Target: Nancy Pelosi

It’s no surprise that probable candidate Alan Nunnelee will spend the next 16 months criticizing Rep. Childers for supporting Nancy Pelosi in 2008. After all, the San Francisco liberal is one of the least popular politicians (in office) in the country, and however unpopular she is throughout the country, you would have to imagine she is even less popular in the First District.

At the Red/Blue blog, Jere Nash made the point that attacking Pelosi, Barack Obama, and the national Democrat Party in general will be a successful strategy if the GOP can “nationalize” this election; similar to 1994. And the challenge for Childers will be to make sure votes know a vote for Travis Childers is a vote for Travis Childers. Nunnelee needs to remind voters that a vote for Travis Childers is a vote for Nancy Pelosi.

I am sure Childers will campaign on what his supporters call his independent streak. A favorite line of his is to say that he votes for the best interest of his district, and not any specific party.

The interesting thing is that Republicans are generally more open to moderate-to-conservative Congressional Democrats than Democrats are with GOP Representatives. Childers is one of about 50 Democrats representing a district carried by John McCain in 2008. I believe Republicans hold just a handful of seats in districts that preferred Obama.

This was not always the case. In 2006, and to a lesser extent in 2008, Democrats ran against Republicans in the Northeast who had pretty moderate images. While constituents may have liked there own Congressman, they did not necessarily like Pres. Bush or the GOP control of Congress (before 2006). As a result, almost all moderate GOP House members were wiped out in the past two election cycles.

Of course it was six years into the Bush presidency before those voters held their Congressman accountable for their party. Can Nunnelee force voters to hold Childers accountable for his party after just two years?

Childers’ supporters will denounce the nationalization strategy as a political ploy. I suppose it is; after all this is politics we are talking about.