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Republicans just fine with Altmire silence

Congressman Jason Altmire (D-4) hasn’t held any public campaign events since the May primary, isn’t engaging political reporters, and is keeping a mostly low public campaign profile as his Republican opponent is on the trail nonstop. And that’s just fine with the GOP.

The National Republican Congressional Committee is hoping that Altmire’s Ignore-Keith-Rothfus strategy will backfire.

“A similar thing happened in 2006,” Brock McCleary, an NRCC political director, told pa2010.com in a recent interview. “Many of our congressmen heard that there was a wave coming, and sort of stuck their heads in the sand. A number of them are no longer congressmen. To the extent that Altmire is doing that, we thank him, and we’d like him to know that we appreciate it.”

Altmire has still been raising money, and enjoys a significant financial advantage over Rothfus, the Edgeworth attorney and GOP nominee. But other than that, there is little indication that a public reelection campaign has even started. His campaign, which has referred to Rothfus as an “extremist candidate” but never mentioned him by name, declined to comment for this article.

McCleary predicted the strategy won’t work in a district John McCain won in 2008.

“It’s a wave district,” McCleary said. “It’s a priority district, no question about it.”

Some Republicans are quietly counting out the district as a pickup opportunity, and The New York Times recently reported that Altmire is “among the Democrats no longer seen by Republicans as easy targets.” That led to some pushback from the NRCC, which insisted that Altmire is still a target. Altmire was one of only two House Democrats in Pennsylvania to vote against the health care reform bill both times it came before the chamber. Rothfus has been a rare fundraising bright spot among GOP challengers in the state, and the western Pennsylvania race is currently No. 7 on the pa2010.com Congressional Power Rankings.

Rothfus, for his part, said he’s not focusing on his opponent’s strategy.

“I’ve been too busy with my own campaign to think about it much,” he said recently. “He has a tough record to defend. Maybe he doesn’t want to face the voters and defend the Obama-Pelosi-Altmire record on unemployment.”

August 12, 2010 at 10:32 am

--Michael Macagnone

Tags: Jason Altmire, Keith Rothfus, NRCC, PA-4

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