http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=307277CONCORD — Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole says she is spending some of her own money on her first re-election bid, trying to offset millions of dollars in spending Democrats have used to make the race one of the closest in the country.
Dole and her campaign declined to detail how much she has pledged to her campaign, but the commitment came recently enough that it won’t appear in campaign finance reports due this week.
“You get such a lot coming at you and spending a great deal of time raising money — there just comes a point when you feel like you need to put some skin in the game,” Dole said.
A spokesman for Dole’s campaign, Dan McLagan, said Sunday she has raised more than $3 million in the quarter ending Sept. 30. He declined to provide a number for cash-on-hand. The campaign of Dole’s Democratic challenger, state Sen. Kay Hagan, declined Sunday to provide details of her financial resources.
Both candidates must disclose their financial status to federal election officials before Oct. 16.
Though she is one of the most respected names in Washington, polls indicate Dole could lose the seat she won just six years ago. Her reputation built as a former president of the American Red Cross, two-time Cabinet member and past presidential candidate appears to be carrying little weight in an election where change is the underlying theme.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has spent millions of dollars undercutting Dole’s image. They’ve aired a constant stream of ads labeling her as ineffective and closely tied to President Bush.
Federal disclosures show the DSCC spent some $1.5 million in August opposing Dole, and their spending appears to have accelerated through September and into October. Dole’s campaign estimates the Democrats have now spent some $8 million on such ads.
“It’s awful hard to drown out $8 million in negative ads,” McLagan said. “But we’ll hold our own.”
The National Republican Senatorial Committee had spent about half a million dollars through August opposing Hagan but has acknowledged it won’t be able to match the Democrats dollar-for-dollar.
