourse." Good luck.

76 days: Philadelphia Democrats get together to choose their nominee for mayor. The field includes two sitting congressmen -- Chaka Fattah and Bob Brady -- who apparently believe running the City of Brotherly Love is more interesting than serving in the Democratic House majority.