The New York Times has a Northeast Congressional race review that spends a couple of paragraphs on the great efforts made by the NRCC in the 29th:
The early Republican effort in the Southern Tier, which encompasses more than a dozen counties along New York’s border with Pennsylvania, offers a preview of what party leaders say is likely to occur next fall. For months, Republican Party operatives have kept a close eye on Mr. Massa, the district’s freshman congressman, as he attempts to balance the conservative leanings of his district with the demands of his party’s liberal base.
In August, while attending a liberal bloggers’ convention, Mr. Massa was caught on tape saying, in regard to his support of a government-run insurance plan, “I will vote adamantly against the interests of my district if I actually think what I am doing is going to help.”
The National Republican Congressional Committee immediately created a video called “Democrats Think You’re Stupid” highlighting the comments, and distributed it to news organizations. Party operatives say it will almost certainly be fodder for campaign commercials next year
Mr. Massa, whose office has dismissed the attacks as partisan games, is leaving nothing to chance, aware that House members are most at risk of defeat when seeking their second term. In addition to raising more than $800,000 in the past year, he has maintained a furious pace of public appearances in the district, holding 64 town-hall-style meetings since the beginning of 2008.
[emphasis mine]
The 29th portion of the story was obviously dictated by the NRCC and dutifully transcribed by the Times. There's not a single word in the story about Tom Reed, which says a lot about the NRCC's attitude towards the 29th.
It looks like the NRCC is trying to distance themselves from Reed, since a number of other challengers were mentioned in the story. Even the weak and disorganized GOP leadership knows that quality, well-financed challengers win races, not silly "gotcha" press releases. If the NRCC thought Reed was worth bragging about, they would have played him up. Instead, they talked about an two-month-old, long-forgotten YouTube video.
I think the Reed campaign should be a little concerned, because the NRCC just sent them a message, carried by a gray lady.
Comments
"And in New York’s Southern Tier, party officials have rallied behind Tom Reed, the mayor of Corning"
So... not sure where you're getting that from. It's not possible for the NYT to have given Reed the short treatment as opposed to the GOP? Especially when Reed got instant support from them.
Yeah, you're right. Fixed the post. D'oh.