RNC eyes $5M bailout for GOP senators

[dajoki]

RNC eyes $5M bailout for GOP senators
By JONATHAN MARTIN | 10/13/08 7:17 PM EDT
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14549.html

The Republican National Committee, growing nervous over the prospect of Democrats’ winning a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, is considering tapping into a $5 million line of credit this week to aid an increasing number of vulnerable incumbents, top Republicans say.

With party strategists fearing a bloodbath at the polls, GOP officials are shifting to triage mode, determining who can be saved and where to best spend their money.

And with the House and Senate Republican campaign committees being drastically outspent by their Democratic counterparts, and outside groups such as Freedom’s Watch offering far less help than was once anticipated, Republicans are turning to the national party committee as a lender of last resort.

A decision is imminent because television time must be reserved and paid for upfront, and available slots are dwindling.

A representative for the RNC would neither confirm nor deny that it was considering the move....
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------GOP ditches recruits to save incumbents
By PATRICK O'CONNOR & JOSH KRAUSHAAR | 10/14/08 4:50 AM EDT
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14552.html

Darren White and Erik Paulsen were prized Republican recruits, House candidates poised to be the new face of the GOP on Capitol Hill.

But as the two head into the homestretch of their campaigns, GOP operatives say they’ll probably have to win — or lose — on their own. The money national Republicans earmarked for White in New Mexico and for Paulsen in Minnesota will likely go instead to protect GOP incumbents who once looked like locks for reelection.

GOP Reps. John B. Shadegg of Arizona, Lee Terry of Nebraska, Henry Brown Jr. of South Carolina and Dan Lungren of California are all fighting for their political lives, a reversal of fortunes that has caught even the most astute campaign observers by surprise.

It’s an omen and an echo. Just a few weeks before voters went to the polls in 2006, veteran Republicans Gil Gutknecht in Minnesota, Jim Leach in Iowa and Jim Ryun in Kansas suddenly found themselves in tough reelection fights. By the time the party saw what was happening, it was already too late. Unknown challengers booted the lawmakers from office in a landslide election that gave Democrats control of both the House and the Senate.

If 2008 looks like 2006, a new wave of veteran Republicans will be out on the streets, and the colleagues they leave behind could find themselves with the smallest minority since the post-Watergate era....

[H2O Man]

1. Yep.

There are "top" republicans who are trying to put distance between themselves and the McCain-Palin campaign, which they view as a ball & chain on their congressional candidates.

[City Lights]

2. They need more? Last week they got $8 million from Wachovia.

Throw the bums out!

[LiberalFighter]

3. Richard Lugar is the only one they can save. Spend all the money to save Lugar's campaign.

Spread the word. Lugar might lose this year.
Secret Message ->- - I know he isn't up for re-election this year. The best person to spend the money on for us. - - <- Here