house races

Steven SmithIf Democrats want to expand their House and Senate majorities, they need to protect new members who were elected from Republican-leaning districts while showing they can govern by passing a limited popular agenda: “Satisfying the base while appealing to moderates is squarely the central strategic problem for both parties in the new Congress,” suggests Steven S. Smith, a congressional expert at Washington University in St. Louis.

Campaign 2004 will be a rough and tumble, says Steven S. Smith, Ph.D.While most 2004 campaign coverage remains fixated on the wild and crazy race for the Democratic presidential nomination, the 2004 election also promises to be especially challenging for Democrats seeking seats in the House and Senate. The Democrats are in for a fight in 2004, and the liberal and more moderate factions of the party may likely be their own worst enemy if they engage in a political and philosophical battle for the hearts and minds of voters. “The Democrats are in a bad way in 2004,” said Steven Smith, Ph.D., an authority on congressional politics and the Kate M. Gregg Professor of Social Sciences in Arts & Sciences.