Republicans Pull Ads In Key House, Senate Races

Senate Democrats believe they may be ‘within reach of…capturing a filibuster-proof 60 seats.’ Republicans Pull Ads in Key House, Senate RacesBy Cliff Montgomery – Oct. 17th, 2008Republican Party leaders apparently are preparing themselves for a string of congressional losses. The GOP is calling a stop to television ads in one major Senate contest in Louisiana and rolling back commercials in as many as eight tight House races, just three weeks before voters go to the polls.Such moves reflect the hard choices cash-poor Republicans are being forced to make during the last few weeks of congressional campaigning. By contrast, a surging Democratic Party–which already enjoys a congressional majority–now is pushing into what previously had been solid GOP territory.In yanking its planned advertisements from Louisiana, the Senate GOP campaign committee has all but abandoned its only reasonable hope of beating a Democratic incumbent, Senator Mary Landrieu. The senator is in a tough race with the state treasurer–a Republican literally named John Kennedy.The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), the political arm of Senate Democrats, now is targeting Republican Senators Mitch McConnell of Kentucky–who currently is the Senate minority leader–and Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia with new ads.The recent developments first were reported by The Fix, a Washington Post-published blog. Well-connected Democrats recently confirmed the media purchases to The Associated Press (AP).The GOP has “seen the writing on the wall,” DSCC spokesman Matthew Miller told AP.While Miller’s statement certainly may carry a deal of bias, the essence of the sentiment appears true enough.  Democrats currently enjoy a slim 51-49 majority in the Senate; this includes two independent senators who often vote with the body’s 49 Democrats. But Dems now have strong leads in five Senate races, and have a good chance of gaining up to nine new seats in all.It that happens, Senate Democrats believe they will be “within reach of their longer-shot goal of capturing a filibuster-proof 60 seats,” according to AP.Landrieu was the Dems’ only at-risk incumbent in the Senate. By comparison, the GOP has six vulnerable incumbents in the chamber–in New Hampshire, North Carolina, Alaska, Oregon, Minnesota and Mississippi.National Republican Senatorial Committee spokeswoman Rebecca Fisher was contacted by AP regarding these developments, but perhaps tellingly declined to comment.Meanwhile, Republican House campaign leaders have canceled ads in Idaho’s 1st district and Nevada’s 3rd.They also have cut down on planned advertisements for candidates in central New Mexico and southern Minnesota who are in tight matches with Democrats. The Dems hope to replace Republicans retiring from the chamber.House GOP campaign leaders have even pared down ads in four competitive districts against  vulnerable Democrat incumbents.This includes ads discussing Rep. Tim Mahoney of Florida’s 16th District, who is fighting a nasty sex-and-hush-money scandal.Advertisements against Dems Nick Lampson of Texas, Don Cazayoux of Louisiana and Nancy Boyda of Kansas–also in tough contests to maintain their seats–were canceled by penny-pinching Republican House campaign leaders.Like what you’re reading so far? Then why not order a full year (52 issues) of thee-newsletter for only $15? A major article covering an story not being told in the Corporate Press will be delivered to your email every Monday morning for a full year, for less than 30 cents an issue. Order Now! *Privacy Policy: We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your  name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here. * Please check out our ads–they help keep this news site running. Thanks!