Meeting with reporters today, National Republican Congressional Committee chief Tom Cole, an Oklahoma Republican, said yesterday's narrow Democratic victory in Massachusetts shows that the national political landscape is changing, and that some Democratic strategies employed successfully in 2006 won't work again.

"I suspect [Americans] are in what I've called before a firing mood," Cole said, noting that Republican candidate Jim Ogonowski successfully labeled his Democratic opponent, Rep.-elect Niki Tsongas, as a status quo candidate with the backing of Washington Democrats. The strategy, he said, is one Republican challengers will use next year. "I tell candidates all the time, 'You ought to be running against all of Washington, D.C., and that includes us.'"

The results yesterday show Democrats blew their chance to make a good first impression on the country, Cole said. 'The American people think they've not governed effectively." And if voters are in a firing mood, both parties will suffer, as in 1992 when dozens of incumbents lost with no significant change in the makeup of the House. But because of sheer numbers, Cole argued, Democrats should be nervous. "They've got more incumbents than we do, and they run this institution," he said.

Cole hopes for an atmosphere much like 1992. "I just like the way the battlefield is tilted," he said. "We need a battlefield with a lot of ambiguity ... I feel better about the things I can't control than about the things I hypothetically can." Pointing to the more than 60 districts Democrats hold which voted for President Bush in either 2000, 2004 or both, Cole said the presidential race next year should help some of those seats return to the Republican fold.

Despite recent finance reports showing Cole's NRCC trailing its Democratic counterpart in money available, Cole pointed out that the gap wasn't nearly as big as some Republicans feared. The DCCC has pulled in more than $40 million, while the NRCC has raised more than $30 million, despite a bigger debt it had to pay off. "We've raised that money in the worst of times for us, and they've raised that money in the best of times for them," he said.

Still, with less money in the bank, spending decisions will be hard to make, he said. "We're going to be pretty ruthless in the decisions we make in terms of money because I don't have enough money to be generous."