Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Sen. Robert Menendez will go after vulnerable Senate Republicans on Thursday for their failure to support the president's economic stimulus package, a DSCC official confirms.
The New Jersey Democrat, who recently took over the reins of the campaign committee, will be holding a pen and pad briefing for reporters at noon. "The basic message will be about stimulus and how Republicans still don't get it," said the official. The goal, the official added, is to make GOP Senators "pay a price for their stimulus vote."
Among the Senate Republicans that face tight reelection campaigns in 2010, all but one -- Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter -- voted against the stimulus. That said, many of the seats that seem prime for DSCC targeting are being vacated by retiring Republicans.
Which side of this debate has the better political argument will largely be determined by the success of the stimulus package itself. Democrats in Congress are set to win a legislative victory once the president signs the economic recovery package into law. But that hasn't preempted Republicans from using the legislation to make political hay. According to Politico, the National Republican Congressional Committee announced that it would "start airing radio ads Friday in approximately 30 Democratic districts to argue that the bill violates the lawmakers' campaign pledge to restore fiscal responsibility to Washington."