Democrats ready to dig in on defense

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Political prognosticators have been coming to the conclusion that it is not a good year to be in incumbent, and since they have a solid majority on Capitol Hill, that makes it a bad year to be a Democrat. Actions by Party operatives in Washington indicate they know they are playing defense – but they’re also showing they’re ready to play hard.


In particular, the Democratic National Committee is making a commitment to be a force to be reckoned with, in a much different way than it did in 2006, according to a report in Politico. That includes an investment of more than $50M in campaign funding.

The previous mid-term was characterized by in-fighting between the DNC and House political leadership, namely Howard Dean and Rahm Emanuel. Dean pursued his 50 state strategy that year, rather than employing the more traditional targeted race strategy that Emanuel favored. It was, of course, hard to argue with Dean’s results. But it did not involve direct campaign spending at the level anticipated this year.

According to Politico, President Barack Obama is working to fill the DNC’s coffers. Obama is also planning to participate in events to fill the accounts of both the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

The DNC funds will be going to candidates for the Senate, the House and for candidates running for governor. Operatives are said to be working on answering the question of how much goes where to whom, with disbursments expected to start taking place in June.