RNC's Gillespie: 2004 May Be Like 2000

The head of the Republican National Committee says the party is bracing for a close election this November.

So close, he says, it may mirror the bitter and down-to-the-wire 2004 race.

"We're preparing for a very close contest. We expect something to be more like 2000 than 1984 or 1972," RNC chair Ed Gillespie said Sunday on ABC's "This Week."

"If you look at the party identification and how voters identify themselves, the parties are just about at parity," Gillespie said.

Gillespie suggested that the economy and the war on terror may be the deciding issues when voters enter the polls.

"I think this is going to be an election about national security, obviously – homeland security, too – but also on the economy," he said. "I think all three of those things are very much going to be in the mix."

Gillespie predicted that the party will win and retain the White House while picking up more Republican seats.

"We're going to pick off a whole lot more Democrats than they're going to be able to pick off Republicans," he said.

Gillespie commented on other issues: