Boyda's No Thanks
Kansas Rep. Nancy Boyda, one of the most surprising winners in 2006, is also one of the most vulnerable Democratic freshmen facing re-election battles this year. But despite national Democratic efforts to help her, including reserving $1.2 million worth of advertising in her Topeka-based district, Boyda says she can do it by herself.
Boyda, who beat Republican Rep. Jim Ryun two years ago without aid from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, refused to participate in the party's Frontline Program for endangered incumbents, along with New Hampshire Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, as both promised to run independent campaigns focused on their district.
But the DCCC's decision to spend money benefiting Boyda, who will face the winner of a GOP primary that pits Ryun against State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins, has put the freshman in the awkward no-win position of having to defend herself from the National Republican Congressional Committee and her opponents, who say she is going back on her promise while publicly urging her own party to back off.
Boyda, who is still not a member of the Frontline Program, took her own shot at national Democrats. "I am asking the DCCC to get the heck out of my race," she told the Topeka Capitol-Journal. She has an excuse, too: Legally, campaigns cannot coordinate with the DCCC's independent expenditure wing, from which the advertising money comes.
Still, if Ryun or Jenkins get the chance to tie Boyda to national Democrats, they might find a winning issue in a district that gave President Bush 59% of the vote in 2004 and is likely to support John McCain come November. Fair or not, tying a candidate to outside interest groups with which they have little influence is the emerging trend this year.