Eli Sanders points out that 8th District Democratic challenger Darcy Burner is not included in a list of 31 races nationwide in which the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has already reserved air time for TV commercials.

Sanders says the list is only an initial buy, and the list may not -- or may -- be important.

Either way, it’s worth keeping an eye on the outside ad money because the race in the 8th Congressional District, like a lot of other races around the country, has historically been heavily influenced by ad buys made in the last few months of the campaign. Every time you ask Democrats in the 8th why it didn’t work for them the last time around, you always hear the same thing: Not enough help from D.C.

UPDATE: Brian Wolff, executive director of the DCCC, issued a statement on the media buy:

Our initial media buy is the first act of a many act play. As we have been all cycle, the DCCC is focused, prepared, and organized. Watch what we do over the next four months and our aggressive strategy to expand the playing field and strengthen the Democratic Majority will become clear.