Contact: Dan Hubbard at (202) 783-9360 or dhubbard@nbaa.org
ORLANDO, FL, October 19, 2006 – Famed political couple James Carville and Mary Matalin treated a capacity crowd at the National Business Aviation Association’s (NBAA’s) 59th Annual Meeting & Convention to a spicy mix of serious political forecasting and ready-for-prime-time political humor.
Matalin led off by pronouncing that the 2006 midterm elections around the country will be all about “turnout, turnout, turnout.” She pointed out that the Republican Party has “more than half of its resources left to spend in these last three weeks” in races nationwide where voters tend to focus on matters of local concern.
Husband James Carville spoke for the Democrats by providing the audience with a “cheat sheet” numerical guide to election night 2006, citing the tallies in both houses of Congress that his party will have to win to wrest control from the Republicans, how many races for the House and Senate are “capable of going either way” and what are likely outcomes.
On the Senate, Carville would say only: “Watch New Jersey. If the Republicans win New Jersey it’s highly unlikely that [the Democrats] will win the Senate.” (In New Jersey, a Democrat incumbent, Robert Menendez, is facing a strong challenge from Republican Tom Kean Jr., son of a former New Jersey governor.) Secondary races to watch for the Democrats include those to pick up the six seats needed to control the Senate out of the eight that are contested, including Missouri, Tennessee and Virginia.
On the House side, he said the Democrats have to win 15 seats out of 45 that are considered contested, where Republicans currently hold 40 of those seats. “Democrats only have to win 15 of that 40, a more highly likely outcome” than the uphill climb the incumbents are facing in the current climate, Carville said.
On one point this political odd couple enthusiastically agreed – the need for more voters to follow the issues and take an active part in the political process. Matalin called these “really big times – transformative times” for the next generation of Americans. Carville agreed that 2008, in particular, will be unique in particular because there is no obvious Republican choice to succeed George W. Bush.
But to the general aviation audience he had this message: “The airlines are coming after you with these [user] fees” and they represent a very powerful force in Washington. He urged them to get involved, contact their members of Congress, make their voices heard. “Don’t you just get rolled by these carriers,” said the veteran political strategist.
The appearance by Matalin and Carville set the stage for the user fee panel discussion that followed, hosted by NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen and including leaders from four other general aviation organizations that focused on the airlines proposal to shift $2 billion in costs to general aviation and seize control of the aviation system from Congress. Review the related user fee panel press release at http://web.nbaa.org/public/news/pr/2006/20061018-053.php.
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Founded in 1947 and based in Washington, DC, the National Business Aviation Association, Inc. (NBAA) is the leading organization for companies that rely on general aviation aircraft to help make their businesses more efficient, productive and successful. The Association represents more than 7,000 companies and provides more than 100 products and services to the business aviation community, including the NBAA Annual Meeting & Convention, the world’s largest civil aviation trade show. Learn more about NBAA at www.nbaa.org.
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.