Biggest 2008 Democratic Majority

Between performing better in 2006 and 2008, what is the biggest Democratic Senate and House majority possible?

What would be the impact thereof?

The Republicans held Tennessee by a thread in 2006. In 2012 Georgia and Kentucky were fairly close races as well.

Perhaps Susan Collins and/or Olympia Snowe could do what Arlen Specter did and change parties?

As for the house, another 20 seats could perhaps flip given various 2008 margins should McCain pick a less exciting running mate (Pawlenty or Romney perhaps?).
 
As for the house, another 20 seats could perhaps flip given various 2008 margins should McCain pick a less exciting running mate (Pawlenty or Romney perhaps?).

For reasons I go into at https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/wi-president-palin.318975/page-3#post-9298478 I don't think the selection of Palin had much effect one way or the other, but at least in the Senate, McCain-Pawlenty might actually help the GOP because it would probably lead to Coleman defeating Franken. (I can't think of any Senate race where Palin made a positive difference for the GOP--she couldn't even stop Begich from winning in Alaska.)
 
I agree that it's odd to think of Palin as helping McCain in some way. I feel like I bring up this TL a lot, considering it's been dormant for years now, but Hope Change and Nutmeg fiddled with the margins about as much as one could, I reckon, and gave a count of 69 Democrats in the Senate, 306 Democrats in the House.
 
For reasons I go into at https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/wi-president-palin.318975/page-3#post-9298478 I don't think the selection of Palin had much effect one way or the other, but at least in the Senate, McCain-Pawlenty might actually help the GOP because it would probably lead to Coleman defeating Franken. (I can't think of any Senate race where Palin made a positive difference for the GOP--she couldn't even stop Begich from winning in Alaska.)

What about McCain being stubborn and picking Lieberman?
 
What about McCain being stubborn and picking Lieberman?

There would be a tremendous backlash among conservatives; they liked Lieberman's hawkishness and liked his being a thorn in the side of the Democrats but they could never accept as part of their ticket someone who was pro-gun-control, pro-gay-rights, and pro-choice on abortion (even voting against the ban on "partial birth" abortion.) "'Lieberman would blow things up,' said the American Conservative Union's David Keene. 'That would be like Obama picking some right-winger that agrees with him on one thing.'" https://www.politico.com/story/2008/08/mccain-weighs-a-lieberman-surprise-012646
 
The only Senate races that the Democrats hypothetically might have won but didn't are probably:
  • Arizona 2006 - Jim Pederson was within single digits of Jon Kyl in some of the polls.
  • Connecticut 2006 - If Lamont had maintained the momentum out of the primary and/or the Republicans had a stronger candidate in the race (thus preventing their voters from opting for Lieberman).
  • Nevada 2006 - Dems nominated Jimmy Carter's son and it seemed like he might have an outside shot, though at this point Harry Reid was still the only Democrat to win a federal statewide race there in recent years.
  • Tennessee 2006 - This one was already noted above.
  • Kentucky 2008 - McConnell only won by 6 points.
  • Maine 2008 - If Collins does or says something controversial she could be vulnerable given the blue wave and the state's slight Democratic lean.
  • Mississippi 2008 Special - Democrats ran former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove and he was within single digits in the polls for a long time. In the end he lost by 10 points.
All of those would have put them at 64 plus Bernie once the Minnesota election was sorted out, though make no mistake that some of these would be big stretches.

Oh, and Texas 2008 if John Cornyn had used this as an actual campaign ad:
 
BTW, it is actually conceivable that Democrats could have a 60-40 majority after the 2012 election, changing solely 2010 and 2012 election results!

(1) IL-2010--Alexi Giannoulias was a horrible candidate--yet he almost won! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_elections_in_Illinois,_2010

(2) PA-2010--Joe Sestak came very close to defeating Pat Toomey. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_elections,_2010

(3) AZ-2012--Richard Carmona came within 3.1 points of Jeff Flake. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_elections,_2012

(4) NV-2012--Despite her ethical problems, Shelly Berkley almost defeated Dean Heller. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_elections,_2012

These are the four easiest, and will get the Democrats to 59 seats. The sixtieth is harder: Feingold's defeat in WI in 2010 wasn't a landslide, but wasn't super-close, either. (Johnson won by 4.84%.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_election_in_Wisconsin,_2010
 
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