Are The Democrats Writing Off Earl Pomeroy?
According to Politico, Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee chairman Rep. Chris Van Hollen is threatening to cut off “under performing” Democrats. With nine-term incumbent Earl Pomeroy trailing in the polls to challenger Rick Berg for seven straight months, it’s not hard to imagine that he was one of the targets of this message.
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen sent a cold-blooded message Friday to underperforming party candidates: Get your act together, or you’re on your own.
Facing a perilous political environment that has left the House Democratic majority in jeopardy, Van Hollen told reporters in a briefing at the National Press Club that the party faced a series of looming difficult decisions about which candidates to invest in this fall — and who to leave behind.
“At the end of the day, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will look at races we can win,” Van Hollen said.
With Byron Dorgan’s resignation having shaken the North Dakota Democrat party to its core, and Pomeory’s ballot-mate Tracy Potter on the losing end of the most lop-sided congressional race in the country, one has to wonder if national Democrats believe they can win in North Dakota at all.
By the way, it appears as though the DCCC is giving candidates like Pomeroy free rein to throw Pelosi under the bus:
[Van Hollen] also indicated that Democratic leaders had given vulnerable members permission to distance — and in some cases outright criticize — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in campaign ads, as Indiana Rep. Joe Donnelly, Pennsylvania Rep. Jason Altmire and North Carolina Rep. Mike McIntyre all have done.
“I think the Democratic leaders have said the job of the members is to reflect the views of their constituents as best as they are able,” he said.
Pomeroy has already been distancing himself from his national party. It was actually the subject of the first television ad he ran in the state. Expect that walk-away to turn into a sprint in the coming weeks.
Tags: chris van hollen, Earl Pomeroy, election 2010, nancy pelosi, North Dakota News
