By The Prowler on 7.25.06 @ 12:08AM
In key Senate races, Minnesota is Rove country. Also: Democrats list Dean.
Senior Bush adviser and GOP political evil genius Karl
Rove spent time in Minnesota late last week, fundraising
for Republican Michele Bachmann running to hold
Rep. Mark Kennedy's 6th Congressional District.
Bachmann is running against Democrat Patty
Wetterling, an anti-war type who has failed in previous
bids for Congress.
Rove also stumped for Mark Kennedy, who is giving up his seat to
run for the U.S. Senate.
Rove's arrival in Minnesota came at a time critical for
Republicans there, particularly in a week that saw the release of a
Minneapolis Star Tribune poll that showed Kennedy 19
points down to Democrat Amy Klobuchar.
Never mind that the Star Tribune poll has been
discredited as regularly biased toward Democrats (HT Powerline -- it's a
longstanding problem.)
The Kennedy/Klobuchar race is considered one of four critical
races Republicans need to win if they are to hold if not expand
their seat count in the Senate, and it is one that has been cited
as highly competitive for Republicans, the Strib poll aside.
Almost every other in-state Minnesota poll shows Kennedy
trailing within the margin of error at the narrow end and by high
single digits at the other, but no double digit deficits as the
Strib presented.
"Kennedy is in a good position," says an RNC political
operative. "We think he's going to force the Democrats to spend up
there, where they didn't think they were going to have to invest so
heavily, and that's good for us and our candidates elsewhere."
It's especially important to Sens. Jim Talent
in Missouri and Montana's Conrad Burns, both of
whom are in tight races, to hold their seats this election cycle.
"Those are the two guys who are going to need the national party's
help more than others," says the operative.
ELBOW RAHM
The tussle between Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC)
chairman, Rahm "Twinkle Toes" Emanuel and Democrat
National Committee Chairman Howard Dean continues.
The two have been warring for months over Dean's refusal to seed
national party money to the DCCC for Congressional races it has
identified.
Emanuel has pointed out that Republicans routinely fund their
House and Senate organizations, while Dean instead has been doling
money out to state party organizations.
The rift again took the spotlight last week, when the DNC
announced that it was shipping what insiders say was a total of
about $3 million to Democrat parties in Maryland, Minnesota,
Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. Insiders say that Dean has
budgeted between $12 million and $15 million for the state program.
It was the state funding plan that helped Dean win the chairmanship
18 months ago.
But Emanuel wants part of the DNC fund shifted over to his
coffers so that he and his team can better finance Congressional
races that they believe could swing the majority to their side this
fall. It isn't just Emanuel who is fighting Dean. His counterpart
in the Senate, Sen. Chuck Schumer has complained
loudly about Dean's funding priorities, and Dean has found himself
under attack in private meetings with Sen. Harry
Reid and Rep. Nancy Pelosi.
Emanuel has complained about Dean to his fellow Democrat
leadership colleagues, saying that something has to be done after
the election cycle. That is one reason why some House insiders
privately are talking almost hopefully about not retaking either
House of Congress.
"A loss this year could very well put Dean in his place or take
him out altogether," says a House Democrat leadership aide. "We've
raised expectations so high, that if we fail to gain what we have
predicted, Dean has set himself up for a big part of the blame
because he controls so many purse strings."
topics:
Nancy Pelosi
