Congressional diary: OH-05 heating up, and Stumbo looking to get in

• The DCCC gets organized...
  

It's 9 days till the OH-05 special election, and the campaign suddenly become heated yesterday with the DCCC buying air time in the district. The ad they are running against Republican Bob Latta can be viewed here. It links Latta to former Governor Bob Taft and Tom Noe, two Republicans who were disgraced in the corruption scandal that rocked the state last year and was a big factor in the easy Democratic victories in the gubernatorial and senatorial races.

The DCCC is also organizing some rapid volunteer effort, trying to send volunteers from DC to Ohio and promising accommodation. I myself received an email about this effort -- Two teams are leaving for Bowling Green from DC on Wednesday and Friday.

Also, Governor Strickland declared today that the race was "very winnable" -- and he presumably would be unwilling to put himself on the line like that if he did not actually believe a Democratic upset was possible.

• ... and the NRCC responds

The DCCC might have already gotten what it was looking, as the NRCC was forced to immediately respond today to avoid the humiliating loss of a very conservative district.

Republicans are now spending $250,000 in ads and direct mailers attacking the Democratic candidate Robin Weirauch, thus outspending the DCCC's ad buy. Don't forget that the NRCC is currently in debt, while the DCCC has about $29 million dollar at hand, so Republicans clearly cannot afford outspending Democrats in districts that they should have no trouble keeping. They will not be able to follow the DCCC's spending next fall, which could help Democrats win seats they might otherwise lose.

• KY-Sen: Stumbo already blasts Luallen

Attorney General Greb Stumbo looks to be ready to be looking to get in the Kentucky Senate race. The surest sign? He took swipes at state Auditor Crit Luallen, who has been closer to Mitch McConnell in polls and who seems to be the DSCC's favored candidate. "Even if I were not interested in this race, I would not advise her not to run," he said. Stumbo also alluded to an internal that show him very competitive in the general election and also show him leading potential Democratic competitors in a primary.

Polls taken in November suggested that Mitch McConnell was vulnerable to a challenge by Luallan or Stumbo; while Luallen is touted as the stronger candidate, there is little doubt Stumbo will make the race competitive -- despite worries that he has too much personal baggage that could be unearthed by the GOP. The bottom line is that McConnell is unexpectedly very vulnerable and the DSCC will make the most of that.

• IL-14 special election set

Another special election is coming up in IL-14 with similar circumstances: conservative district and Republicans favored. Democrats will surely attempt to push Republicans to panic in Illinois as well, but the GOP has at least won round 1 and managed to avoid bad timing for the special election.

Democrats were hoping that the general election would be held on February 5th, day of the presidential primary that should have a much bigger Democratic turnout given Obama's presidential candidacy. But Rep. Dennis Haster waited long enough to effectively resign that the calendar would have been much too cramped. Governor Blagojevitch had no choice today but to schedule the general election to March 8th. Just like OH-05, the GOP starts off favored here. If things pick up, they probably will not until some time in February.