WASHINGTON  Some House Republicans are boasting about their chances of regaining control of the House in 2010 and relegating Democrats led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi to minority status for the second half of President Obama’s term.

“I have no doubt that we will,” said Representative Tom Price, the Georgia Republican who leads the conservative Republican Study Committee. “The American people want checks and balances, and the way to do that is to put Republicans back in charge.”

Publicly and privately, Republicans have been upbeat about the midterm outlook, saying voter unrest demonstrated at meetings this summer coupled with strong candidate recruitment have them highly optimistic about capturing 40 or more Democratic seats and resuming command of the House. They are talking confidently about knocking off such old bulls as Representatives David R. Obey of Wisconsin and Ike Skelton of Missouri, the chairmen of the Appropriations and Armed Services Committees.

“In terms of candidate recruitment, fund-raising and issue development, we are far ahead of where we were at this point in 1993  and you remember what happened in 1994,” Representative Pete Sessions, the Texan who heads the National Republican Congressional Committee, told the conservative Web site Human Events. Mr. Sessions, of course, was referring to the election that swept Republicans into the House majority after four decades in minority exile.