Sunday, October 05, 2008

Michigan GOP Reeling after McCain's "Premature Withdrawal"

New Wall Street Journal article today about Michigan's GOP struggling to cope with McCain's decision to stop campaigning and spending in Michigan.

Sen. John McCain's travails are feeding worries among other Republicans on the November ballot that his weakness could hurt their prospects as well.

The presidential candidate's decision last week to stop campaigning in Michigan and scale back advertising there triggered complaints from state party leaders that the withdrawal could undercut in particular two Republican members of Congress facing tough re-election challenges at a time when the party is struggling to contain its losses on Capitol Hill.

In particular, the re-election campaigns of Reps. Joe Knollenberg and Tim Walberg will take a hit as they were banking on help from the McCain-Palin drive. Walberg faces state Sen. Mark Schauer in Michigan's 7th and Knollenberg faces former state Sen. Gary Peters Michigan's 9th district (my home district).

Of course, the Republican machine offers its usual oblivious-to-the-world spin:

Mike Brownfield, Rep. Knollenberg's campaign manager, said he doesn't expect Sen. McCain's absence in Michigan to damage the campaign. "We're not doing anything different today than the campaign was doing yesterday," Mr. Brownfield said Friday.

Yeah right. Just having operatives send out desperate emails:

"I am sure you've heard the news by now that the McCain Campaign decided to pull out of Michigan," Chairman Saul Anuzis, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, wrote in a fund-raising email to supporters marked URGENT. "This move leaves a tremendous hole in our ground campaign that we must now fill." Mr. Anuzis cited the potential fallout for the re-election drives of Reps. Joe Knollenberg and Tim Walberg.

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