ClydeR
10-11-2008, 07:17 PM
A rumor started at Crookedtimber.org is getting a lot play on the internets. The rumor is that the Republican National Committee is going to stop running ads in the presidential campaign to focus on Senate races. I've said twice (http://forum.gsplayers.com/showpost.php?p=809954&postcount=89) before (http://forum.gsplayers.com/showpost.php?p=815945&postcount=65) in this forum that the RNC needs to do just that.
So I hear (via a prominent member of the sane Republican faction) that the word on the right side of the street is that the Republican National Committee is about to pull the plug on its joint ads with the McCain campaign, and devote its resources instead to trying to save a couple of the senators who are at serious risk of losing their seats. Now this is gossip, albeit of the high class variety; take it with the requisite pinch of salt. But it points to some real vulnerabilities in the McCain campaign’s finances. McCain’s decision to opt for public funding has meant that he’s had enormous difficulty competing with the Obama money raising machine. He’s been able to partly compensate by co-financing ads with the RNC (this skirts the limits of the legislation that he himself co-wrote but is just about legal). This has kept him competitive in TV advertising, albeit still significantly outgunned. But if the Republicans are as worried as they should be about the impending elections, there will be a lot of calls on that money, and the RNC is going to have to make some tough choices. Should it keep spending money on the presidential campaign in the hope that McCain will win despite the polls, or should it instead try to minimize the damage of a McCain defeat by doing its best to stop the Democrats from making big gains in the Senate? Decisions, decisions …
More... (http://crookedtimber.org/2008/10/10/a-bit-of-horserace-commentary/)
(Emphasis added by Clyde.)
I do not believe that advertising for McCain has a spillover effect for local races, except in states where McCain is considerably ahead in the polls.
So I hear (via a prominent member of the sane Republican faction) that the word on the right side of the street is that the Republican National Committee is about to pull the plug on its joint ads with the McCain campaign, and devote its resources instead to trying to save a couple of the senators who are at serious risk of losing their seats. Now this is gossip, albeit of the high class variety; take it with the requisite pinch of salt. But it points to some real vulnerabilities in the McCain campaign’s finances. McCain’s decision to opt for public funding has meant that he’s had enormous difficulty competing with the Obama money raising machine. He’s been able to partly compensate by co-financing ads with the RNC (this skirts the limits of the legislation that he himself co-wrote but is just about legal). This has kept him competitive in TV advertising, albeit still significantly outgunned. But if the Republicans are as worried as they should be about the impending elections, there will be a lot of calls on that money, and the RNC is going to have to make some tough choices. Should it keep spending money on the presidential campaign in the hope that McCain will win despite the polls, or should it instead try to minimize the damage of a McCain defeat by doing its best to stop the Democrats from making big gains in the Senate? Decisions, decisions …
More... (http://crookedtimber.org/2008/10/10/a-bit-of-horserace-commentary/)
(Emphasis added by Clyde.)
I do not believe that advertising for McCain has a spillover effect for local races, except in states where McCain is considerably ahead in the polls.