California GOP Victory: A Harbinger of November?

June 11, 2006 — -- Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-N.Y., chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, who is charged with retaining the Republican majority in the House, predicted that the Republicans are "going to win the House … district by district, from the ground up."

Reynolds made his prediction during an exclusive debate on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," after Republicans won a congressional seat vacated by former Rep. Randall "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., who is serving an eight-year jail sentence after pleading guilty to federal charges including conspiracy to commit bribery and accepting $2.4 million in bribes.

While conceding that "there's no silver medal for second," Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the association of Democrats attempting to re-take the majority in the House, said the California election nevertheless offers some encouragement to Democrats.

"The Republican Party spent $5 million in an overwhelmingly Republican district [and] eked out a victory," Emanuel said.

The special election in California, viewed by some pundits as a bellwether of the national midterm elections this November, pitted Republican Brian Bilbray, a former congressman, against Democrat Francine Busby, a local school board member, in a traditionally Republican district. The seat in California's 50th Congressional district was held by Cunningham since 1991.

Busby, a relative political novice, received 44 percent of the vote, approximately the same amount garnered by Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., in the 2004 presidential election. Bilbray returns to Congress after a five-year absence.

Emanuel said Bilbray won, in part, because he "attacked the president, of his own party," on immigration.

"All politics is local," Reynolds said. "It was a House campaign about [local issues]."

On other topics, the pair continued to squabble.

Referring to a resolution obtained by ABC News that reaffirms the U.S. commitment to the global war on terror and the effort in Iraq, Emanuel said, "One good casualty in this war on terror would be partisanship."

Emanuel decried the effort as a political maneuver intended to force House Democrats into the uncomfortable position of defining their support for U.S. troops and possible opposition to the war.

"I haven't seen a clear opinion from the House Democrats on this issue or any issue," Reynolds said.

When asked by ABC News chief Washington correspondent George Stephanopoulos whether or not the issue of Iraq may cost Republican seats in the fall, Reynolds said, "I look to experts in the Pentagon and the president to run the war. … The races are all about local races."

Emanuel said the Republicans in the House have "rubber stamped" the president's agenda on the war and other issues, insisting that a Democrat-led House would bring more oversight and accountability.

"We're going to demand that they stop cutting and running," Emanuel said. "Yes, you do leave the fighting to generals, but Congress has a responsibility and a right to ask questions."

Emanuel declined to criticize reports that Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., a decorated Marine veteran who six months ago rocked Congress with his call for the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, is considering a challenge to Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., currently the House's second-top ranking Democrat, if the Democrats manage to win a majority in November.

On the controversial issue of a constitutional ban on gay marriage, which will soon be up for a vote in the House but failed to pass the Senate, Reynolds said, "I think it's just another vote in Congress." He indicated his support for the measure, saying he did not fear that such a vote might create political trouble for northeastern Republicans, once again, repeating, "I look at each race as an individual matter."

Emanuel criticized fellow Republicans because he said that "for six years, the Republicans have literally sat and watched," instead of challenging the Bush administration's policies.

"We're focused on local elections to make sure we win every seat, seat-by-seat from the ground up," Reynolds said.

George Stephanopoulos's entire interview with the House campaign chairs charged with taking or defending the House majority can be viewed at "This Week's" Web page at www.abcnews.com.