The second-quarter fundraising period ended last week, and Rep. Vic Snyder (D) said he raised the exact same amount from April to June that he did during the first quarter: precisely zero dollars.
That’s because Snyder is one Member who refuses to raise money in the off year. And Snyder said last week that he’s sticking to that practice even as the National Republican Congressional Committee has put his Little Rock-based 2nd district on its early target list this cycle.
Since February, the NRCC has launched a round of robocalls and three different radio ads in an attempt to soften up the seven-term Natural State lawmaker’s support in a district that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) carried by 10 points in 2008.
The NRCC’s latest radio ad attacked Snyder for his vote on the climate change bill that narrowly passed the House before the July Fourth recess.
Snyder was the only member of the state’s delegation to vote for the controversial bill; Democratic Reps. Marion Berry and Mike Ross joined the state’s lone Republican, Rep. John Boozman, in opposing it.
Like the other two ads they have run, the NRCC’s radio ads last week played up Snyder’s ties to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and the NRCC clearly hopes to make Snyder’s re-election campaign a referendum on the polarizing Democratic leader.
The cap-and-trade ad ended with this tagline: “Vic Snyder and Nancy Pelosi: more taxes, more spending, less jobs.”
In an interview last week, Snyder said his vote was not an endorsement of every provision in the bill but rather a vote to recognize that climate change is a real threat and one that Congress needs to begin to address.
“My vote was in the spirit of climate change is real. The bill that we passed was a thoughtful approach, but that bill will never become law. It’s going to still go through a whole lot more changes. ... It’s a work in progress.”
As for the NRCC attacks on him, Snyder isn’t really concerned.
“What I see is a press release saying they are going to do certain things. I never do get any feedback on anything they’ve done,” he said. “I don’t think my life has changed any [because of the ads]. ... It’s a long way from the campaign season.”
If they are going to give the seven-term Democrat a real race this year, Republicans will have to field a top-tier candidate.
After first winning a close election in 1996, Snyder has never been re-elected with less than 58 percent of the vote. Last cycle, Snyder went unopposed for the second time in his Congressional career.
One Republican, army veteran David Meeks, has already announced he is running.
Meeks, who said last week that he is in the process of filing his paperwork with the Federal Election Commission, has been echoing the NRCC’s line of attack on Snyder as he makes the rounds at local Tea parties and other conservative gatherings.
“In 2008, nobody ran against [Snyder]. I wanted to make sure that did not happen again,” said Meeks, a truck driver for a propane supply company who admits he’s a political neophyte who has never run for office before. “I wanted to make sure people had a choice between someone who is going to vote with Nancy Pelosi and basically represent San Francisco or someone like me who knows what the common, everyday person goes through.”
Rep. Bill Cassidy has his blood drawn by Alesha Barbour during a free hepatitis screening in the Rayburn House Office Building hosted by the Congressional Viral Hepatitis Caucus to recognize "National Viral Hepatitis Testing Day."
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