VOTE FOR N0-NAME
The Republican National Committee is running a last-minute, 60-second radio ad in New York’s special congressional election that urges voters to “vote conservative, it matters like never before” but doesn’t name the candidate it is now supporting, Doug Hoffman.
When Republican nominee Dede Scozzafava abruptly dropped out of the race Saturday, the RNC endorsed Mr. Hoffman, who is running on the Conservative Party ballot,and began airing radio ads Monday that said, “Let’s tell the liberals, enough is enough. No more bailouts, taxes and budget-busting spending. … Let your voice be heard, join the movement to bring real conservative change. Tell the politicians, no more, we won’t let you bankrupt America. We need conservative leaders who stand up for our values. Fight back!”
The reason the ad omits Mr. Hoffman’s name: “Federal Election Commission law prevents us,” says an RNC official. The RNC had already given $85,000 in coordinated contributions to the Republican race and had reached its allowable limit under federal campaign law. Any further expenditures could be made only for so-called “party building” in which the RNC could not mention a candidate’s name.
“The ’vote conservative’ message is not subject to independent expenditure rules or spending limits,” said election law attorney Jan Baran.
COMEBACK HOPES
“New England’s moderate Republicans, shoved out of power by two Democratic waves of anti-George W. Bush fervor, are scrambling to make a 2010 comeback, making early bids for congressional seats that GOP leaders say are critical to taking back majorities in the House and Senate,” the Boston Globe reports.
“In next year’s midterm elections, former representative Charlie Bass is exploring a run for his old New Hampshire seat, while his fellow Republican, former attorney general Kelly Ayotte, who was reappointed by a Democratic governor, is expected to draw bipartisan support for a Senate run, should she win the GOP primary in New Hampshire,” reporter Susan Milligan said.
“Rob Simmons, a former moderate Republican U.S. representative from Connecticut, is seeking the nomination to challenge embattled Sen. Chris Dodd, a Democrat.
“In other Northeast states, too, Republicans see opportunities: Rep. Mike Castle, a Republican, is running for the Delaware Senate seat once held by Vice President Joe Biden, and moderates are lining up for runs in upstate New York and Pennsylvania.”
WEAK PARTIES
“With all the twists and turns in the race for New York’s 23rd Congressional District, it seems like it should mean something, right? You don’t have all this drama without some higher purpose, or so the thinking goes. Predictably, pundits have been working overtime to explain the point of this soap opera in Watertown,” Jay Cost writes at www.realclearpolitics.com.
“For what it’s worth, I do not think that a special election - any special election - is a particularly good barometer of the political climate of any place outside the district in question. …
“That being said, I do think there is a lesson to be learned here. It just doesn’t have anything to do with the 2010 midterm, Barack Obama, the health care battle, etc. It’s not so much a current events lesson as it is a civics lesson. The drama in this race is yet another example of the fundamental truth about the contemporary party organization: it is extraordinarily weak. And I don’t mean that the 2010 Republican Party is weak. I’m talking about the whole system: Democrats and Republicans; local, state, and federal; congressional and electoral. Weak, weak, weak!”
TEST CASE
“The Obama White House’s decision to challenge Fox News appears driven equally by strategy and frustration. It is also a test case for politicians in both parties,” John Harwood writes a www.nytimes.com.
“That is because partisan fragmentation throughout America’s news media and their audiences has grown significantly. Future Republican presidents will have to decide, as Team Obama has, how to buck or accommodate that trend,” Mr. Harwood said.
“Fox News has attracted the most attention because of its ’fair and balanced’ challenge to its competitors and its success. But the audiences of its competitors have tilted sharply in the other direction. (This reporter is chief Washington correspondent for CNBC and hosts ’The New York Times Special Edition,’ a program on MSNBC.)
“Press critics worry that the rise of media polarization threatens the foundation of credible, common information that American politics needs to thrive. Will Feltus, a Republican specialist in voter targeting, does not.
“If it complicates the choices facing leaders in Washington, Mr. Feltus argues, it also decentralizes political communication in a way that is both inevitable and healthy in the information age. ’I feel no hand-wringing about it,’ Mr. Feltus said. ’People are smart enough to understand what color filter is over the lens.’ ”
’HOPE’ VS. ’RAGE’
“I’ve noticed something in our political commentary that I suspect I’m not alone in,” Peter Wehner wrote Monday in a blog at www.commentarymagazine.com.
“When Democrats and liberals make sweeping electoral gains, it’s based on ’hope’ and ’change,’ on ’civic engagement’ and reversing a ’culture of corruption.’ It’s all very positive, upbeat, and high-minded. They want to build up the village. But when Republicans and conservatives make sweeping gains, or appear to be on the cusp of them, it’s based on negative, downbeat, and low-minded sentiments. They want to burn down the village.
“Conservative ascendancy is rooted in things like ’rage’ and ’anger’ and is driven by ’angry white men,’ as if the elections are the outworking of some kind of troubling psychological condition. The late Peter Jennings embodied this view perfectly when he described the 1994 elections as a ’temper tantrum’ and compared what voters did that year to what you’d see from ’an angry 2-year-old.’ We’re seeing the same thing now, on the eve of [Tuesday’s] elections in Virginia, New Jersey, and New York’s 23rd District,” Mr. Wehner said.
“We don’t know how those elections are going to turn out just yet - but we can tell by the coverage how much of the press thinks they’re going to turn out. Let’s just say they’re worried it’ll be a bad day for Obama and for Obamaism.”
• Greg Pierce can be reached at 202/636-3285 or gpierce@ washingtontimes.com.
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