If e-mails from the Democrats’ campaign committees are to be taken seriously, Republicans are in pretty fantastic shape for 2014. E-mail blasts sent by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee over the last few weeks — ingenuous or not — would suggest the party has descended into panic.
A few examples:
‐A DCCC e-mail on January 23, with the subject line “devastating” [sic], starts out this way: “Friends — this could be devastating. News just broke that Boehner’s political arm is going ALL-IN to defeat Democratic candidate Alex Sink in the upcoming Florida special election.”
‐Another e-mail from the D-trip on Sunday is subject-lined “bad news (today)” and stokes fears about the Koch brothers’ efforts at “destroying President Obama’s progressive State of the Union agenda.” “[A]nd it all starts TODAY,” the e-mail reads, with an ominous reference to the conservative mega-donors’ annual conference.
‐A DSCC e-mail subject line last week included very few capital letters and lots of despondence: “dire,” “in danger,” “tightening,” and “serious trouble.”
‐The DSCC also seems to think Republicans have a very good shot at winning back the Senate in November. “According to MSNBC’s projections, we WILL lose the Senate if we can’t respond. That’s why it’s so absolutely critical that 4,000 folks renew their membership to the DSCC before TOMORROW at midnight.” Republicans are just 4,000 unrenewed memberships away from flipping the Senate? Interesting.
‐The DSCC also seems to think early attack ads against their incumbent Democrats have been effective. Under the subject line “Catastrophic,” an e-mail reads, “The consequences of this push have been brutal: ‘the early advertising blitz has driven down the support for Senate incumbents in highly competitive states…that are critical to the Democratic Party’s push to hold its majority.’ Bottom line: If we continue to let these attacks run unanswered, it will lead to Republicans taking over the Senate and tearing President Obama’s second term agenda to shreds.” In other words, the DSCC doesn’t seem to think it’s doing a very good job right now.
‐And DCCC e-mail scribes seem to feel a bit bleak about their prospects for taking back the House. In an e-mail sent at the end of December with the subject line “This is a real problem,” the writers say that Boehner is “throwing everything he’s got” at keeping the House (good insight). “This may sound harsh — but the truth is that if we get outraised on this year-end deadline, we won’t win the House next year,” it says.
Republicans feeling gloomy about the next few months need only sign up for Democratic fundraising e-mails to get regular missives of good cheer.
