Question: How do you know a party doesn’t feel too great about it’s prospects to pick up an open seat? Answer: When they are desperately trying to convince the incumbent to retract his retirement.
I mean, seriously, how must you feel if you’re Erik Paulsen and everyone from local GOP blogs, to John Boehner, to the spokesperson for the NRCC is trying to get Ramstad back in? I guess I can understand where the party’s coming if Paulsen’s potency is to be determined by his showings so far…
Either way, this turmoil has not gone unnoticed nationally. Take a look at CNN yesterday:
Rep. Jim Ramstad, R-Minnesota, said “I’m burned out. I’m tired,” when he announced he was leaving in September, but Minority Leader John Boehner has been trying to get Ramstad to reconsider his decision, the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune reported earlier this month
“The party knows how much money they’re going to have to spend” to defend Ramstad’s district, Whittington said.
Without Ramstad even the best case scenario (Paulsen making a strong showing) still stinks because they’re going to have to drop tons of cash in the district they could otherwise spend elsewhere. Long story short, it’s a good year for Democrats.
Zack Adds: Perhaps Boehner and his buddies got a little nervous after they talked to Paulsen and he told them that the reason why he wanted to run for Congress was: “I think have learned a lot about some expertise on now and try to carry that to a new level as we do try to educate our kids for a global economy.”
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I don’t suppose anyone might regret driving out all the moderate members of the party?
Nahhhh, never mind.
Rely on the powers of the blinders and meming. CNN equals vast left-wing conspiracy equals the information is ipso facto wrong. And they’ll go back to dumping on Al Gore.
I think you mean “retract”, not “redact” … unless you want the retirement announcement blacked-out.
Mase, I did indeed mean retract. Apparently when you type “reract” spell check changes it to “redact” not “retract”… sigh.
Both parties are going to benefit from the whiplash pace of annointing their candidates. Both Bonoff and Paulsen were labeled the chosen ones only days after a surprise retirement - which amazes me. If there is a silver lining, it is that we don’t have a situation with one party spending all their money on the primary while the other can save for the general. Equal starts are always a good thing for democracy, in my book.
This is MISLEADING. The GOP blog you link to is NOT trying to get Ramstad back in the race.