Scott Ellington Might Get Some Money… Maybe

A story from my left-leaning blogging friend, Ryan Saylor, made its way into several newspapers in east Arkansas today, including the Paragould Daily Press.

His story quotes the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) saying they might – might – send some money to help First District Candidate Scott Ellington.

“Any kind of investments are part of an ongoing conversation,” said Stephanie Formas, South Regional press secretary for the DCCC. “Our commitment in this race has been clear.”

Ellington himself elaborated on the potential commitment of additional resources.

“It’s somewhere in the neighborhood of $400,000 to $500,000,” Ellington said. “They are funding a field operation with individuals and they’re funding a senior adviser to the campaign.”

Ellington said the DCCC had set a goal for his fundraising as part of its commitment.

They have a goal level and wish for us to reach $200,000 [beyond what has been previously raised],” Ellington said. “[If we reach the goal] by the end of Aug. 30, we move on to another level where they would increase that.”

So you got that, if Ellington can raise $200,000, then the DCCC and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi might throw some cash Ellington’s direction.  Or maybe not – we will see.

So far Ellington has raised $150,063 total.  So their $200,000 additional goal is obviously ambitious. (By contrast, incumbent Cong. Rick Crawford has raised over a million dollars.)

Count me a skeptic on this one.  The polling data I have seen shows Crawford with a lead that is simply out of reach.  The DCCC is not going to waste their limited resources on this race unless they believe it is close enough to move their numbers – no matter how loyal Ellington has been to towing the party line for President Obama by attacking Romney’s manhood.

Wishful thinking, but nice try, guys.  Congrats to Saylor on getting a big byline.