Red State versus the NRCC

This Red State criticism of the NRCC and Tom Cole seems misplaced...

Now, in the height of all douchebaggery, [Tom Cole] has pulled all funding from Michelle Bachmann's very winnable race in Minnesota, in which she is presently leading, though not by a great deal. [...] Apparently we have Republicans to spare.

I'm certainly in favor of major reforms within Republican organizations - and I'm not inclined to defend anybody who supports Rep. Don Young - but there are less than two weeks left untl the election and money is not an unlimited resource.  Allocation decisions have to be made.  If Red State wants Rep. Bachmann to get more money, then some other candidate has to get less.  Which Republican does Red State think we have to spare?

What's more...

• Michelle Bachmann recently reported "$1.37 million in cash on hand".  She's got money; she can fund her own race. 
• The DCCC is outspending the NRCC by about 4-1.  The NRCC can't afford to keep up with them everywhere, particularly when the NRCC has dozens of open seats to defend and the DCCC only a few.  The NRCC has to fund the candidates who aren't already sitting on large piles of money.
  
• In any event, Tom Cole is legally prohibited from coordinating with the NRCC's independent expenditure wing.  It's not his call.

Perhaps a case can be made for supplementing Bachmann's $1m+ out of very scarce NRCC funds.  "Tom Cole is a douchebag" isn't that case.

UPDATE

The NRCC has issued a response on this story.  Their response is posted below the fold.

TO:                Interested Parties
FROM: Karen Hanretty, Communications Director, National Republican Congressional Committee
SUBJECT: NRCC Memo: Funding Republican Congressional Campaigns
DATE: October 23, 2008

There’s been some misreporting about Congresswoman Michelle Bachman’s race in Minnesota.  On Wednesday, the Huffington Post reported that the National Republican Congressional Committee pulled TV purchases in her district, setting off a string of reports in print, on radio and by blogs. Here are the facts:

1. Under federal campaign finance laws, the NRCC doesn’t get to decide what does or doesn’t get funded. As everyone (who understands campaigns) knows, the NRCC’s Independent Expenditure (IE) is a segregated unit, firewalled off from the rest of the NRCC.  Chairman Cole does not actually decide what does or doesn't get funded.  Thanks to the campaign finance laws, Chairman Cole is prohibited by law from being involved in what the IE does. The NRCC learns about the IE unit’s activities from publicly available information.

2. The NRCC never had ads running in MN 6.  The NRCC’s IE unit reserved time and chose not to purchase it.

3. The NRCC is being outspent by the DCCC 4-to-1 this year.  They will spend upwards of $70 million against Republicans by Election Day.

4. Our battlefield is the largest we’ve ever seen.  The NRCC has 31 open seats to defend this year.  The DCCC has five.  That means our money gets stretched a lot further and will stay focused on those areas most in need of assistance.

5. There are more paths to victory for Republican candidates than we have money to fund.  Some candidates, like Congresswoman Bachmann, are sitting on more than $1 million cash on hand in districts that President Bush won in 2004 by double digits.

Three major factors have converged this election cycle, creating a situation Republicans simply have never experienced in congressional races:

1. A toxic political environment: Republicans are losing on the generic ballot and polling for right track/wrong direction has never been worse. 

2. Republicans have been outraised and outspent by Democrats 4-to-1.

3. We lost 30 seats two years ago, we have 30 open seats today, and arguably 30 competitive incumbents to protect.

As has been reported in press reports, the NRCC’s IE has pulled money away from some campaigns and redirected it into others. If history is a guide, this will likely continue for a few more days.  Surely, the decisions being made by the IE are not easy.  They have an estimated $22 million to spend nationwide on TV, radio and mail for Republican candidates this cycle, many of which are located in expensive media markets.  

I expect the IE may pull funding in additional districts and move it to more competitive seats.  There will be second-guessing on November 5th, no doubt.   But know that the goal of this Committee is to elect as many Republicans to Congress as possible.