Confirmed: DSCC Nervous About CT Senate Race

Guy Benson | October 06, 2010 12:06 PM

The Washington Post's Aaron Blake reports via Twitter that the DSCC is injecting $1.2 million into the Connecticut Senate race. A Republican source reminds me that national Democrats have

already spent nearly half a million dollars to boost Vietnam War veteran* Richard Blumenthal against Linda McMahon, so this constitutes a major escalation.

Math was never my strongest subject, but even I can run these numbers: The DSCC has now committed close to $2 million to this race--and if I have the timeline right, the bulk of that cash was allocated after the release several polls that appear to show Blumenthal's lead stabilizing.

So why toss him a pile of cash at this stage in the game? I see three possibilities:

(1) The Dems are looking at worrying internal polling trends (and are still antsy about that pesky Q Poll).

(2) They're reasonably confident that Blumenthal will win, but given the unexpected upsets brewing in West Virginia and Wisconsin, they view the Connecticut race as an integral part of their majority-maintaining firewall. If this is the case, they'll do whatever it takes to hold the seat, even if it seems like overkill.

(3) They witnessed Blumenthal's debate performance this week and got a wee bit queasy.

No matter which scenario is closest to the truth, it must be welcomed as good news at the NRSC. Their opponents either lack confidence in their ability to win what should be a safe seat (meaning Connecticut is seriously in play), or they're so skittish about losing the overall Senate majority that they've entered salvage mode, denying funds to other needy Democratic candidates in the process.

*He's not, despite what he might tell you.