NYT: GOP Writes Off DeWine Campaign

[VolcanoJen]

This might be the happiest piece of news I've ever read. :-) I think we'll all agree.

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

No by no means, don't get tired... we've still got to fight. The article hints that DeWine has plenty of money and the RSCC is just circling the wagons in more crucial races. But if they're pulling out the money, and the rug, only three weeks out, that's a damned encouraging sign for Ohio Democrats.

In Final Weeks, G.O.P. Focuses on Best Bets

Excerpt:

Senior Republican leaders have concluded that Senator Mike DeWine of Ohio, a pivotal state in this year’s fierce midterm election battles, is likely to be heading for defeat and are moving to reduce financial support for his race and divert party money to other embattled Republican senators, party officials said.

The decision to effectively write off Mr. DeWine’s seat, after a series of internal Republican polls showed him falling behind his Democratic challenger, is part of a fluid series of choices by top leaders in both parties as they set the strategic framework of the campaign’s final three weeks, signaling, by where they are spending television money and other resources, the Senate and House races where they believe they have the best chances of success.

<snip>

Mr. DeWine has proved to be a successful fund-raiser on his own, and, with $4.5 million on hand, already enjoys a large financial advantage over his Democratic opponent, Representative Sherrod Brown; he is not dependent on financial support to keep campaigning. The Republican National Committee and the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee have already spent $4.6 million on his race; party officials said they concluded that there were now simply more opportune races to focus on.

Asked about the decision, a spokesman for Mr. DeWine, Brian Seitchik, said, “We’ve been pleased with the support we’ve received from the R.N.C. thus far.” Mr. Seitchik declined to comment further.

Republicans noted that Mr. DeWine, in addition to having a sizable financial advantage, was a well-liked figure in Ohio who handily won his first two terms in the Senate and still had enough time to recover, even though recent internal party polls showed him lagging badly.

[Eurobabe]

1. HAHA!!! YEAH!!!! YEA!!!

My absentee ballot is going in the mail today. :hi: Turning OHIO blue...

[MeDeMax]

2. thnx VJ, I agree this is great news

It is a testament to dedicated grass-root efforts by people who care about who we
are and what we stand for.

-max.

ps: I voted on Friday at the BOE, it was all done in 10 minutes.

[geiger]

3. DeWine still has raised twice as much money

so they can go raise money for someone else now.

[liberalnurse]

4. Thank you for that update!

I'm sending the article link out to the masses! :yourock:

[johnnie]

5. So far it's looking good

Of course we have learned not to let our guard down. Ohio is very close to turning blue and I think this November we will do it. Then in 2008, we will get to have that blue color in those little maps they show of election results. That's too cool.

[geiger]

6. I just read the New York Times article and to me it was reminiscent of

2000 when, conversely, the Dems wrote off Gore in Ohio. I am pretty shocked, and in 2000, I refused to believe we had just "given up," but I am still very suspicious of this R stance, since we know they are all a bunch of liars and deceivers and since DeWine still has a lot of money he can spend, but....this is a very, very interesting development. The article makes it sound like it's Sherrod's to lose, even though tons of R airtime was bought up front, and it sounds like DeWine's staying the course and not changing any strategy. There was an interesting article in the PD over the weekend, too, which pointed out that DeWine is probably in shock that he's behind, because he has not sunk into the corruption like the rest of them and he has staked out his own positions, sometimes to the dismay of his fellow Republicans, and he feels like he has actually accomplished stuff.

To me, it's Sherrod's grasp of issues and his ability to articulate his position that wins people over, and, like Strickland, if you meet him in person, he is absolutely a people person and conveys genuine empathy for people's everyday living challenges. It is a huge contrast to DeWine who is not as smart or articulate, and like other R's just seems out of touch with regular people. Noone can claim Sherrod lacks energy either.

Go, Sherrod.

[VolcanoJen]

7. I've definitely noticed that Dewine ads dropped off the air Sunday.

The RSCC-type ads. And I've not gotten a single mailer.

And I've yet to see a Dewine sign in Middletown or Cincinnati.

[geiger]

8. now that you mention it,

i remember that i have only seen 1 dewine sign, and it grabbed my attention becoz i realized it was the only one i had seen

[MeDeMax]

9. dewine is running TV ads in northern ohio

I saw the ad with the lady who lost her brother in iraq supporting dewine,
two or three times last night during "The Amazing Race".

[geiger]

10. Air America just called it the new R "cut and run" policy

[BillORightsMan]

11. Beware GOP rope-a-dope

As mentioned upthread, DeWine has quite a bit of cash on-hand and still has many pre-bought spots coming up. Perhaps we won't see the nasty lying RNSC ads anymore but be sure DeWine isn't going away that easily.

Around Lake County, there are HUGE DeWine signs (and regular sized ones too) all around, outnumbering Brown signs (by my casual observation) something like 10:1. But signage is not necessarily an indicator of how well a candidate will do. For sure, DeWine has MUCH MORE $$$ to spend on campaign bling (what do they call it? Collateral?)

When RON Issue 3 failed last year, it let stand the campaign contributions limit to $10,000 per person per race per candidate (which the Good Ole' Pigs enacted in a lameduck session in Dec 2004). That alone gives the GOP that much more $$$ and a fund-raising advantage (most Dems I know or people I know who vote Dem don't have that kind of cash laying around).

Don't get yer party hats out just yet. It may SEEM like DeWine just got thrown under the bus, but there is much work to do between now and election day.

And there is still Diebold.

Just sayin'...

:patriot:

[VolcanoJen]

12. Remember when the Gore campaign quit Ohio three weeks out?

I do. }(

I'm by no means partying yet, and I mentioned Dewine has plenty of money. But I'll take all good news where I can find it.

[cassiepriam]

13. I agree, we are being manipulated by the media.

Don't count out DeWeeny yet.

[geiger]

15. DeWine Remains Priority, GOP Says

this morning's Columbus paper:

http://www.dispatch.com/?story=dispatch/2006/10/17/20061017-A1-02.html

[lostnfound]

14. I don't believe it; Rasmussen still shows this as a close race.

http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2006/Sen_graphs/ohio.html

[Deep13]

16. Quinnipiac 10/17 Brown 53, DeWine 41.

[4_TN_TITANS]

17. The OH fix is in, moving on to questionable ones....

as someone suggested in another thread. :(

[geiger]

18. Very interesting analysis of so-called $$ advantage for DeWine

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Bob%20Geiger/240


I call this the shock and awe campaign now, for Sherrod Brown, that is. I think DeWine has been totally blown out of the water, and, that unless something weird happens, it's over.

I wish we could do something to get Montgomery and LaTourette out now.

Mary Jo Kilroy is featured in Time magazine this week, I am told, so it's undoubtedly over for Pryce, too.

Republicans openly make fun of Padgett....