Sunday morning "Talking Heads" Lineup for 10-10-2010

George Wenschhof

This Sunday the discussion will be all about the mid term elections which are now only a little over three weeks away. Expect the announcement by National Security Adviser he was leaving the end of the month to be brought up as he is a part of a handful of White House senior advisers to President Obama to have exited prior to serving two years.

Two debates between candidates locked in close U.S. Senate contests in Illinois and Connecticut will take place and will be worth a watch. NBC "Meet The Press" has Democratic candidate Alexi Giannoulias and Republican Mark Kirk who are battling for the old Obama Senate seat in Illinois. Kirk is leading Giannoulias 44-41% in recent polls. Both candidates have baggage, which explains why so many voters (15%) remain undecided. It is not easy for a Democrat to lose in Illinois, so this race is far from over.

ABC "This Week" has Democrat Richard Blumenthal and Republican Linda McMahon who are vying for the U.S. Senate seat in Connecticut. Again, both candidates have negative baggage with McMahon the wrestling promoter spending huge sums of her own money and Blumenthal answering why he misspoke in regard to his military service time spent in Viet Nam.

In spite of their baggage, look to see both Democrats win their elections.

CBS "Face The Nation" has White House Senior adviser David Axelrod facing off against former RNC chair Ed Gillespie. Neither of these two have engaging personalities, but Axelrod is very good at sticking to the party "talking points". He will hammer away at Republican obstructionism and it was the Republican Party that put the country in the ditch while saying voters will not want to go backward. Gillispie will counter with charges of a failed 800 billion Stimulus bill and a stagnate economy with high unemployment is reason to vote for a change. Axelrod will win this one. Of note, is embattled RNC chair Michael Steele's absence on the Sunday morning talk shows.

DCCC chair Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Kevin McCarthy (R-Calf.),a member of the NRCC will debate how many seats Republicans will win in the House while appearing on CNN "State of The Union". Republicans need a net gain of 39 seats to gain control. Depending on who you talk to and what polls one reads, there remains 40-60 seats in play. Democrats will lose seats as is historically the case for the political party in the White House, but I would not bet against Van Hollen and the assistance from the DCCC.

Fox News Sunday has more red meat as Democratic strategist Joe Trippi sqaures off against Republican spin master Carl Rove. More discussion on the House races will take place between Republican rising start Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.). They are the majority and minority whips in the House. Both are good at articulating their points, but look for Wasserman to best Cantor easily - she is that good.

In the lone departure from the impending mid term elections, former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf appears on ABC "This Week". Current Pakistan President Asif Zardari is very weak and Pakistan/U.S. relations are on edge after numerous U.S. drone attacks and a recent U.S. helicopter attack killed Pakistani soldiers. The main supply route through Pakistan to Afghanistan has been closed to the U.S. resulting in columns of tankers stranded in Pakistan. The tankers have been an easy target for extremists and many have been destroyed. This is a little reported story with significance. Look to see it brought up for discussion.

NBC "Meet The Press" - Alexi Giannoulias and Mark Kirk

CBS "Face The Nation" - David Axerol and ed Gillespie

ABC "This Week" - Richard Blumenthal and Linda McMahon

CNN "State of The Union" - Chris Van Hollen, Kevin McCarthy

Fox News Sunday - Debbier Wasserman-Schultz, Eric Cantor, Karl Rove, Joe Trippi

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