Is Rep. Earl Pomeroy Thinking About Retiring?
That would certainly explain his rather bold departure from the wishes of his constituents on health care and the death tax, not to mention his rather arrogant refusal to hold face-to-face town halls over the summer.
An informal list of 17 members the NRCC believes can be convinced to step down, privately called the “Dem Retirement Assault List,” makes clear the party needs Dem incumbents to step aside if they have hopes of taking back the majority. The NRCC has taken pains to attack those lawmakers in recent weeks.
The list includes 14 members whose districts voted for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in ’08. McCain won districts held by Reps. Ike Skelton (D-MO) and Bart Gordon (D-TN) with more than 60% of the vote, and districts held by Reps. Rick Boucher (D-VA), Alan Mollohan (D-WV), Marion Berry (D-AR), Nick Rahall (D-WV) and Mike Ross (D-AR) with more than 55%.
McCain narrowly won seats held by Reps. John Spratt (D-SC), Allen Boyd (D-FL), Vic Snyder (D-AR), Baron Hill (D-IN), Earl Pomeroy (D-ND), Tim Holden (D-PA) and Collin Peterson (D-MN). …
“Applying constant pressure in combination with the looming threat of a credible challenge is what should make every single one of these guys think twice,” said a GOP strategist involved in targeting the Dems.
The pressure has largely come from press releases hammering the incumbents, but the NRCC has signaled it will put at least a little money behind the effort. Last month, the NRCC launched ads against Pomeroy, Snyder and Spratt. Although the ad buys were tiny — the GOP spent a total of just $6,300 for a few spots on Fox News in all three districts — they attracted earned media as well.
The NRCC wanting Earl Pomeroy to retire is different from Pomeroy himself being willing to trial, but the political implications here should be encouraging for those in the state (including Shane Goettle, Paul Schaffner and Eugene Graner) who are thinking about taking a shot at the incumbent. It means that the national Republican party is interested in seeing Pomeroy out of office.
Given that past Pomeroy challengers have been woefully out gunned in terms of campaign funding, the idea that the national party may finally take an interest in chasing Earl from office could be the key to victory.
Couple that with the very real potential for a run by Governor Hoeven against Byron Dorgan, something that would attract more attention and political money to the state, and Earl Pomeroy may well be facing retirement one way or another.
