Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

Driven by increasing anger at Democratic policies and by recent Supreme Court decisions unshackling corporate contributions, business and conservative groups are preparing a flood of campaign money to try to wrest control of Congress from the Democrats. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the biggest collection point for corporate contributions, has increased its spending for the congressional election in November from $35 million in 2008 to a projected $75 million this year. Officials say it may go even higher.

Republicans got a wake-up call this week. For months, the GOP has been buoyed by the notion that 2010 will be a big year, delivering control of the House and perhaps even the Senate in November. But Tuesday's election results — arguably the best campaign day for Democrats since President Obama's victory in 2008 — suggest the climb back to a majority may be steeper than Republicans thought. Democrats nominated probably their strongest Senate contender in Pennsylvania, where Rep. Joe Sestak eliminated party-switcher Arlen Specter.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is doing everything it can to defeat certain targeted Republicans around the country. All part of the perpetual PR combat between parties. One of those targeted Republicans is Dana Rohrabacher, a former speechwriter for President Reagan and an 11-term Republican who represents California's 46th Congressional District, basically built around Long Beach and nearby beach areas. Need any proof of Washington's basic cluelessness these days?

As President Obama's approval ratings sag and the mood of voters sours, some Democratic congressional candidates are distancing themselves from the White House, with the back-channel blessing of party officials. The candidates are positioning themselves as independent voices no less frustrated with the Obama administration than people back home. Rep. Dennis Cardoza, a Democrat who represents a California Central Valley district burdened by high unemployment and home foreclosures, said in an interview: "The Obama administration has failed miserably in trying to solve the problem."

Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a nine-term congressman from South Florida, is a member of a political dynasty that reaches back to the Batista regime in Cuba. To the Cuban American community in his district, "he's the equivalent of a Kennedy," said David Wasserman, a political analyst in Washington. So there was some historical coincidence at work this week when Diaz-Balart, a Republican, and Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, a Democrat from Rhode Island and the son of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, both announced their retirement from the House.

California Republicans once expected to cruise to reelection in Congress are now locked in fierce battles to retain their seats, as the nation's economic crisis propels Democrats fighting for districts they have not held in a generation. Democrats and Republicans alike are all but certain that Barack Obama will easily win California's 55 electoral votes. Some think he could help carry one or more Democratic challengers to Congress. Democrats already hold 34 of the state's 53 congressional seats.

One of Southern California's most long-shot congressional races just got a little more interesting. Figures released this week show that Debbie Cook, an upstart Democratic challenger for the congressional seat held by Republican Dana Rohrabacher, raised more money in campaign contributions in the last three months than the popular 10-term incumbent. It was the second straight quarter in which Cook received more campaign donations than Rohrabacher, though he has far more cash in the bank.

Barack Obama raised $55 million in February, $20 million more than Hillary Rodham Clinton and a record sum for a single month in any presidential campaign, aides to the Democratic candidate said Thursday. Obama's success reflected a sharp resurgence of Democratic fundraising. New numbers showed Republicans lagging behind their rivals and well below their efforts of four years ago. Much of the difference came from the Internet.

Rahm Emanuel was seething. The head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee was hurtling down an asphalt road in upstate New York on the 47th trip of his ferocious effort to win control of the House. A lecture, even from political consultant James Carville, was the last thing he needed. In just 12 days, his campaign would end either in a historic victory -- a triumph that almost no one believed possible when he took the job nearly two years ago -- or in colossal failure.

Heading into the last days of the fight for control of Congress, both political parties moved Thursday to expand the battlefield, trying to revive campaigns that had been seen as lost causes. President Bush traveled to Montana to campaign for beleaguered GOP Sen. Conrad Burns, launching a final midterm drive for Republicans in mostly conservative states and districts. National Democrats announced Thursday that they were pouring $1 million into the effort to defeat Sen.