GOP pulls ads for Feeney
Daytona Beach News Journal, 10/25/2008
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- National Republicans have pulled television advertising for four of the party's incumbents, including Tom Feeney in Florida.
Feeney is among the at-risk Republican incumbents left to fend for themselves by a cash-strapped House of Representatives campaign arm in the crucial final days of the campaign amid a tough political environment for President George W. Bush's party.
The National Republican Campaign Committee also has canceled planned TV ads to help Reps. Marilyn Musgrave in Colorado, Michele Bachmann in Minnesota and Joe Knollenberg in Michigan, spokeswoman Karen Hanretty confirmed.
Musgrave, Feeney and Knollenberg are extremely vulnerable. Democrats, who are eyeing double-digit gains in their House majority, have been targeting them heavily. Feeney is battling Democrat Suzanne Kosmas of New Smyrna Beach.
Neither Feeney nor Kosmas responded to requests for comment Friday.
Bachmann, whose district is solidly conservative, has only recently emerged as a prime target after her controversial remarks on MSNBC's 'Hardball,' which sparked a flood of campaign contributions to her Democratic opponent and reshaped the race.
She said Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama may have 'anti-American' views and urged an investigation of unpatriotic lawmakers.
The Democrats' House campaign is dumping $1 million on TV ads in the district in hopes of helping Bachmann's challenger, Elwyn Tinklenberg, unseat her.
In a statement, Carrie James, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Bachmann 'crossed the line by launching negative and divisive personal attacks.'Bachmann told the St. Cloud Times newspaper on Wednesday that she regretted using the term 'anti-American' about Obama, saying her appearance on 'Hardball' was 'a big mistake.'Earlier, she told the St. Cloud Rotary Club that she wished she could take back the statement, and she denied that she had said Obama was anti-American or suggested an investigation of members of Congress.But during her 'Hardball' appearance Friday, Bachmann said of Obama: 'I'm very concerned that he may have anti-American views.'Of lawmakers, she said: 'I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out, are they pro-America or anti-America?'Defending her TV comments Wednesday at the Rotary Club, Bachmann said Obama 'loves his country, just as everyone in this room does.'However, she reiterated her worries about him. 'I'm very concerned about Barack Obama's views. I don't believe that socialism is a good thing for America,' Bachmann said.Republicans played down the decision to abandon Bachmann, noting she still has more than $1 million to get her through until Election Day.
The party's House campaign committee, far behind its Democratic counterpart in fundraising, already had pared its advertising substantially in competitive races. It scaled back planned television buys in the districts of Reps. Jon Porter of Nevada and Bill Sali of Idaho.
Also reduced were ads for candidates in southern Minnesota and central New Mexico who are in close contests with Democrats seeking to replace retiring Republicans, and districts in Florida, Kansas, Louisiana and Texas that are home to vulnerable Democrats.
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