Israel leads the DCCC. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel named 26 of his colleagues to the Frontline program, a committee program designed to protect their most vulnerable incumbents.
“We call this program Frontline for a reason – these Members are on the vanguard of protecting and expanding the middle class,” Israel said in a written statement released Tuesday morning.
“While the 2014 campaign will be dominated by a strong offense taking on the Tea Party Republican Congress, our success begins with our Members,” added Israel, a Democrat from New York. “These battle-tested men and women have proven time and again that they can win because no one better reflects the values of their districts.”
Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn. will spearhead the program as its chairman. He’s a Frontline alumnus as recently as the 2012 cycle.
Otherwise, the list includes several freshman members and Blue Dog Democrats:
Written off by both parties, buffeted by a tornado of innuendo about his in-laws’ offshore gambling operation and hammered by millions of dollars of outside spending from Republican groups, Democratic Rep. John Tierney defied the odds and won a tight re-election victory Tuesday night in Massachusetts’ 6th district.
He beat former state Sen. Richard Tisei (R), who now joins a big group of Bay State GOP challengers who have fallen short. In fact, no Massachusetts Republican has won a seat in the House since 1994.
With 98 percent of precincts reporting, the Associated Press had Tierney taking 48.4 percent to Tisei’s 47.1 percent.
In the final months of the race, the narrative war was largely fought on Tisei’s turf, with ads from both sides focused on Tierney’s in-laws’ legal problems.
But on Election Day, the Tierney campaign — in concert with the state party and Senator-elect Elizabeth Warren’s campaign — pushed hard to turn out Democratic voters, particularly in Gloucester, Lynn and Salem. That well-crafted effort appeared to have paid off, pushing Tierney over the top after trailing in recent polling.
On Friday, we noted the 10 toughest ads of the cycle. For our last Daily Ad Track here on Election Day, we take a look at the best ads of the cycle. Some are negative, some are positive, some are defensive. But all cut through the clutter this year:
10. New Hampshire 1
Group sponsoring the ad: Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
Women’s testimonials have cluttered television screens, but there was something about a montage of tough guys with facial hair talking about “women’s medical issues” that made us stop.
Not everyone agreed with us when we declared a spot from former Massachusetts Senate Minority Leader Richard Tisei (R) as one of the best of the cycle. It was a static camera shot of the beach with almost no political messaging beyond his campaign logo. It reminded us of the annual Corona palm tree Christmas ads.
But if you need any better understanding of why we liked that spot, well, we’ll let this 4-year-old Abby do the talking for us.
This is, perhaps, the best ad of the entire cycle from former state Senate Minority Leader Richard Tisei (R). He is giving Rep. John Tierney (D) a very serious challenge, but we cannot imagine a better way to close out a campaign in the overloaded Boston TV market, even if it is a small cable buy:
The Democratic House Majority PAC will launch three new ads today, giving a final boost to two Democratic Congressmen and a candidate running in an open seat.
The first spot is in Illinois’ open 12th district, represented by retiring Democratic Rep. Jerry Costello. It highlights the contrast between the Republican nominee, businessman Jason Plummer, and the Democratic nominee, retired Maj. Gen. William Enyart. The ad, backed by $125,000 from today through Nov. 6 on broadcast television in the Paducah, Ky., media market, paints Plummer as someone who “praises” a plan that would “end Medicare.”
The second spot is in Massachusetts’ 6th district, where eight-term Democratic Rep. John Tierney faces an uphill battle against former state Sen. Richard Tisei (R). The ad attempts to tie Tisei to the tea party as well as the Medicare changes in the budget of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). The spot is backed by about $320,000 on broadcast television in the Boston media market over a week beginning today.
The third spot is in New York’s 1st district, where Rep. Tim Bishop (D) faces a rematch with businessman Randy Altschuler (R). The ad hammers on Altschuler’s outsourcing business. The spot begins today and is backed by $500,000 on targeted cable in the expensive New York City media market.
MELROSE, Mass. — Top Senate surrogates descended on Massachusetts this weekend to stump for their party’s candidates and gin up excitement in the competitive Senate race and rough and tumble Congressional contest here.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) this morning stood shoulder to shoulder with Sen. Scott Brown (R) on a stage surrounded by hundreds of sign-waving supporters.
After Brown gave a fiery version of his stump speech, McCain took the microphone. “I’ve been traveling the country for various candidates,” said McCain, who received a hero’s welcome of loud and sustained applause. “This man is the one I want most in the United States Senate working side by side.”
Later, McCain smiled and shook hands on stage with Congressional candidate Richard Tisei, who had spoken earlier. Full story
Rep. John Tierney (left) is among the more vulnerable Members on the ballot in November. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
Updated 8 p.m. | Embattled Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.) no longer has advertisements on the books for Oct. 23 through Election Day in the pricey Boston market, according to two GOP sources who track media buys.
Tierney’s campaign manager, Matt Robison, confirmed the move but said the campaign would be making additional buys next week. “We’ve relocated some of our resources among weeks based on our communications strategy,” he said.
Media buys are public information, so Tierney’s move means he could be signaling for help from an outside group in the final two weeks. But his shift comes just a couple of days after the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee cut $650,000 worth of reservations for that week in the Boston market. Full story
Former state Sen. Richard Tisei outraised Rep. John Tierney (center) for the fourth consecutive quarter. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
Rep. John Tierney (D) raised less than his Republican challenger in the third quarter, Roll Call has learned.
Tierney raised more than $500,000 from July 1 to Sept. 30, while former state Sen. Richard Tisei (R) raised more than $660,000. Tierney, locked in a fierce battle with Tisei for Massachusetts’ 6th district, which is anchored in the North Shore region of the state, has now been outraised by Tisei for four consecutive quarters.
Though the 6th district is reliably Democratic, either candidate could win the race. Tierney has taken a political body blow from the innuendo surrounding his wife’s family’s legal troubles connected to an offshore gambling operation, although he has been accused of no wrongdoing
This week marks the point where campaigns begin to unleash their devastating ads — the ones they have planned to use all along if necessary but have held back for timing. On Tuesday, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) and others went there with a series of ads featuring survivors of sexual assault criticizing Rep. Todd Akin (R). It turns out, it was only the beginning.
Here are the newest ads in this vein to cut through the clutter.
Arizona Senate
There is no doubt momentum has been with former Surgeon General Richard Carmona (D) in his Senate bid against Rep. Jeff Flake (R). But all along, Arizona Republicans insisted that a negative barrage was coming Carmona’s way and that there was plenty in his record that could come into play. The negative ads against Carmona began a few weeks ago, but this new one from the Flake campaign is simple and brutal. This is part of a major statewide broadcast, cable and radio buy.
House Democrats cut more than $1 million in television time in the Philadelphia market today in addition to eliminating major reservations in Boston and Chicago, according to a Democrat who tracks media buys.
The Philadelphia cancellation for Oct. 25-29 isn’t good news for two Democratic challengers running in districts covered by that pricey television market: Pennsylvania’s 8th district and New Jersey’s 3rd district.
A little over a month out from Election Day, television ads are increasingly negative. Over the weekend, Democrats and Republicans alike used tracker video, humor and even Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) to hammer away at the opposition.
Massachusetts’ 6th
A new ad from former state Senate Minority Leader Richard Tisei (R) against Rep. John Tierney (D) essentially gives voters in the Democratic district permission to cross the ballot because of Tierney’s ongoing ethical issues. The ad assumes the viewer knows Tierney’s problems; it is part of a $600,000 buy over 15 days in the heavily saturated Boston media market. It debuted before Sunday’s New England Patriots-Buffalo Bills game.
New York’s 24th
Former Rep. Dan Maffei (D) is up with an ad tying Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle to Akin, who became a national figure with his “legitimate rape” comment. It is reasonable to assume that Akin will probably surface in other Democratic advertisements. The Maffei campaign did not immediately respond to a query on the buy information behind this advertisement.
Rep. John Tierney (left) is among the more vulnerable Members on the ballot in November. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
A new Republican poll commissioned by YG Action Fund, a super PAC created by former aides to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), found Republican Richard Tisei leading Rep. John Tierney (D) in Massachusetts’ 6th district.
The poll, in the field Sept. 25-26 and conducted by respected GOP firm North Star Opinion Research, found Tisei ahead of Tierney 45 percent to 37 percent. An August poll conducted by the same company found Tierney ahead of Tisei 45 percent to 43 percent. Negative advertising against both candidates has been plentiful in the district over the past month. Full story
Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.) led his Republican challenger, former state Sen. Richard Tisei, by 12 points in a new independent poll. But Tierney, who has suffered politically from revelations about his wife’s family’s gambling ring, is burdened with some significant weaknesses, the survey showed.
Tierney got 46 percent compared with Tisei’s 34 percent in the WBUR poll of likely voters that included leaners conducted by the MassINC Polling Group. Eleven percent were undecided, and 7 percent said they would vote for the Libertarian candidate.
When leaners were not included, Tierney’s lead over Tisei was 7 points.
But red flags abounded for the eight-term Congressman in this poll. Only 35 percent of those polled had a favorable opinion of him — a low number for a longtime Member — while 30 percent had an unfavorable view. Twenty-one percent had heard of him but were undecided, and 10 percent had never heard of him. Full story
Rep. John Tierney (D) will launch his first television ad of the election season Wednesday. It attacks his Republican opponent, former state Sen. Richard Tisei, for being “too extreme.”
“The tea party Republican agenda: outlaw abortion, restrict birth control, billionaire tax cuts, middle-class tax hikes,” a female narrator says over spooky music and desaturated slow-motion images of Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich.
“And Richard Tisei?” the narrator continues over unflattering slow-motion video of Tisei. “He calls the tea party ‘a godsend’ to Republicans; defends extreme anti-choice Republican views, saying, ‘It is what it is.’ Republicans plan to gut Medicare? Tisei calls it ‘a good starting point.’
“Tea party Republicans and Richard Tisei: What it is is too extreme,” the narrator says.
