NRSC lacks candidates and money

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) is facing many of the same problems it battled last cycle, raising about half as much money as its Democratic counterpart and failing to recruit a single major candidate nearly six months after the 2006 elections.

The lack of money and candidates last year heaped criticism onto the committee, then under the leadership of Sen. Elizabeth Dole (N.C.). Republicans say many of the plagues of 2006 are lingering into 2008, and that the criticism will start to flow again unless tangible progress is made.

{mosads}In the first quarter, the NRSC, currently led by Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), raised about half the money of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), which eclipsed the NRSC’s quarterly total in March alone.

The troubles extend to recruiting.

The NRSC chided the DSCC two weeks ago when it failed to recruit Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio (D) to run against Sen. Gordon Smith (R) in 2008. But when it comes to recruiting success stories, the NRSC doesn’t have a single leg to stand on.

The NRSC has yet to land one substantial candidate, while the DSCC has several candidates in Minnesota and New Hampshire, along with leading candidates and presumptive nominees in Colorado, Idaho and Maine.

The only major Republican challenger right now is a potential primary challenger — Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning. Bruning has begun a feud with Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), who has yet to go public with any 2008 plans. Bruning has gone back on a pledge to bow out if the senator runs for reelection.

While the DSCC has shifted its recruiting focus to less vulnerable seats in states such as Kentucky and Texas, the NRSC is still looking for candidates to tackle top targets in Louisiana, Montana and South Dakota. In Colorado, former Rep. Scott McInnis (R) unexpectedly dropped out of the open-seat race, leaving another hole to fill.

Whatever the NRSC’s shortcomings up to this point, part of the DSCC’s gains can be attributed to the many holdovers it has from last cycle, most notably Chairman Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).

Conversely, nobody wanted to take over the chairmanship of the NRSC following such a difficult cycle, in which Republicans lost six seats, and with 21 seats to defend in 2008.

NRSC Executive Director Scott Bensing acknowledged the leg up Democrats have on staffing and political environment but said the NRSC is beginning to make progress.

He said the committee is “leanly staffed but properly staffed” and is “running on all cylinders.” It is probably finished hiring for 2007, he said.

“If there’s 50 steps in this process, we’re on step two,” he said. “On the fundraising side, we’re up against a formidable opponent. He’s proven that, and now with the majority, I don’t think that’s any different.”

As for recruiting, Bensing said landing the right candidates is more important than getting the early ones and predicted several top-tier candidates will emerge in the summer.

One GOP operative said what hurt the NRSC last cycle is likely to sink it again in 2008.

“A bunch of people are going to start scratching their heads and saying, ‘Gosh, maybe it wasn’t Elizabeth Dole,’” the operative said. “I think people are giving it the benefit of the doubt for a little while. But that’ll all change real soon.”

The operative pointed to a persistent poor environment for the GOP, which includes the war in Iraq, as well as a lack of help from the base and contributions from members.

Bensing said if the current environment persisted there would be “90 Democratic senators,” but emphasized that such things are cyclical.

While Democratic senators flooded the DSCC with cash last cycle, Republicans have been stingier in their giving.

In response, Ensign has asked members to multiply their giving in 2008 and contribute a total of $30 million. Altogether, Senate Democrats raised about $30 million more than Republicans in 2006.

The Hill reported in January that Ensign said he wants to raise a minimum of $118 million this cycle — the amount the DSCC raised last cycle — with individual senators contributing between $750,000 and $3 million each depending on their status.

Ensign also has been soliciting funds from the Republican National Committee and its chairman, Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.).

DSCC spokesman Matt Miller said Senate Republicans’ problems have more to do with the fact that Americans disagree with them on the major issues of the day than anything else.

“Senate Democrats have delivered on issues that matter to the American people, and as long as Republicans continue to try and obstruct that change, they’ll find themselves the minority party in the country,” Miller said.

In the first quarter, the DSCC out-raised the NRSC, $13.7 million to $7 million. The NRSC’s take was about $3 million less than in its first quarter under Dole but slightly more than in the 2004 cycle.

On the recruiting front, the NRSC has fewer targets, and one of its top targets has been stymied due to Sen. Tim Johnson’s (D-S.D.) unexpected illness.

It still is seeking a candidate to run for the seat of Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.), who is retiring, as well as against a top target in Louisiana, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D). The recruitment challenge could increase if members such as Sens. John Warner (R-Va.), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Larry Craig (R-Idaho) retire.

As signs of progress at the committee, Bensing pointed to a more interactive website and the committee’s new “Internet Center of Excellence,” a one-stop shop for campaigns that want to do Web advertisements. The committee revamped its headquarters to include a studio and editing equipment.

The NRSC released a series of Web ads last week for races in Iowa, Louisiana and West Virginia.

“That’s just an example of the kind of stuff we’re looking to do, and thus far, in a very short period of time, have shown some pretty good success,” Bensing said.