Reid: Obama campaign must ‘guard’ money

John Bresnahan, Politico

Sunday, March 11, 2012 | 9:37 a.m.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Sunday he understands the Obama campaign's decision not to transfer millions of dollars in financial aid sought by the House and Senate Democratic campaign committees, and he believes the White House will do whatever it can to support candidates up and down the ticket.

Reid was responding to a POLITICO reports that President Barack Obama's key political advisers, David Plouffe and Jim Messina, recently met with him and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to discuss the request and the president's decision to say no, at least for now.

"There are many ways they are helping us," Reid said on CNN's "State of the Union." "I didn't expect them to bring their checkbook."

But the issue of finances - and how to counter the rise of super PACs, especially those allied with the GOP - are a major issue for Reid and Senate Democrats. The recent retirement announcement by Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine has thrown a GOP-controlled seat into play and given Reid and other top Democrats hope that they can hold onto the Senate after being all but written off earlier in the cycle.

Reid also noted that the Obama campaign is building a big get-out-the-vote operation for November, an effort that will help Democrats in key battleground states.

"I don't know why anyone is concerned about the conversations that we had," Reid insisted. "They have to guard their money."