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Jamie Dupree's Washington Insider

Posted: 8:36 p.m. Thursday, March 8, 2012

Gunning for Congress 

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By Jamie Dupree

The Supreme Court decision that allowed more money in the race for President is now also being felt in the Congress, as one outside group is dropping thousands of dollars on ads against members of each party.

The goal is simple - get rid of entrenched members of Congress on both sides.

One target last week was Rep. Jean Schmidt of Ohio, who unexpectedly lost her primary to a political novice in a district just north of Cincinnati.

While Schmidt's career in Congress has been on knife's edge since she was elected, her loss was also marked by the involvement of a group known as Campaign for Primary Accountability.

With Schmidt's defeat in their bag, next stop for their attacks is Alabama, where two Republicans have been hit with big ad buys.

"Spencer Bachus is a debt-raising status quo politician," intones a serious narrator in one television ad being run in the Yellowhammer State.

"Congressman Spencer Bachus is under investigation," another ad begins, raising questions about the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

The group has spent over $200,000 on ads against Bachus, who represents one of the most Republican districts in the country, covering much of the suburbs around Birmingham and Tuscaloosa in central Alabama.

Bachus was elected to the Congress in 1992.

The same group is also going after Rep. Jo Bonner, another Alabama Republican who represents a district in the southwest of the state around Mobile.

Bonner has served in the U.S. House since 2003.

The Super PAC tried to knock off Rep. Marcy Kaptur D-Ohio last week, but that didn't work when she easily defeated Rep. Dennis Kucinich in a primary faceoff involving two Democrats.

The Campaign for Primary Accountability also has ads up in Illinois against Rep. Don Manzullo.

The CPA right now is only concentrating on races where they think one party controls the particular seat in the Congress - in other words, if they defeat Bachus or Bonner next week in Alabama, the thought is that Republicans will still control that seat.

The goal is to get new blood into the Congress.

It could be an interesting wild card in an election year where there is certainly a lot of evidence of aggravation and frustation with the Congress in general.

I'll be in Alabama for the GOP Presidential Primary - we'll see if these races involving Bachus and Bonner become a big story or not.

Jamie Dupree

About Jamie Dupree

Jamie Dupree is the Radio News Director of the Washington Bureau of the Cox Media Group and writes the Washington Insider blog.

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