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KLMNO ELECTION 2010


Vilified elsewhere, Pelosi is safe at home Support for House speaker is strong in her district even as some fellow Democrats keep their distance


In the frenetic final week of


BY PHILIP RUCKER IN SAN FRANCISCO


I


f this is supposed to be a wave election, ushering in newly emboldened Republican stars


and pushing out to sea old Demo- cratic stalwarts, then the wave clearly has not reached San Fran- cisco. It seems that this might be the last pocket of America that still loves Nancy Pelosi. Across huge swaths of the


country, the Democratic House speaker has been vilified in hotly contested congressional races, in- cluding in one just 50 miles east of here in California’s Central Valley. Yet in her home town of San Francisco, Pelosi is as revered as ever, with the only whiff of disapproval of her in this over- whelmingly liberal coastal city being that she has not pursued a progressive enough agenda in Washington. “I figure if everybody else hates


her, I probably love her,” said SteveMalik, 45, a systems admin- istrator here. “We go on road trips, my wife and I, and we did one in the last half of September, and once you get away from the coast, things become very, very conservative. You see ‘Nancy Pelosi is evil,’ ‘Barack Obama is evil,’ ‘Democrats are the Nazi party.’ ”


Sunrise support CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES


GOPSenate candidate Christine O’Donnell, who is backed by the tea party, holds a news briefing at Buckley’s Restaurant in Centreville, Del., in the final stretch of the race.


THEPALINTRACKER


Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin has backed 60 candidates in the midterm elections. The endorsements, many of which were made via Facebook and Twitter, probably will be used as an indicator of Palin’s political power heading into the 2012 presidential election. You can follow along on election night at http://wapo.st/palin-tracker.


BYTHENUMBERS 9


A newQuinnipiacUniversity poll shows Democrat Richard Blumenthal leading Republican LindaMcMahon 53 percent


to 44 percent among likely voters in the Senate race in Connecticut.


29 10


The percentage of likely voters who viewHouse SpeakerNancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) favorably, according to


a newWashington Post-ABCNews poll.


A Field Poll shows Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown leading RepublicanMeg Whitman 49


percent to 39 percent among likely voters in California.


CONSERVATIVESEXPLOIT DEMOCRATS’PHONEBANK Conservative pranksters are trying to use a Democratic group’s


online phone-bank system for their own purposes by calling the voters and urging them to vote Republican. The virtual phone bank is a project of Organizing for America, a


JOHN MOORE /GETTY IMAGES


Alaskan tea party activists turned out before sunriseMonday to put on a rush-hour show of support in Anchorage for JoeMiller, the Republican candidate forU.S. Senate.Miller is in a tight three-way race for the seat held by Sen. LisaMurkowski,whomhe defeated in the primary.His opponents are Democrat ScottMcAdams andMurkowski, who is running a write-in campaign.


The Fix: Trail Mix CHRIS CILLIZZA ON THEMIDTERMELECTIONS Excerpts from washingtonpost.com/thefix


Not all voters want to know ID of ad funders Fewer than half of moderate


and conservative Democrats in a newWashington Post-ABCNews poll said that it is very important for them to know who is paying for campaign ads, a number that suggests that the intense White House focus on the issue may not change the minds of many voters in swing districts on Tuesday. Overall, 48 percent said that knowing the identity of who is funding campaign commercials is very important, while 30 percent called it “somewhat” important. Twenty-two percent of likely voters said that knowing the funders behind ads is “not so” important (11 percent) or “not at all” important (11 percent). For much of the past two


months, the WhiteHouse has worked to focus the public— and the media—on the heavy spending by conservative groups such as American Crossroads that are dropping tens of millions of dollars on the election without having to disclose much information about their donors. Democrats argue


that the non-transparent spending is evidence of Republicans trying to buy the election.


According to the Post-ABC


poll, the group most responsive to that message is, not surprisingly, liberal Democrats —with 60 percent of the party’s base voters saying that it is very important for them to know who is funding the ads. But swing constituencies


retain far less passionate feelings about their need to know. Just 46 percent of moderate/conservative Democrats say it’s very important for them to know the funding sources of the ads, and a similar proportion of independents (48 percent) say the same. Interestingly, people ages 18 to


29, who were a critical part of the Obama victory coalition in 2008, were even less interested in the transparency question than the swing constituency— with just three in 10 (31 percent) calling it very important to know who pays for campaign ads. The data, in other words,


suggest that the WhiteHouse’s push on the issue could,


marginally, excite the party’s base but that the issue isn’t one that resonates strongly with voters in the ideological middle. That could spell trouble on


Tuesday as, particularly in the House, Democrats are trying to defend seats heavily populated by moderate-to-conservative voters.


Republican victory appearsmore certain


The projections of a Republican rout in theHouse continued to grow bigger on Tuesday. The Cook Political Report has moved four more DemocraticHouse seats into the “lean Republican” category, making 29 seats where Republicans are favored, 49 toss- ups and 120 total Democratic seats in play. Among the newest toss-up


seats are those held by Reps. James L. Oberstar (D-Minn.), MikeMcIntyre (D-N.C.), Rick Boucher (D-Va.) and Chellie Pingree (D-Maine). Meanwhile, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll onMonday predicted that Republicans are poised to win about 53 seats and take a 231-204 majority in the


House. And the GOP took an unprecedented lead in a matchup between a generic Republican and a generic Democrat. The newest Gallup poll


showed voters choosing Republicans over Democrats 55 percent to 40 percent, which is higher than in any Gallup poll of likely voters in history. Election observers by and large are predicting that Republicans are a lock to take the 39 seats needed to reclaim theHouse.


The Fix election prediction contest


We want to hear Fixistas’


predictions. All entriesMUST be in the comments section on The Fix by no later than 7 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday—that’s when the first polls close in Kentucky and Indiana. The winner will receive an


official Fix T-shirt and will have his/her picks featured in a Fix post soon after the election. For more details, go to


http://wapo.st/fix-predix. chris.cillizza@wpost.com


Staff writers Aaron Blake and Felicia Sonmez contributed to this report.


BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/GETTY IMAGES


DemocraticNational Committee Chairman Timothy M. Kaine, left, walks with other officials fromMarine One on the South Lawnof the WhiteHouse after stumping for Democrats.


DEMSHOPETOLIMIT LOSSESINFINALHOURS


Democratic and Republican party leaders put on their best


game facesMonday, making eleventh-hour arguments on the eve of midterm elections that seem certain to curb—if not end— Democratic control of Congress. “We’re hoping now for a fresh start with the American people,”


said Republican Party ChairmanMichael S. Steele. “If we don’t live up to those expectations, then we’ll have a problem in two years.” His Democratic counterpart, Timothy M. Kaine, said he thinks


Democrats will do better than some experts have contended, arguing that Republicans have been obstructionists who “can’t see beyond the end of their ‘no.’ ”


kolawolee@washpost.com


grass-roots group that grewout of Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. It allows anyone to go to Call.BarackObama.com to instantly see the name, sex, phone number, city of residence and polling place address of a voter identified by the organization as a potential supporter of Democratic candidates. The aim of the project is to give volunteers an easy way to help


get out the vote by calling prospective voters anywhere, anytime, with minimal hassle. But the fact that anyone with a computer and an Internet connection can viewvoter information has raised privacy questions, and some conservative bloggers and tea party activists are using the system for their own ends.


midterm campaigning, The Washington Post dashed across America — seven states in seven days — listening to what voters have to say about this volatile moment in American politics. In many corners of the country, from Florida’s swing Interstate 4 corridor to a working-class Phila- delphia suburb to a foreclosure- ravaged neighborhood outside Las Vegas, voters were disillu- sioned, angry and frustrated. Overandover, they said they have lost faith in their government and their leaders, particularly Pelosi and President Obama. Pelosi is such a divisive figure


that some embattledHouse Dem- ocrats are actively running against her. A few have said they would not support her as speaker again. Yet here in San Francisco,


which Pelosi has represented in the House since 1987, voters in- terviewed on Sunday at bustling Union Square seem a world away. Stewart Brown was walking


Newton, his Chihuahua pug, when asked whether he is a Democrat or a Republican. “A Republican? I don’t think


there are any Republicans here,” Brown, 37, an audio engineer, said, looking across the park. “There might be Republicans vis- iting. I met one, my residence


manager, but he’s the only one. But I’ve only lived here for about 10 years.” While voters in such places as


McKee, Ky., in the Appalachian foothills, lamented a government that they think is tilting danger- ously toward socialism, Brown and other voters here said they wish Pelosi had pushed a more liberal agenda, such as including the public insurance option in this spring’s health-care bill. “Because of the vilification and


strong opposition, she’s having a tough time pushing the progres- sive agenda, an agenda that I think people here in San Francis- co would like to see,” Brown said. He and others said the right’s


vilification of Pelosi is unwar- ranted. “She is not the devil incarnate


that everybody makes her out to be,” saidMike Lowe, 75, a retired television executive, pausing while reading a book on his Kindle. “She’s a forthright indi- vidual who’s tried to do her best for the country. It’s a job I wouldn’t want because you’re in everybody’s gun sights.” Malik said he is proud of Pelosi


but wishes she were less concilia- tory with Republicans. “I feel like what’s happened with a lot of the stuff right now is that the Demo- cratic side is making concessions to win Republican support, and


the Republicans aren’t coming,” Malik said. Zaria Gunn, 19, an art student


here, said she plans to vote for the first time on Tuesday—for Pelosi and for Democrats down the ballot. She defended Pelosi and said she wishes the changes that the speaker and Obama have tried to implement could come easier. “I don’t think it’s fair that


Republicans are blocking the changes,” Gunn said, citing cli- mate-change legislation as an ex- ample. “That’s not cool.” “I’m just waiting for change,”


Gunn added, taking a break from filling out retail job applications at a park table. “I feel like a lot of the times my generation doesn’t do anything becausewe’re kind of overwhelmed by the world that we’re led into. It just feels like it’s crumbling.” Unlike in so many parts of America, the voters interviewed here said they think Pelosi is a good representative for the inter- ests of the nation. “I think she’s speaking from


her heart, and what she feels is right,” said Frank DeStefano, 58, a hotel executive here. “Sometimes,” he added, “I


don’t have a lot of confidence in the politics of the rest of the country.”


ruckerp@washpost.com POSTPOLITICS.COM


SEVEN STATES IN SEVEN DAYS: SAN FRANCISCO STILL LOVES PELOSI


6In the final week of the campaign, reporter Philip Rucker makes a mad dash across the country to find out what voters


have to say. At his last stop, in San Francisco, Rucker reports that althoughHouse SpeakerNancy Pelosi’s popularity numbers are low nationwide, she is still loved in her home district.


programming mix-up. Wewill get back to you . . .”


“


—Christine O’Donnell, the Republican Senate candidate in Delaware, tweeting after the public-access television station Delaware 28 did not air the 30-minute ad her campaign had produced. The station and the O’Donnell campaign disagree on why the spot didn’t air—the station said it didn’t receive the video in time and the campaign described it as a “misunderstanding.” The ad ran onMonday and is slated to run again on Tuesday.


LOISROMANO’SCAMPAIGNHIGHLIGHTS SAYWHAT?


Okay . . . this isNOTour show! Must be a


Visit postpolitics.com for the latest midterm election news, opinions, blogs, photo galleries, interactive features and more.


TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2010


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