The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

The Fight Begins Now: Mid-Term 2014

Posted on | March 17, 2013 | 12 Comments

NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland
The big headlines out of CPAC this year, as usual, were focused on main-stage speeches by potential Republican presidential candidates for 2016, but that’s still three years away and conservatives cannot afford to look past next year’s mid-term election. So, to me, one of the most important events of this week’s conference was this:

Utah’s 4th District — where Republican Mia Love came within 800 votes of unseating Democrat Rep. Jim Matheson last November — tops the list of more than 40 Democrat-held seats targeted by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) in next year’s mid-term elections.
Mattheson held onto his seat last fall despite the fact Romney carried 67 percent of the vote in the 4th District. Love, who is mayor of Saratoga Springs, raised more than $2 million for her 2012 campaign and is seen as one of the most promising new faces in the conservative movement. Love received an enthusiastic welcome at this week’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
During a briefing for bloggers at CPAC this weekend, NRCC Chairman Greg Walden described the committee’s top list of targeted Democrat-held seats as the “slippery seven,” because they have so often eluded Republicans’ grasp. . . .

Please read the whole thing at Viral Read. The fight by Republicans to recapture the Senate will likely overshadow the GOP’s battle to hold onto — and perhaps expand — their House majority in 2014. Some readers may remember how hard it was to get attention for Republican challengers in 2010, which is why I want to start early trying to focus attention on these key races for next year. The 2016 beauty pageant must be viewed as a dangerous distraction from the real fight at hand.

The NRCC chairman seems like a solid, smart man with a business background who can be counted on to run an effective campaign for 2014. The NRCC’s digital coordinator Nick Martelli was savvy enough to arrange a blogger briefing at CPAC, and Walden said that online messaging will be an “integral” component of their plans for next year’s mid-terms. You can become part of that team by following @RepGregWalden, @NickMarcelli and @NRCC on Twitter.

And, oh, yeah: Mia Love’s already gearing up for 2014.

 


Category: Congress, Election, Republicans

Comments

12 Responses to “The Fight Begins Now: Mid-Term 2014”

  1. gary4205
    March 17th, 2013 @ 12:58 pm

    RT @smitty_one_each: TOM The Fight Begins Now: Mid-Term 2014 http://t.co/ebAZctgOoY #TCOT

  2. dkmkc2000
    March 17th, 2013 @ 1:10 pm

    RT @smitty_one_each: TOM The Fight Begins Now: Mid-Term 2014 http://t.co/ebAZctgOoY #TCOT

  3. 1SkepticalChick
    March 17th, 2013 @ 1:15 pm

    RT @smitty_one_each: TOM The Fight Begins Now: Mid-Term 2014 http://t.co/ebAZctgOoY #TCOT

  4. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    March 17th, 2013 @ 1:38 pm

    Fight? On St. Patrick’s Day? Where do you want us and what should we bring to the brawl?

  5. gerardv
    March 17th, 2013 @ 2:53 pm

    “…at Viral Read. ”

    Viral Read? Holy shit. Do they even begin to realize how stone cold pugugly that page is from the logo to the layout to the crappy little squares on the postage stamp ‘pixtures’ ?

    Dead on Arrival. DOA. Let me put it another way: DEAD. ON. ARRIVAL.

    Whoever thinks they know what they’re doing there, doesn’t. If that’s not improved tootsweet, dudes and dudettes, it is history.

    If they are actually paying get the money a year in front and in cash. It’s doomed to go spits up.

  6. Thane_Eichenauer
    March 17th, 2013 @ 3:25 pm

    I hardly wish to complain that others don’t like the layout at Viral Read but I find the layout to be clear and clean. I don’t know if I would say I like it better than The Other McCain but it has its advantages.

  7. Adjoran
    March 17th, 2013 @ 4:24 pm

    I imagine once the ads start coming in, there will be more color.

    In the meantime, I’ll drop Ali a note about including a sparkly, shiny, animated squirrel for those who need such stimulation.

  8. RNC Announces New Marketing And Outreach Strategy | The Lonely Conservative
    March 17th, 2013 @ 5:19 pm

    […] just during campaign seasons, especially considering how House elections happen every two years. They’re already looking at the 2014 election which is far more important at this point than the next presidential […]

  9. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    March 17th, 2013 @ 7:08 pm

    Squirrels, bunnies, baby ducks, Easter is coming!

  10. gerardv
    March 17th, 2013 @ 8:27 pm

    Well I’d like to see the project move forward, Lord knows, but I am telling all and sundry rightnow that the look and feel of the page will, all by themselves, create a crash and burn flat spin. One of the primary reasons conservs lose the culture and lose the war is that they just aren’t slick enough to compete on a level. They shoot themselves in the foot over and over again with this sort of lame, uninspired look. Sad really.

  11. gerardv
    March 17th, 2013 @ 8:27 pm

    If you want to win you’ve got to play like you want to win. Just being dismissive doesn’t cut it. What ends up being dismissed is the page.

  12. FOAF
    March 18th, 2013 @ 2:11 am

    I wish the best for Mia Love but I suspect she is in for a very tough fight. An articulate, attractive conservative black woman strikes at the heart of the Dems’ identity politics scam and they will stop at nothing to slander and demonize her a la Palin.