Party Chairmen Make Last Case to Voters

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele and Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine were pitted against one another on ABC’s Good Morning America today, in a short debate about expectations for Tuesday’s elections.

Steele said voters like to see candidates who are “prepared to listen to the people and act on concerns and issues that they have in communities across the country.”

He said a Republican victory would be an opportunity to “transition” from government’s redistribution of wealth to “invest that wealth, instead, in small business owners and families and communities who know better how to move us into prosperity.”

Kaine’s rebuttal, on the other hand, was that “Democrats have been doing the heavy lifting” in the tough economic climate, trying to return us to economic growth, while Republicans have been “standing in the way” and “pursuing a partisan agenda.”

Despite overwhelming polling that shows the election will result in a Republican House, Kaine said “we feel the Democrats are doing pretty well.”

Steele did agree that voters are skeptical of both parties right now. “I think there's a serious, you know, concern that the people have more broadly speaking about both parties in the direction they lead.”

“If we don't live up to those expectations,” he said, “then we will have a problem in two years. But right now, the people are looking to us to move in the right direction.”

Speaking about 2012 as well, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn said that while it is unlikely for his party to take control of the upper chamber, "We're going to come back in a significant way."

On NBC's Today Show this morning, Cornyn said that 12 of the 16 competitive races are in states that were carried by President Obama in 2008.

“I think we don't get the majority back, but we have come awfully close and we finish the job in 2012.”

Get the latest news and analysis delivered to your inbox. Sign up for National Journal's morning alert, Wake-Up Call, and afternoon newsletter, The Edge. Subscribe here.