The Fighting 29th

All about New York's 29th Congressional District

Reader Elmer sends this Corning Leader exclusive interview with Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Eric Massa.

Massa also met with the Star-Gazette editorial board. Here's the S-G interview.

Finally, the Democratic National Committee has launched a pro-Massa radio ad campaign. Audio and text of the ad after the break:

The Albany Project has a copy of a mailer sent by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) attacking Eric Massa for his vote against the Iraq supplemental. I live in the Northern part of the district and didn't get a copy of the mailer, so it is apparently a targeted mailing.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is launching a series of robo-calls and TV ads attacking Representatives who voted to quash an investigation of Nancy Pelosi's knowledge of torture. What's interesting about the ads is that Eric Massa, who voted with his party on this one, is not included in the ads.

In fact, the list of targeted Representatives looks like someone threw darts at a Congressional directory. I can understand why Majority Leader Steny Hoyer [MD-5] was included, since the point there is merely to annoy. But Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin [SD-AL]? Her district is rated a "solid D" by Charlie Cook.

In New York, only John Hall [NY-19] made the cut, and Cook rates his district as safer than Eric Massa's, Mike Arcuri's [NY-24] and newcomer Scott Murphy's [NY-20]. In 2008, Hall beat his opponent by 18 points, compared to the nail-biters experienced by Massa, Arcuri and Murphy.

The NRCC was incompetent and ineffective in the last cycle, and this ad buy signals that we're probably in for more of the same in 2010.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is launching robocalls in the 29th which will try to link Eric Massa with Nancy Pelosi. There are also radio and TV ads, but it's not clear if any of those are going to show in the district.

Linking Pelosi with Massa is a long-time Republican strategy that didn't work out too well for Randy Kuhl. Pelosi's approval rating is as good or better than Congress' overall, it pretty much tracks Congressional Democrats' ratings, and it completely overwhelms Congressional Republicans. Republicans are between 18-30% approval, versus 43-50% for Democrats.

While the Republicans flail around trying to find an unpopular Democrat to link to Massa, unless trends change, Massa's job in 2010 will be much simpler. He just needs to point out that his opponent is a Republican.

I received this mailer [pdf] in yesterday's mail. It was created by a consortium of unions and drug companies, and it congratulates Eric Massa for voting for S-CHIP expansion.

The Hill points out that the Chamber of Commerce is congratulating Massa for his vote on the stimulus package.

Seeing the Chamber of Commerce and drug companies spending money to congratulate Massa has me waiting for frogs to fall out of the sky, peering at the horizon in search of horsemen.

Liz Benjamin has the details on a National Republican Congressional Committee radio ad targeting Eric Massa and other Democrats supporting the stimulus. USA Today notes that the ads are launched at a time when there's pretty broad support for the stimulus plan.

The National Republican Congressional Committee dropped $209K on ads opposing Eric Massa yesterday in the 29th. That brings the NRCC's total to $605K.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Commitee spent another $9K on mailings Tuesday, bringing their total to $905K.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee just dropped another $350K on a media buy in the 29th. That brings DCCC spending in the 29th to almost $900K.

The DCCC has not posted a new anti-Kuhl or pro-Massa ad, so it's not clear what ad that money is paying for.

With this buy, the DCCC spending has far outstripped their Republican counterpart. The NRCC has spent less that $400K in the race, and their last expenditure was on some direct mail last Friday. $9K of direct mail on Monday.

I'm no expert in media buys, but I assume the window for booking TV time before the election is almost closed.

The latest Massa ad is embedded below:

Rochesterturning has scans of the new DCCC mailer, which, like the recent TV ad, highlights free trade.

The NRCC has released their first ad in the 29th district, which is embedded below. The charges in the ad are almost identical to Kuhl's most recent ad. (via The Albany Project)