U.S. Senator Richard Burr delivers the GOP Weekly Address June 10, 2009
Does DNC panel not think Elaine Marshall can beat Richard Burr?
Secretary of State Elaine Marshall is not getting a lot of support from her fellow Democrats these days.
Marshall, one of the Democratic Party's proven vote-getters, was among the first candidates to announce her intentions to challenge Republican Sen. Richard Burr in 2010.
But the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which has become the banker of Senate campaigns, has virtually ignored her. It recruited Attorney General Roy Cooper and Congressman Bob Etheridge, both of whom said no. Now it is courting former state Sen. Cal Cunningham, a former Iraq veteran from Lexington.
The senatorial committee is important because is seems unlikely that any Democrat can mount a serious challenge to Burr without its help. The best guess is that Burr, as an incumbent with strong support in the business community, will have $15 million to $20 million to spend on his campaign.
Only the senatorial committee can raise the kind of money to make the Democratic Senate candidate financially competitive. Without the $11 million it spent on behalf of Democrat Kay Hagan in 2008, Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole would likely have been re-elected.
They seem to have several doubts about Marshall. She is not a proven political fundraiser. Although she has been elected secretary of state four times, she finished a weak third in her 2002 Senate Democratic primary Senate race behind Erskine Bowles and Dan Blue.
Popular among Democratic Party activists, she has never been regarded as a particularly dynamic candidate.
There is also the age factor.
Marshall, whose husband died of cancer Saturday after a year-long battle with cancer, would be 65 if elected to the Senate. That is four years younger than Terry Sanford when he was elected in 1986, and one year younger than Dole when she was elected in 2002. Both Sanford and Dole entered the Senate as national figures that had previously run for president.
The recruitment of the 36-year old Cunningham must be particularly galling to Marshall, who was winning her first election as secretary of state during Cunningham's senior year at the UNC-Chapel Hill.
But Marshall demographics may be a powerful factor in next May's Democratic primary.
Her campaign estimates that 59 percent of the likely primary voters will be women and of those voters, 75 percent will be 50 years old or older. This is a group that Marshall has been courting for 15 years on the chicken circuit. "She is going to be formidable," said her campaign manager, Thomas Mills.
The 2008 Democratic primary suggests that women have an advantage with Bev Perdue, Janet Cowell, Beth Wood and Mary Fant Donnan all winning over male opponents by wide margins.
But the senatorial committee doesn't care who can win the Democratic primary. They care who can beat Burr. And if they don't think the Democratic nominee has a chance, they will go elsewhere.
READERS' COMMENTS:
DanaD wrote on 11/29/2009 02:28:10 PM:
Kay Hagan is a liberal and will vote for everything that the radical left Congressional Democrats tell her to-regardless of what her constituents want.
bobcat99 wrote on 11/29/2009 07:34:12 AM:
You lost me on the first comment.
toomuchgovernment wrote on 11/29/2009 06:41:54 AM:
ALL we need is yet another woman representing NC and this is coming from another woman! All these women do is lie to get into office:
Case & Point:
Governor Purdue lie: Said she would NOT raise taxes and look what she has done. NC taxes are over 8%-highest in Southeast!
Senator Hagan: Said she 'would listen to her constituants on healthcare and welcomed & would respond personally to her constituants.' She has voted for this socialization package of OBama and is NEVER available. Her voice mail is always full and all one gets is a 'form letter' as an answer.
We need someone who has been in the business world who can help keep and get additional businesses to NC. Otherwise, this state will be broke like NY, CA, et all & MORE people will leave.
These idiots who are running NC now, don't have a clue as to whats going on and what is necessary. ALL just rode in on Obama's coattails & I can not wait until they 'ride out' with him! This RIDE OUT can't happen soon enough!
View Larger Map
Sources: McClatchy Newspapers, Charlotte Observer, RNC, DSCC, Youtube, Google Maps
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment