The Republican National Congressional Committee is holding a special fund-raiser for sitting members who are expected to face particularly tough re-election campaigns. Once planned for ten, the list has been pared down to just five.
The event is called “Patriot Day,” which is held specifically to aid especially challenged incumbents.
This current list of beneficiaries includes Mary Bono Mack (R-CA), Charlie Dent (R-PA), Patrick Tiberi (R-OH), Lee Terry (R-NE) and Tom Rooney (R-FL).
Terry has just made the broadcast trade press as a co-sponsor of the Local Community Radio Act, which will make it easier to build LPFMs if signed into law.
An RNCC aide told Roll Call that the changing political environment allowed the reduction in the party’s’ endangered species list, and that money saved defending incumbents will be used instead in an attempt to oust incumbents from the other party.
RBR-TVBR observation: This does not necessarily mean a net reduction in battlegrounds, it will mean only a change of battlegrounds. It just moves the cash from the defensive to the offensive portion of the budget.
The situation is not at all surprising. After two highly successful campaign seasons, Democrats have already knocked Republicans out of a very high percentage of the seats that had any potential for a change. Given the great skill state parties have demonstrated in the art of gerrymandering, the number of attractive targets for the Democrats has to be dwindling.
But the seats the Democrats have recently captured mostly remain in purple districts and are ripe for Republican attack.
