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The Price of Gas vs. The Price of Ads

By John Tabin on 8.5.08 @ 12:55PM

I'm on Capitol Hill for the Heritage Foundation's weekly Conservative Bloggers' Briefing, which today is being held in Minority Leader Boehner's office. Republicans are continuing their protest on the floor, and Representatives are filing in to issue their talking points and take a few questions. So far Jeb Hensarling, Duncan Hunter, Mike Pence, John Carter, and Marilyn Musgrave have been here. Their basic message: Many Americans can't afford to go on vacation because of high gas prices, so Congress shouldn't be taking a vacation without passing an energy bill.

In a bad year for the GOP, this is easily Republicans' best issue. But it will only work if high gas prices can successfully be pinned on the Democratic Congress (as opposed to the President). My question is, do Republicans have the money to get that message out? As of the most recent filings, the National Republican Congressional Committee has about $8.46 million on hand, while the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committtee has $54.65 million. It's going to be tough for Republicans to sway voters without swaying donors.

P.S. Several (micro-)bloggers are Twittering the goings-on here on the Hill; you can find their tweets on the blogger briefing here, and on the protest more generally here.

topics:
Energy