MEMO from the National Republican
Congressional Committee
TO: INTERESTED PARTIES
FROM: NRCC CHAIRMAN PETE SESSIONS
DATE: OCTOBER 26, 2010
SUBJECT: CLOSING THE DEAL: PUTTING THE PIECES IN PLACE FOR A REPUBLICAN
MAJORITY
With
only a week to go until Election Day, Democrats have found themselves
in a position they hoped to avoid from day one. As Republicans continue
to expand the playing field and put races away early, Democrats are
constantly plugging holes in the dam while resources grow scarce. After
a natural post-Labor Day tightening in races across the country,
developments at both the national and district-by-district levels
confirm that Republicans are finishing strong. A few weeks ago, we
found ourselves on the precipice of victory. Now we are closing the
deal, moving toward accomplishing our ultimate goal of retiring Nancy
Pelosi and capturing a new Republican majority.
While Democrats
are still attempting to claim momentum, reality is far different. The
Democrats’ ‘triage’ strategy is cutting off outgoing incumbents at a
rapid pace, all but conceding losses in key races. The Rothenberg
Political Report already rates 22 Democrat-held seats as either ‘Lean
Republican’ or ‘Republican Favored’ with another 14 Democrat-held seats
rated as ‘Toss Up/Tilt Republican.’ Public and private polling shows
that Republicans are already on their way to winning in nearly 40
races. With a week to go, competitive races are moving quickly away
from the Democrats and we have captured critical momentum that will
play a large role in breaking the 39-seat barrier.
Early
results are promising. Republican turnout in early voting is nearly
universally above registration levels, proving that the intensity gap
that Democrats fear is in fact real. In toss-up races like New Jersey’s
Third District, New Mexico’s First District, North Carolina’s Seventh
District, and Colorado’s Third District, early Republican enthusiasm
foretells a painful election night for Democrats who thought they were
immune to the coming wave.
We need look no farther than the
Democrats’ spending strategy to see the extent of their problems. As
Republicans continue to push the borders of the playing field, the DCCC
and its allies are forced to spend money in races they expected would
be locked up weeks ago. Even more troubling for Democrats is the fact
that many of these races are even competitive in the first place. With
the NRCC on offense against unprepared vulnerable incumbents like
Charlie Wilson in eastern Ohio, Tim Walz in southern Minnesota, and
Gene Taylor in southern Mississippi, DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen has
described his party’s challenge as playing a game of ‘Whac-a-Mole.’ The
DCCC has scrambled to follow the NRCC into many of these districts to
play defense in an unsuccessful effort to stop the bleeding.
The
national environment has presented the extraordinary opportunity for
Republicans to capture the majority, but the NRCC’s record-setting
fundraising has allowed us to capitalize and remain on offense. The
NRCC raised $11.2 million in September 2010 alone – its best
fundraising month since 2006. We followed that effort by outraising the
DCCC once again in the first half of October. While the NRCC is
successfully executing a plan to spend $54 million in approximately 90
races, Republican candidates are turning in stellar fundraising
performances as well. The Hotline calculates that 34 of the most
vulnerable incumbent Democrats were outraised by their Republican
challengers last quarter. The financial advantage that Democrats long
believed would allow them to retain their majority has disappeared.
Democrats
are message-less. There is no longer enough time for them to coalesce
behind a message that resonates with middle class voters. Instead, they
have desperately turned to attacking outside organizations who dare
oppose their anti-business views. Democrats had no complaints when
their liberal allies were spending hundreds of millions of dollars on
their behalf in the 2006 and 2008 elections. They also conveniently
neglect to mention the fact that labor unions continue to outspend
conservative groups as well. With their hypocritical attempts to
distract voters with scare tactics and side topics, Democrats are only
reinforcing voters’ perception that they have absolutely no plan to
create jobs. Their message should be taken for what it is: Democrats
are laying the groundwork for a massive Election Night loss and they
are in need of scapegoat. Unfortunately, reality doesn’t match their
rhetoric.
With the playing field much more balanced over the
closing weeks of the campaign, Democrats are forced to defend their
unpopular agenda in Washington – a fight they know they can’t win. The
final unemployment numbers before election day that were announced
earlier this month confirmed that Democrats will be held accountable by
voters for their reckless job-killing policies. Last week’s
state-by-state unemployment numbers reinforced that reality from coast
to coast. As Americans are desperately seeking leadership in Washington
that is willing to address a struggling economy, Democrats pushed
forward with a radical big-government spending agenda that stood in the
way of economic recovery and only made matters worse. Though many
vulnerable Democrats are running away from this record on the campaign
trail, the American people will not soon forget about this binge of
unprecedented spending at the expense of a healthy economy.
Make
no mistake: Nancy Pelosi’s days as Speaker of the House are numbered.
Thanks to nearly two years of hard work on the campaign front and a
renewed commitment to listening to the American people, Republicans are
poised for a significant victory on November 2. With just days to go
until Election Day, we are faced with a historic opportunity to take
control of Congress away from Nancy Pelosi and put a stop to the
Democrats’ reckless job-killing agenda. Republicans intend to seize
this opportunity.
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