Blogs Dole Out Shame for Incumbents Who Don't Share

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This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Robert Siegel.

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As election day nears, members of Congress routinely share their campaign money with each other as needed, with those in safe seats helping those in trouble. But not everyone plays share the wealth. This year, more than two dozen Democrats who have no Republican opposition and almost four dozens who face only token opposition have among them $50 million in campaign cash. Some of that money could be useful to candidates who are less well off.

NPR's Peter Overby explains.

PETER OVERBY: No surprise, this idea started in the blogosphere, specifically with Chris Bowers, an editor at My Direct Democracy, or mydd.com. He heard that Democratic national campaign committees were about to take out $10 million loans for the end of the spending free for all that's marked this campaign. To Bowers, it seems smarter to just call the safe seat Democrats and ask them for money. He enlisted Move On, Daily Kos and other liberal advocates to join in. He calls the concept use it or lose it.

Mr. CHRIS BOWERS (My Direct Democracy): We're not asking for a crippling donation. We're not asking for them to give all of their money away or half of their money away. The suggested donation that we're looking for is either $250,000 or 30 percent of their existing cash on hand as of September 30.

OVERBY: And some have begun to respond, but not necessarily those with the biggest bank accounts. Some members stash cash away in order to discourage challengers in future races or to prepare for a statewide or even national campaign of their own. The biggest Democratic warchest in the House belongs to Martin Meehan of Massachusetts. He's got $4.9 million.

Now here's where people get a little testy. Meehan's press secretary declined to be interviewed. She did recommend an editorial in the Lowell Sun, a paper in Meehan's district. The Sun noted that Meehan had already pitched in $365,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. The paper called the use it or lose it campaign a nasty shakedown by rotten political scoundrels.

Representative BARNEY FRANK (Democrat, Massachusetts): Well, it's certainly not a shakedown.

OVERBY: That's Congressman Barney Frank, also of Massachusetts. This is a state where a lot of Democrats have a lot of campaign cash. Frank just gave another $255,000 from his campaign funds to the party's congressional committee, and he sees nothing with the use it or lose it argument.

Representative FRANK: You know, a shakedown generally is when someone is putting unfair pressure on someone else for the shaker-down's benefit. These aren't people trying to make me give them money.

OVERBY: Frank says he actually has been getting more donations as interest groups realize he might end up as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. On the Republican side, incumbents with easy races seem even less inclined to pitch in for their party allies. But so far, at least, there's no word of any organized web campaign to change their minds.

Peter Overby, NPR News, Washington.

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