DCCC Shows Some Optimisim

By: Ambivalent Mumblings
Published On: 10/18/2006 6:17:30 PM

This is cross-posted on Ambivalent Mumblings.

Despite the fact that the party is already slightly behind in the fundraising department, the Washington Post reports that the Democratic Party is going to begin funding even more House races as the election approaches.

Democrats said private polls have convinced top party officials that they could pick up 40 or more seats -- nearly double their internal projections from a week ago -- if they spend enough money on television advertising for long-shot races. Strategists James Carville and Stan Greenberg are among those pleading with party leaders to go deep into debt to run ads in as many as 50 GOP-held districts.

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Rahm Emanuel (Ill.) has privately signed off on targeting a new group of GOP incumbents who were once considered safe for reelection, starting with Rep. Gil Gutknecht in rural Minnesota, officials said.


The sentiment that there are more vulnerable GOP incumbents can be seen in VirginiaGÇÖs 11th Congressional District, which features the race between Andy Hurst and Tom Davis. Over the course of the last week, for instance, Tom Davis has sent out three mailings in order to try and persuade Virginians to vote for him. In one of the campaign mailers, Davis actually stated that Andy is GÇ£Dangerous for Northern Virginia.GÇ¥ By making that claim, Davis is falling in line with the likes of Dick Cheney and Karl Rove by trying to scare people into voting for Republican candidates. That tactic, however, is extremely see-through and many voters are simply becoming frustrated that Tom Davis and his Republican allies refuse to actually address the issues. If, on the other hand, Davis wasnGÇÖt worried about the growing support for Andy Hurst, he wouldnGÇÖt have spent a great deal of money on shamelessly attacking him.

As the Post pointed out, however, the reason that candidates like Hurst havenGÇÖt received a significant amount of funding from the DCCC is because there hasnGÇÖt been a significant amount of funding available. Furthermore, since most analysts agree that it safe to assume the Democrats will gain control of the house, the majority of the funding that is available has typically gone to attempting to gain control of the Senate. The funding that remains directed towards the House of Representatives, therefore, is typically going towards races that are considered a "must win" in order to gain the majority. While this strategy has some logic to it, it also might prevent Democrats from gaining as strong of a majority as possible.

The DCCCGÇÖs decision signals that it has made the realization that there must be an effort to try and gain as large of a majority as possible. This has resulted in the Committee's fund more of the "second tier" races instead of just the GÇ£must wins,GÇ¥ which ultimately means that it realizes the risks and believes that it is worth while to try and gain a strong majority in one Chamber of Congress (and potentially a small majority or minority in the other) than to simply strive to gain a small majority in both Chambers. Only time will tell whether or not the DCCC made the correct decision.

Comments



'Cmon Judy (Josh - 10/18/2006 8:03:55 PM)
Judy will benefit if/when the Dems get onboard this effort.


Based upon the few times I've met her..... (Ambivalent Mumblings - 10/18/2006 8:48:20 PM)
.....and what I've read, you are absolutely correct. All she needs is the ability to keep spreading the message and she'll be able to make up the five point gap in no time.