Republican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Pearce may not attend his party’s presidential nominating convention in September, joining nine of 12 Republicans running in the most competitive Senate races in either saying they won’t attend or aren’t sure whether they will.
Republicans from around the country will gather in
Attending the convention is apparently not a high priority for many GOP Senate candidates. The article notes that the convention “will be bookended by speeches from President Bush, whose low approval ratings have caused many candidates to keep him at arm’s length, and (GOP Presidential nominee John) McCain, who is still trying to mend fences with conservatives.”
“But none of the absentees or potential no-shows is publicly citing Bush or McCain as the reason for their decisions,” the article states. “Instead, they and their campaign aides point to the difficult campaign landscape and limited opportunities to campaign.”
By contrast, most Democratic opponents of the GOP candidates who are skipping or might skip the Republican convention are planning to attend the Democrats’ convention in
Pearce was slow to endorse McCain even after he became the presumptive GOP nominee but has warmed up to him recently. Pearce spoke briefly at a McCain town-hall event in
“That’s going to restore the faith and confidence in this country in our leadership,” the Journal quoted Pearce as saying.
Meanwhile, Gov. Bill Richardson might end up missing the Democratic convention. He has called lawmakers into special session starting Aug. 15, and said Thursday he would skip the convention if the Legislature was still meeting.
“I’ll stay here. This is my priority,” The Associated Press quoted him as saying at a news conference.