Two for the Senate

From Politico comes good news for Republicans on two fronts. On the east coast, it looks like George Pataki might run for Hillary Clinton's old Senate seat. If you've forgotten--and I can't blame you if you have, what with everything that's happened since--that seat is now held by former representative Kirsten Gillibrand.

Pataki is going to face an uphill fight, but he has a better shot at winning than any Republican not named "Giuliani." He certainly will do better than Peter King, the OTHER prospective GOP candidate. King is a conservative congressman from Long Island. And while he's managed to win re-election in an increasingly blue district, I doubt he can translate that success into state-wide victory. New York is blue, blue, blue. Anyone to the right of Pataki doesn't have a prayer of victory.

And in the heartland state of Missouri, Republicans have found a formidable candidate to fill the seat of retiring Senator Kit Bond. Roy Blunt, formerly House majority whip, wants to move on up to the Big Chamber. I guess being a backbencher isn't as fun once you've had a taste of power.

Holding the Mizzou senate seat is going to be crucial for Republicans. Missouri is coming dangerously close to being the next Colorado; in the past four years, Democrats have bagged both the governorship and one of the Senate seats. McCain won in 2008, but it was a narrow thing. The fight for Bonds' seat will give the GOP a chance to regroup and counteract the Democratic tide running in the Show-Me State.