Vulnerable Democrat gets DCCC help

When the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee launched a television advertisement in mid-July targeting Republican congressional candidate Lou Barletta, it was a decision many saw as an ominous sign for the longtime Democratic incumbent who was the object of Barletta's challenge.

Twelve-term U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-Nanticoke) hasn’t usually had to worry about re-election. But this cycle, Kanjorski is widely seen as vulnerable. The Democrat is facing questions about the more than $10 million in earmarks he has reserved for a tech firm that is owned by his relatives. He has also been criticized for saying in August 2007 that his party overpromised prior to the 2006 midterm elections that his party could end the war in Iraq.

That the DCCC would go to bat for Kanjorski, for many, was affirmation that Kanjorski is in trouble. Last week, citing the ad, the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report downgraded Kanjorski’s race to the “Toss Up/Tilt Democratic” category.

The intention of the ad by the DCCC is clear: In a Democratic-leaning district that in the last two presidential contests favored Al Gore and John Kerry, portray Barletta as nothing less than Bush-style Republican.

On the campaign trail in his blue collar district, Barletta, who for the last eight years has served as the mayor of Hazleton, fashions himself as a populist, reminding voters that as mayor he took a hard-line stance on immigration. The Democratic committee wants to make sure Barletta doesn’t go unchecked.

“Barletta supported George Bush’s failed economic policies. Barletta even helped lead Bush’s campaign in Pennsylvania. And both have supported privatizing Social Security, putting our retirement at risk,” a narrator intones in the DCCC’s ad. “Lou Barletta – he may be George Bush’s friend, but he’s no friend of the middle class.”

“Lou Barletta is trying to mislead voters and we will not allow him to undergo an extreme makeover about his strong support of President Bush’s failed economic policies, tax cuts for the rich, and privatizing Social Security,” said DCCC spokesman Doug Thornell.

The DCCC’s rush to defend Kanjorski can be traced to the committee’s tendency to place a priority on shoring up endangered incumbents. In one notable example, the organization worked early in the 2006 to help ensure the re-election of Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Texas), an incumbent in a conservative district.

“Clearly, the first priority of any of the party committees – Democrat or Republican – is to shore up their incumbents,” said Alixandria Lapp, who has served as deputy director of the DCCC’s independent expenditure operation. “In the game of math, when you’re trying to gain or build a majority every seat you lose is a seat you have to gain somewhere else.”

There are other factors to the committee’s focus on retaining incumbents, said one strategist who works closely with the committee. The DCCC is a member-sponsored organization, and knocking off an incumbent is harder than defending an incumbent.

This cycle the committee is also placing a premium on playing offense and picking up seats currently in the hands of the opposing party. Of the 51 districts where the DCCC has reserved advertising time, Republicans hold 34.

“They are less incumbent-focused at this time than at any time in the past,” said one consultant who is working closely with the committee this cycle. “I think they are making a political judgment as to maximize the seats they can win.”

Another consultant working with the DCCC said the organization was focused on shoring up vulnerable incumbents now with an eye toward heavily shifting the funds to Republican seats closer to the fall.

But the DCCC’s early focus on Kanjorski, analysts say, speaks to the delicate political situation in which Kanjorski finds himself.

“It is recognition that this is a competitive race,” said David Wasserman, who monitors House races for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. “Kanjorski is in a unique situation. Barletta is a strong candidate and Kanjorski has faced some ethical problems.”

Kanjorski spokesman Ed Mitchell disputed the idea that the DCCC’s involvement in the race was an indication of the Democrat’s vulnerability, arguing that it was simply an outgrowth of the committee’s financial might. The DCCC leads the NRCC in fundraising by a steep seven-to-one ratio.

“It shows they have a financial edge over the NRCC that allows them to play in more districts than (the NRCC) can and this is one of them,” said Mitchell.

But NRCC spokesman Ken Spain had a different perspective on the ads.

“The fact that the DCCC chose to go up on the air is proof positive of how perilous a position Paul Kanjorski is in,” Spain said.

Barletta is using the DCCC’s purchase to reinforce his message that he is running against Washington.

“The American people have lost confidence in Washington,” the mayor said in an interview. “A 24-year incumbent has to take responsibility for being there the whole time.”

He argued that the organization’s involvement was a sign his campaign was resonating with voters. “The DCCC wasn’t in their game plan to start spending money in July” on a longtime incumbent, he said.

Kanjorski’s 11th Congressional District encompasses Luzerne and Lackawanna counties and cuts into Columbia, Monroe, and Carbon counties. It is an economically-struggling area where the median household income totals less than $35,000 a year. Though the district tends to vote Democratic, voters are more conservative on social issues like gun control and abortion.

Barletta has tapped into that conservative sentiment by loudly advertising his hard line stance on immigration. Since challenging Kanjorski in a failed bid for the seat in 2002 Barletta has used the issue to establish himself both locally and nationally. He has appeared as a frequent guest on evening cable news programs to talk about border policies.

“My name recognition has certainly changed,” he said. “People did not know who I was when I ran in 2002.”

Jeff Jubelirer, a Pennsylvania-based Republican consultant, said Barletta’s increased profile this time around gives him the advantage of not having to introduce himself to voters. It also makes him a more difficult target for Democrats, Jubelirer said.

“Trying to paint Barletta won’t be as easy as it was years ago because he’s a known quantity,” he said.

But Barletta is facing a significant disadvantage in the fundraising realm. At the end of June, Kanjorski had almost $2.1 million in the bank while Barletta had short of $322,000. Barletta’s campaign has been kept off the television airwaves and has focused its efforts on blasting Kanjorski in a slew of daily press releases.

But Barletta argues that his insurgent-style campaign is scrappy. “I don’t need to raise as much as (Kanjorski). I just have to have enough to get my message out,” he said.

Kanjorski’s side, however, argues Barletta’s fundraising performance is putting him at a disadvantage in the contest.

“Free press doesn’t hold well against television,” said Mitchell. “I’d feel like one of my hands was tied behind my back.”

Thomas Baldino, a political scientist at Wilkes University said that, aside from his campaign bank account, Kanjorski has another advantage: his ability to tell voters that he’s brought bacon back to the economically-struggling district. The congressman has been called “a master of earmarking.”

But while Democrats are poised to pick up seats in the House this cycle, Republicans insist that the contest for Pennsylvania’s 11th Congressional District, along with other races in New Hampshire, Kansas, and Texas, is one of their top opportunities.

“You don’t see many 12-term incumbents turning to the DCCC to save their floundering campaigns,” said the NRCC’s Spain.