Tuesday, September 21, 2010

DCCC Pulling Support For Baron Hill

Things aren't looking good for U.S. Rep. Baron Hill in Indiana's 9th District. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has pulled a planned independent expenditure ad buy for Hill during the month of October in the weeks leading to the November election. A Hotline report from Reid Wilson on the DCCC's shift in funding of vulnerable incumbent members gives the run down on this development:

The DCCC's separate political wings are engaged in their first argument over one of their vulnerable candidates as the independent expenditure division begins pulling back funding while the coordinated division is pouring more money into the race.


Rep. Baron Hill (D-IN) is the source of the dispute. The committee's independent expenditure wing has cancelled their advertising buys in the state's 9th District for 2 weeks in mid-October. But the coordinated side, which is not allowed to discuss strategy with their independent expenditure counterpart, believes Hill is still deserving of spending.

The IE's decision is a significant blow to Hill's chances. While the independent expenditure side can spend unlimited amounts, the coordinated side of the DCCC can spend about $87K, according to FEC rules.

The DCCC is making other alterations in key districts, in some cases acknowledging an incumbent's weakness, and therefore saving money, while in other cases operating from a position of strength.
This is a sure sign of just how bad things look for Democratic congressional incumbents this year. It's clear supporting Hill is not part of the party's firewall to maintain a small but controlling majority in the House of Representatives. According to Hotline, a Columbus, Ohio race where Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy is in a tough re-election match-up is the beneficiary of the decision to pull independent expenditure support for Hill. First-time candidate Todd Young is Hill's Republican opponent. Hill had earlier been favored to win re-election after Young upset former U.S. Rep. Mike Sodrel in the Republican primary.

5 comments:

Vox Populi said...

Gary, sometimes ad buys are pulled because the committees want the incumbents to use their warchests rather than rely on committee help.

At the end of July, Hill had over $800k more cash-on-hand than Young. Sometimes these decisions are made from a position of strength.

dcrutch said...

Rep. Baron Hill called citizens protesting the policies of the current Washington administration "domestic terrorists" (direct quote). Perhaps some voters in the 9th district might differ with that definition, and want to keep it in mind when going to the polls.

Speaker Education Project said...

Baron Hill has voted for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House three times: 2002, 2006, & 2008.

The Speaker Education Project is non-partisan and works to educate voters about the election of the Speaker of the House.

The 1st vote the new Congress will take in January is to elect a Speaker.

To earn our votes, the candidates should tell us who they will vote for as Speaker of the House.

Stay up to date with the Speaker Education Project on Facebook to keep track of who the candidates support for Speaker. And, when you meet a candidate ask them who they support as Speaker.

Follow Baron Hill:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=128233643885839&ref=ts

Follow Todd Young:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=114647705251659&ref=ts

John Michael Vore said...

Here's Dan Quayle supporting Todd Young in October, 2009...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlxwDf-RUqc

So that makes three possible wins for the Quayle team, if one believes the numbers today: Coats, Young and Ben Quayle out in Arizona...

Unfortunately, I recall Baron Hills' gay-baiting advertisement from 2006...and I pinched my nose and voted for him.

I know it's a tough call in conservative-leaning districts in Indiana, but said in the right way, it wouldn't and shouldn't be difficult to support human rights for everyone...anyone know how Todd Young is on LGBTQ rights?

Gary R. Welsh said...

I'm pretty sure he's not an advocate for them.