Daily Kos: CA-48: NRCC spending with abandon

http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/12/5/173035/080

Weird. The race in California's 48th district has been very low key. It's a district that Bush won with 58% percent of the vote, and it hasn't garnered Hackett-like attention. Yet, as DavidNYC notes, the NRCC has dropped a quarter million dollars into the race.

As a reader tells David, these easy Bush district races are getting a tad expensive for the GOP.

t's going to be an expensive 2006 if the NRCC has to drop a quarter of a million dollar in ever seat that Bush won with 58%. The expenditures show that the seat was, or is at least somewhat in play if they're so desperate to build up their candidate. All of the expenditures are in support of Campbell.

The wildcard in this race is a xenophobic right-wing third-party candidate that may split the vote enough for Democrat Steve Young to slip through. Perhaps that's what the NRCC is worried about.

That is some CHEERFUL news, innit?

But it is quite a bit for a "safe seat" equal to that what was considered in Ohio. I hope he wins. Of course, the chances of him winning are slightly equal to the chances of my winning the lottery on Wednsday, so if he even does well tommorrow, I'll certainly get my hopes a lil!

:D

since the Republican win is considered a formality. So if the registered Democrats will go out and vote, Young will win.

This district is as conservative as they come. Many even considered Republican front runner Campbell a bit too moderate. The really rabid one wanted Dornan, again, or Rogan, who came to fame in the Clinton impeachment and does not even reside in the district - apparently not a requirement.

There are about 400,000 registered voters and only 100,000 are Democrats. Previous Democratic candidates were seen mostly as a token and nothing else.

Without term limits, any elective office is a job for life.

And because a Republican representation is taken for granted, and because these are special election, most just don't bother. Only 90,000 voted in the primary and even fewer are expected today. Young got less than 8,000! One hope is that many Democrats, accepting the inevitable that a Republican will represent them, voted for the lesser of two evil, another Republican (this was an open primary) who is more moderate, is pro-choice and was trashed at any turn by the rabid ones. She got 16,000. It was Minuteman Gilchrist who stole Campbell's thunder by robbing him of winning 50% and forcing a runoff.

It is not that the district is turning blue. No such chances and if Young wins it might be a very short tenure when he will face a Republican opponent in 11 months. It is just a game of numbers but could be a major PR event - for both parties.