Republicans Could Pick up a Blue Seat Today

With a new retirement announcement every day from veteran Republicans, things are not looking good for the '08 congressional elections. However, the GOP could pick up a blue seat in Massachusetts of all places in a special election today:

LOWELL, Mass. — The working-class towns along Massachusetts’ Merrimack River are an unlikely setting for a potential election shocker that could provide one of the few Republican rays of hope in 2007.

But operatives from both parties acknowledge that Tuesday’s special election match-up between Republican Jim Ogonowski and Democrat Niki Tsongas, to replace retiring Rep. Martin Meehan (D), is unexpectedly close — and that an Ogonowski victory, or even a close call, could give other GOP candidates some important tips on how to win in 2008.

Ogonowski, a farmer, retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and brother of the pilot of American Flight 11, the first plane to hit the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, has predictably distanced himself from President Bush and the unpopular war in Iraq.

But he has also added a theme that could help GOP hopefuls next year, particularly those competing for open seats: a relentless chorus of complaints about the competency of Congress and the culture of Washington in general.

“This election is clearly a referendum on our Congress — it’s not working for us,” Ogonowski said in an interview last week. “I’ve been asking every single group I meet in front of, ‘Anyone here like the job Congress is doing?’ I have yet to have a person in the Fifth District tell me they like it.”

Tsongas is a pretty famous name in Massachusetts politics, but Ogonowski has a compelling story and could certainly ride the general dissatisfaction with congress to a victory tonight. It will be close. The GOP could use a win right now.

UPDATE: It looks like Tsongas will win in a contest much closer than what the polls suggested and must closer than expected in a Massachusetts district.