National Journal says Democratic leadership put Boucher “on notice”
Rick Boucher
Here’s some interesting reading on the national scene that touches on our corner of the world.
The National Journal has a story today — “Dems Define Success Down: The party hopes to declare victory by losing less than expected” — that looks at how some Democratic leaders saw nearly two years ago that this would likely be a bad year, and started planning accordingly.
Specifically, it says the party demanded that all freshman and sophomore Democrats “had to sign a contract with the DCCC” (the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) spelling out how much money they would raise by a certain time. The goal was to make sure that vulnerable legislators were well-funded and didn’t leave campaign finance until it was too late. Rep. Tom Perriello, D-Albemarle, isn’t mentioned by name, but he is a freshman, so presumably he’s counted among “all freshman and sophomore Democrats.”
Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, is mentioned by name, though. He’s cited as one of “more than two dozen Democrats with substantial seniority who had not run modern races in tough political climates for years.” Those legislators, the story says, were “summoned to private meetings and put on notice.”
It’s a fascinating look at how parties work behind the scenes.
October 8, 2010 - 3:00 PM
Boucher needs to retire. BTW, how old is that picture of him, 20 years ago?
Boucher needs to retire like Griffith is an expert on the 9th because he can see it from his house.
Hey John
After redistricting Boucher will be able to see the 9th from HIS house in Abingdon.
Will your point have as much relevance then?
So he was ‘put on notice’ because he’s won all of his elections since 1984 by huge margins? Because he manages to meet the wishes of his conservative constituents instead of antagonizing & alienating them? Or because he didn’t spend a lot of money in his campaigns when he didn’t need to do so?
Very interesting approach taken by the so-called party leaders who are all pilloried right now…
Boucher will win easy.
abdnva, the way I read it, he was “put on notice” because it’s been a long time since he’s had a serious challenge — that 1984 race against Jeff Stafford that you reference. A lot has changed since then in terms of how campaigns are run — the money required, the technology available, and so forth. No blogs in 1984, for instance! So presumably the Democratic leadership wanted to make sure Boucher (and the other Dems cited) were on top of things. I’ve heard from some Republicans who felt that Virgil Goode lost his 2008 re-election bid in the 5th partly because he didn’t run a “modern” campaign — wasn’t making proper use of direct mail, and so forth.
Virgil got caught flat footed,didnt expect the big bucks campaign against him.
Boucher’s smart enough to have banked a good amount – about $2 mil or so – just in case. That’s about four times what Griffith had, but that doesn’t factor in the heavy money coming from the shadow group Americans for Job Security and other s like that. If it came down to it, they could easily toss another million in their negative advertising kitty for the 9th. That won’t matter this time, but it will mean less money that Boucher can hold in reserve for his 2012 re-election. Again, pointing towards 2012 campaign after Griffith gerrymanders the 9th to his liking, big picture that the GOP is watching.
Virgil got caught showing his true colors. He was the TEA protest raving maniac before they had an ugly sign to carry. He thought he owned this country too. He chose to be a bigot and enough people in our district decided he did not represent us. Yet another reason Hurt is trying to fly low and bank on resentment to do his job for him. Some hero there.