Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Ill. 6th District: Duckworth low on cash, can't afford TV

This winter Ill. 6th District Democratic candidate Tammy Duckworth was the darling of national media as she was in the run-up in her primary campaign to claim the congressional seat of the retiring Henry Hyde.

Read the January 23 USA Today, the February 19 Washington Post, or this ABC News story from December 17, or this December 18 CBS News report.

Also in December Duckworth was interviewed by George Stephanopoulos for his "This Week" program.

Duckworth was recruited to run for Hyde's seat by Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Rahm Emanuel, a Chicago Dem congressman, and Illinois Senator Dick Durbin.

The appeal of Duckworth, who lives in the neighboring 8th District, is understandable. A double-amputee who received her wounds in Iraq, Duckworth is now against the Iraq war. No one will dare challenge her patriotism. And the national media, as well as many others, would love to see a Democrat replace Republican Henry Hyde, the man who presided over the Bill Clinton impeachment proceedings. Duckworth's opponent is State Senator Peter Roskam. He still has a lot of cash left, and is running television commercials in the expensive Chicago market.

Here are two:





The last one features a Ted Kennedy appearance.

But Duckworth, who is now low on cash, may not be able answer these attack ads because she can't afford it.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

"I couldn't afford to stay on the air, [but] I'm going to do everything I can to get my message out -- talk to the voters, do all of the grass-roots things," Duckworth said. "I am not going to let this be a campaign that is won or lost based on funds."

However, this report, from the Daily Herald, says:

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which reserved $2.3 million to run ads blasting Roskam, starts airing its first ad today.

Real Clear Politics has this race as a tie or a Duckworth lean, but Duckworth's numbers will probably start dropping as a result of Roskam's ad push.

Still, Duckworth has only $206,000 in cash left. Roskam has $1.5 million.

Related post: Bush in Chicago for House fundraisers

Big hat tip to Rich Miller's Capitol Fax.



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