Monday, January 4, 2010

What gives in Massachusetts? Why is RNC not throwing it's resources and attention into this race?

From Eric Odom

Ed Morrissey seems to think the GOP should be more involved in helping Scott Brown attempt an upset in a special election to replace Kennedy in Massachusetts. In his post over at HotAir, Ed rips the GOP for a lackadaisical level of involvement in the race.

Normally, when a special election occurs to fill a seat in Congress or especially the Senate, the national parties throw resources and attention onto the race. The lack of competition for attention allows the national parties to transform the elections into national referendums of sorts, and the party out of power usually has an opportunity to exploit the lower turnout to steal a march on the governing party. So why have the national GOP and party leaders gone AWOL in Massachusetts, where Scott Brown will battle Martha Coakley for Ted Kennedy’s seat in the Senate?

I haven’t been able to find any poll data from the past few weeks, but some of the polls from October of 2009 suggest an extreme uphill battle for Brown. A poll conducted by West New England College found the following:

The poll found that Coakley currently leads Brown by 26 points among registered and likely voters. Capuano leads Brown by 14 percent among registered voters and 16 percent among likely voters.

As Ed rightfully points out, the political landscape has changed and there is potential for an upset, but it would be nothing short of a miracle in this scenario.

And as one of the comments asserts, there might be better battles for the movement to fight.

It was Cornwallis who won every battle of his Southern campaign in 1788. Then had to set sail from Charleston to New York, losing the campaign. And later that year, losing the war when Washington crossed the Delaware.

Logistics matter. Republican resources are finite.

In a year where the poor economy will clamp down on donor dollars for campaigns, it’s possible the RNC sees the writing on the wall and is looking to focus its efforts.

It’s also possible the RNC is just looking the other way and could potentially help turn the race around.

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