Just got back from a briefing by the National Republican Congressional Committee; as many would expect, they were bullish about their prospects in November.

The reporters there asked at least four times whether former president George W. Bush would be campaigning for House GOP candidates. NRCC chairman Pete Sessions, a Texas Republican, seemed to grow a bit exasperated at the reporters’ focus on Bush.*

Rep. Greg Walden (R., Ore.), the deputy chairman of the NRCC, noted, “[Democrats] can spin, they can sing, they can dance naked in the streets saying it’s about Bush, but he’s not on the ballot this year.”

Sessions characterized the midterms as “a referendum on the success of the Obama-Pelosi agenda. Mrs. Pelosi is, I am sure, ecstatic about her success . . . We are positioned to outperform history. It’s tough for Democrats because their agenda is failing the American people. Government jobs and government unions have done well, but people back home haven’t done so well.”

They noted the NRCC raised more money from January to June than it did in all of 2009, and that they tend to pick up steam in the latter half of election years. Of course, Sessions noted, “We learned in 2006 that money isn’t everything.”

*As one of my Twitter followers joked, “Bush’s campaign plans must have been the big topic on Journo-List today.” (Yes, Journo-List is defunct.)