Menendez's Dual Argument
One is the chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee. One is a 5-term congressman in the minority who does not rank in the top half of any of the 3 committees on which he sits. Which one is the DC insider?
To hear DSCC chair Bob Menendez tell it, it's Rep. John Boozman (R), the junior GOPer, and not Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D), the 2-term Dem who plays an increasingly important role as a centrist Dem.
But Menendez, facing a series of competitive races this year, insists that Dems will run against GOP rivals steeped in the culture of failed DC. The case is stronger against some GOPers than others -- ex-Rep. Rob Portman (R-OH) served as USTR and OMB director under George W. Bush, and Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO) served in House leadership -- but the DSCC will try to brand even candidates running as outsiders as the consumate political power players.
"At a time when there's a lot of anger towards Washington, it seems that Republicans certainly have taken the tact quite differently,
" Menendez said at a breakfast this morning sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor. Citing Portman, Blunt, ex-Rep. Rob Simmons (R-CT), Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE) and ex-Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN), Menendez added: "These are not agents of change."
"They're either running lobbyists or people who are long established on the Republican side," he said.
But Dems have their own insiders. Reps. Paul Hodes (D-NH), Charlie Melancon (D-LA) and Kendrick Meek (D-FL) are all seeking Senate seats. Lincoln and Environment and Public Works Committee chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA) are seeking re-election. And the DSCC will likely have to spend millions defending Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), whose title as maj. leader makes him hard to cast as an outsider.
"If the standard is that our candidates are Washington insiders, then I look forward to hearing what Paul Hodes, Charlie Melancon and Kendrick Meek have to say about that label," NRSC spokesperson Brian Walsh said.
Menendez insisted that Lincoln and other incumbents -- in response to a question, he named Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), who has yet to draw a top-tier opponent -- have independent streaks, and that's true. Lincoln has been one of the toughest Senate votes to woo on health reform, and incumbents like Feingold and Boxer routinely irritate Dem leadership by pushing their party in one way or another.
Voters are angry at the way DC is operating, and they have showed it. But claiming that being a DC insider is a bad thing, as Menendez has tried to do, could backfire, given the overwhelming majorities Dems hold in the House and Senate.
For more from this morning's CSM breakfast with Menendez, check back with Hotline OnCall throughout the day.
Are you sure he didn't say "taken the tack quite differently"?