Arizona only rates a few mentions in the long analysis U.S. Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) penned regarding the Republican Party's current woes, a memo designed to address the rampant anxiety prevailing among GOP incumbents and candidates this cycle. Yet both of Arizona's political parties see a direct correlation between what Davis addressed on the national level and what is happening on the ground in Arizona's congressional races.

For Emily Bittner, Communications Director for the Arizona Democratic Party, the memo contains an affirmation that the 2008 Democratic outlook in Arizona is good.

"Tom Davis makes the point we've been making for months now: Arizona's Congressional delegation could be 6-2 come November," she said.

Tony Reinhard, Bittner's counterpart with the Arizona Republican Party, recognizes the truth in much of what Davis wrote, but said he sees no reason to push the panic button just yet.

"There is a broad, deep and committed debate going on within our party," said Reinhard. "Our own failure is that we are not getting our message out to the American people, but I am confident that will soon change."

Entitled "Where We Stand Today," the letter was sent yesterday to Republican leadership, and sought to provide an honest assessment of Republican strengths and weaknesses this year, and a strategy to get the GOP back on track. It is the sort of critique many disgruntled Republican candidates and incumbents feel has been lacking so far in this election.

Read the memo by Rep. Tom Davis.

In it, Davis indicated good news and bad news for Republicans in Arizona. On the one hand, he noted that Reps. Harry Mitchell (D-5) and Gabrielle Giffords (D-8) were among the most vulnerable freshman Democrats in the House.

Yet at the same time, he indicated that Democrat Bob Lord, who is challenging Rep. John Shadegg (R-3), is expected to raise over $1 million during the course of the race, and that Rep. Rick Renzi's open First District seat is a "prime Democratic pickup prospect."

This is precisely what Bittner and the Arizona Democrats have claimed.

Reinhard, however, believes that the pickup opportunities have more to do with a rudderless Republican Party than an on-track Democratic strategy. He doesn't believe Democratic victories are even remotely assured, especially in the Lord-Shadegg fight.

"Shadegg's opponent is a tax attorney, and spends zero time talking about how unfair our tax policy is. That's because he's made his money on the misery of others," said Reinhard. "Lord's campaign is 100 percent negative with zero substance. Shadegg has represented his district extremely well."

Reinhard echoed Davis's assertion that the Republicans have a PR problem, but said the party will soon develop "a resounding message, clear and concise, and draw a stark contrast between the fear and failure of the Democrats, and the opportunity offered by the Republican Party.

"We don't want to be the party that just talks about how the Democrats are leading the country down the path of higher gas prices, higher taxes, fewer jobs, lower wages" and so forth, said Reinhard. Instead, like Davis, Reinhard sees the GOP's fortunes turning around by offering solutions.

Bittner doesn't buy the logic.

"I disagree that Republicans are losing more so than Democrats are winning," she said.

"The American people want leaders who will take us in a new direction, and that's exactly what this Congress has been doing. From stabilizing the mortgage crisis and economy to lowering gas prices to changing course in Iraq, Democrats are working to reverse the failed policies of the Bush Administration."