The Democrat Senatorial Campaign Committee has made a major TV buy in New Jersey to aid the re-election campaign of the corrupt incumbent Bob Menendez. Reports say that the DSCC has dumped one million dollars on the effort so far.
This is really bad news for the Democrats. New Jersey is a blue state that voted for Hillary and which last elected a Republican to the senate 46 years ago. The central campaign committee for Democrat senate candidates should not need to spend on the current campaign. Even worse for the Democrats, TV ads for New Jersey have to be purchased in either the New York or Philadelphia media markets if they are to be effective. Those are two of the five most expensive markets in the country. If the DSCC is really going to make a push for Menendez, it will take a lot more than one million dollars for it to have much effect. It could easily run five or ten million dollars.
This year, there are a large number of Democrat incumbents in danger of losing to Republicans. For example, in recent polls the Democrats in North Dakota, Missouri, Indiana and Florida are behind their Republican challengers. Democrat incumbents in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Montana and West Virginia are also in danger. Even in Michigan a recent poll put the race very close. All of these races need funding from the DSCC, but it has only so much cash that it can deploy. Having to spend five or ten million on New Jersey will take major resources away from being available to be used in all these other races.
Menendez should not be getting DSCC campaign funds. The guy is a crook. He took money to help a large campaign contributor deal with charges of defrauding Medicare out of tens of millions of dollars. The contributor was convicted and is going to prison. Menendez was charged by the Obama Justice Department and managed to achieve a hung jury after a lengthy trial. The Senate, however, looked at the evidence and declared Menendez guilty of corruption and censured him. Why would the Democrats support a guy like that?
The voters in New Jersey actually have a viable Republican candidate this year. He is Bob Hugin who is a former executive in the state's huge pharmaceutical industry. Hugin has focused much of his campaign so far on reinforcing Menendez' image as a corrupt politician. The polls are close. As election day gets closer, the natural movement of New Jersey voters towards the Democrat may take over, but this year, maybe not. Most voters care more about the dishonesty and criminality of their senator than about his or her party identification. That may turn out to be true even in New Jersey.
This is really bad news for the Democrats. New Jersey is a blue state that voted for Hillary and which last elected a Republican to the senate 46 years ago. The central campaign committee for Democrat senate candidates should not need to spend on the current campaign. Even worse for the Democrats, TV ads for New Jersey have to be purchased in either the New York or Philadelphia media markets if they are to be effective. Those are two of the five most expensive markets in the country. If the DSCC is really going to make a push for Menendez, it will take a lot more than one million dollars for it to have much effect. It could easily run five or ten million dollars.
This year, there are a large number of Democrat incumbents in danger of losing to Republicans. For example, in recent polls the Democrats in North Dakota, Missouri, Indiana and Florida are behind their Republican challengers. Democrat incumbents in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Montana and West Virginia are also in danger. Even in Michigan a recent poll put the race very close. All of these races need funding from the DSCC, but it has only so much cash that it can deploy. Having to spend five or ten million on New Jersey will take major resources away from being available to be used in all these other races.
Menendez should not be getting DSCC campaign funds. The guy is a crook. He took money to help a large campaign contributor deal with charges of defrauding Medicare out of tens of millions of dollars. The contributor was convicted and is going to prison. Menendez was charged by the Obama Justice Department and managed to achieve a hung jury after a lengthy trial. The Senate, however, looked at the evidence and declared Menendez guilty of corruption and censured him. Why would the Democrats support a guy like that?
The voters in New Jersey actually have a viable Republican candidate this year. He is Bob Hugin who is a former executive in the state's huge pharmaceutical industry. Hugin has focused much of his campaign so far on reinforcing Menendez' image as a corrupt politician. The polls are close. As election day gets closer, the natural movement of New Jersey voters towards the Democrat may take over, but this year, maybe not. Most voters care more about the dishonesty and criminality of their senator than about his or her party identification. That may turn out to be true even in New Jersey.
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