He trails badly in cash on hand. He gets no love from the newspapers. He’s 20 points down in the polls. And now Van Taylor can say bye-bye to NRCC support.
The Republican Party’s national campaign organization appears to be yanking major financial backing from Taylor’s race to focus instead on incumbents who face serious Democratic challenges.
An advertising campaign costing more than $1 million – similar to one benefiting the last Republican nominee to challenge Edwards two years ago – has been pulled, according to Edwards’ sources at five Dallas TV stations.
A Dallas-area TV station confirmed that the National Republican Congressional Committee canceled a large advertising buy apparently intended for Taylor.
[…]
The NRCC appeared to be pulling away the same day The New York Times, in a front page story, reported that the group is shifting its cash to 26 Republican-held seats and just three Democratic ones in a bid to hold on to the U.S. House of Representatives by winning at least 218 of the 435 seats.
The Edwards-Taylor race didn’t figure into the top 20 races garnering the bulk of GOP money, according to the Times and Federal Election Commission filings. The national party’s change in tactics comes amid discouraging news from Iraq and several scandals involving Republican lawmakers.
[…]
In the Dallas area, Steve McDonald, sales manager for KDAV-TV, said the NRCC had reserved a block of political ads for late in the campaign season but recently declined the order. He said he did not know who the candidate was, but Taylor had been identified as the candidate in an Associated Press report.
To cancel the ads would signal a different strategy from two years ago, when state Rep. Arlene Wohlgemuth, R-Burleson, was the GOP nominee. In the end, however, the advertising blitz on Wohlgemuth’s behalf failed to topple Edwards.
“I think it means they are writing (Taylor) off,†Tom Myers, a Baylor University associate professor of political science, said of the latest developments involving the NRCC.
“They have good polling data and I would suspect that their data indicates that he’s not within striking distance and so they want to put their money in races where they think there is greater chance of a positive pay-off,†Myers said.
Taylor’s personal wealth – he has contributed $575,000 to his campaign so far – makes the economic hit less severe, Myers said, but the perception his campaign is viewed with less optimism by party leaders could still hurt.
He can always call up Shelley Sekula Gibbs and commiserate with her. She’s been there. Thanks to Kent for the tip.
This was the front page, above the fold, full color photo story in today’s Waco Tribune, which is the main paper for more than 50% of the district. With a photo of a dejected looking Van Taylor sitting there in his campaign headquarters.
When the conservative Waco Trib turns against you I’d say you’re toast.
This has been an ugly campaign from beginning to end. Taylor immediately went negative on illegal immigration, accusing Edwards of voting to give illegal aliens food stamps and social security. The reality was that Edwards was voting for the guest worker program that would have given illegals a path to citizenship after returning home and re-applying. Once citizens they would then, of course, be eligible for food stamps and social security. But that’s the convoluted link he made in the ad.
At the same time, Edwards has been going negative on Taylor with an absolute fury. One ad I saw last night accused Taylor of wanting to cut homeland security, armor for the troops, VA funding, and a whole bunch of other things (citing some candidate survey) and then stamped FAILED in big letters across Taylor’s face with the voice saying ‘Van Taylor has Failed Texas’ or some such think as if he was already an actual Republican legislator.
Edwards ads, the ones that I’ve seen anyway (I mostly skip them as I have Tivo) have been every bit as ugly and negative as Taylor’s. I’m all for winning at all costs, especially in this district which would NEVER again go Democrat if Edwards ever loses. But it would be nice to see Edwards spend at least a little of his money on more positive messages.