8 Days Until Filing Deadline & National Party Mounts No Effort To Field A Viable Democratic Candidate, Further Suggesting Backroom Deal With King

One day after top Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) would not deny that he’s had recent private conversations with former Maine Governor Angus King, a prominent liberal blogger for the Washington Post reports this morning  that Congresswoman Chellie Pingree — “a favorite of national liberals and progressives — has decided not to run for the seat of retiring Olympia Snowe.”

Responding to this unsurprising news, National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Rob Jesmer reiterated the view today that the fix has been in for national Democrats to privately anoint Independent candidate Angus King as their standard-bearer.  “The decision by national Democrats to throw Chellie Pingree and other proud Democratic leaders in Maine aside, in favor of an ‘independent’ who supported President Bush in 2000, makes clear they are more concerned with holding onto power in Washington, than trying to advance their own party’s principles,” Jesmer said today.  “This is just the latest backroom deal we’ve seen from national Democrats and it adds to the cynicism that voters in Maine and around the country rightfully feel towards those running Washington these days.”

“While we await details of Angus King’s deal with Democrat leaders in Washington, several strong Republican candidates have already stepped forward and we look forward to a very competitive race this November,” Jesmer concluded.

The Plumline’s Greg Sargent goes on to note that today, “[T]he decision will disappoint national liberal groups who had mounted a campaign to draft her for the race.  Pingree is seen by liberals as an unabashed defender of progressive principles….”

But as the NRSC has pointed out in recent days, Pingree’s decision should come as no surprise given the fact that since Senator Snowe made her announcement a week ago, there has been absolutely no effort by national Democrats to recruit or gather signatures for any viable Democratic candidate, including Pingree, ahead of next week’s March 15^th filing deadline.  Just as they did in pushing an announced Democrat candidate aside in Nebraska last week in favor of an undisclosed backroom deal with former Democrat Senator Bob Kerrey, it appears Schumer and other party leaders in Washington have succeeded in making similar overtures to “independent” Angus King.

As the NRSC’s Jesmer noted yesterday even before any formal announcement by Pingree, “It’s a remarkable development that the same Democratic party strategists in Washington who proudly recruited such liberal stalwarts as Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Baldwin, are effectively shoving Chellie Pingree aside in favor of an Independent candidate who supported George W. Bush in 2000.”

Notably, by filing as an “independent,” King actually has until June to gather signatures, and the decision by national Democrats to not support any Democratic candidates ahead of next week’s March 15^th deadline for both political parties, displays their confidence that the fix is in for Angus King to back Harry Reid for Democratic leader if he’s elected this November.