to give up on candidates they don't think will win and only focus on incumbents. This is my read from the Roll Call article. Pulling the plug on candidates they don't think can win sort of takes the air out of those campaigns. As the Roll Call article suggests at the end of the article snip where I bolded.
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The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has started to pull back its advertising buys in several congressional districts around the country, according to an aide.
At this point in the cycle, the cancellations — also known as “triage” — serve as a signal the party does not see a path to victory for these candidates or races. House Majority PAC, a Democratic super PAC, has already pulled some of its buys in the same districts.
For now, House Democrats are only canceling airtime reservations in open-seat races or offensive opportunities. In some cases, the DCCC is still airing advertisements in some of the affected races for the next couple weeks.
In addition to the cancellations, the DCCC is also moving money to other districts, including other open-seat opportunities, districts held by Democrats and one GOP incumbent target.
House Democrats must net 17 seats to win the majority, but it’s more likely they will lose seats in November. These cuts allow the DCCC to use the party’s resources in other reasons where the party has a higher likelihood of winning.
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At this point, the DCCC has yet to pull the plug on an incumbent. In 2012, the committee canceled reservations on North Carolina Rep. Larry Kissell, who went on to lose his re-election.Four years ago, the DCCC canceled reservations on a number of incumbents who lost in one of the GOP’s best election cycles in modern history.
In June, the DCCC placed an initial nationwide round of reservations worth $43.5 million. The committee went on to expand that buy to $56 million.
The DCCC’s independent expenditure arm traditionally reserves more ad time than they intend to eventually purchase. They do this to secure ad rates at a discounted price.
Around the same time, Republicans announced a smaller round of reservations worth about $30 million. They have since added reservations in a late, piecemeal fashion. Also last week, GOP outside groups began to step up their House ad buys.
The NRCC and GOP outside groups tend to reserve late and pay a premium for ad rates. In this effort, they preserve the element of surprise and avoid the frequent cancellation headlines that House Democrats earn.
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