Republicans bullish about chances as mid-term poll looms

The Republican Party chief yesterday forecast a wave of anti-Democratic voting in the United States mid-term polls, while his Democratic counterpart said a strong get-out-the-vote effort would hold back losses and help prevent a Republican takeover of Congress.

Nine days before elections that will decide whether President Barack Obama will face a Republican Congress in the last two years of his term in office, Republican Party chairman Michael Steele said he has seen energy behind the party's candidates in his nationwide travels: "I think you are going to see a wave, an unprecedented wave, on election day that is going to surprise a lot of people."

Mr Steele added that he believes "absolutely" that Republicans will become the majority party in the House of Representatives and thus oust Speaker Nancy Pelosi from her post. He was less certain that Republicans will take over the Senate.

Tim Kaine, the Democratic National Committee chairman, predicted Democrats would retain power in both chambers. He argued that early voting figures from some states and voter turnout at rallies for Democratic candidates were evidence that his party would avoid the disaster some analysts are predicting,

"We've got work to do, but we think we can do it," he said.

In one mid-October survey of people likely to vote, all signs pointed to a Republican victory on 2 November: 50 per cent of people said they would back the Republican candidate in their House district, while 43 per cent say they planned to back the Democrat candidate. But the Republican advantage has slightly narrowed in recent weeks.

Republicans need a 40-seat gain to take over the House. By some estimates at least 75 House seats may change hands, most of them held by Democrats. An additional two dozen other races for Democratic-controlled seats have tightened in recent weeks.

In the Senate, Democrats are seen as having a better chance of holding their majority even though 37 seats are up for election. Democrats currently have 57 seats, but are expected to lose some seats to Republicans. However, it is unlikely the Republicans will pick up the ten seats needed for a majority.

Mr Steele said Republicans hope for a better relationship between Mr Obama and a Republican-controlled Congress than they have seen with Democrats in the majority in the House and the Senate.Mr Kaine said some economic issues might draw bi-partisan support once the election is behind the two parties.

Mr Obama, meanwhile, was catching his breath in the White House yesterday after a four-day campaign dash through five states - a hard-hitting series of appearances that Democrats hope will hold back the predicted Republican wave.

The president's message varied little as he moved across the country, telling rallies and fundraising events that voters faced a choice between Republican economic policies "that got us into this mess" or the Democrats' unfinished struggle to lift the US out of the deepest fiscal malaise seen in decades.

"All they've got is the same old stuff that they were peddling over the last decade," he said of Republicans during a rally on Saturday in Minneapolis. "I just don't want to relive the past."