The Democrats are shelling out $40 million in 59 congressional districts in the last three weeks of the campaign for TV advertising. Republicans, boosted by well-funded outside groups, are working to expand the political battleground by pouring money into 82 races next week alone.

Feelings are being hurt along the way.

In a fundraising video in Ohio this week, Rep. Steve Driehaus lashed out at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for “walking away” from his race after he “had the guts” to cast tough votes for key measures.

The House campaign arm has in recent days canceled millions of dollars worth of advertising it had planned for Driehaus and other endangered Democrats including his fellow Ohioan Mary Jo Kilroy, Suzanne Kosmas in Florida, Betsy Markey in Colorado and Steve Kagen in Wisconsin. All of them voted for President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul and for legislation to curb carbon emissions — only to be savaged by Republicans on the campaign trail for doing so.

The list of Democratic candidates being lavished with national party help in the final days of the race includes many of the defectors on those marquee votes: Reps. Michael Arcuri in New York, Bobby Bright in Alabama, Travis Childers in Mississippi, Larry Kissell in North Carolina, Jim Marshall in Georgia and Glenn Nye in Virginia, among others.

Bright and Marshall have even said they wouldn’t vote to keep House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in her post. National Democrats are also spending freely to defend Rep. Joe Donnelly of Indiana, who opposed the climate bill and has run TV ads calling it “Nancy Pelosi’s energy tax.”

The situation is similar for Rep. Frank Kratovil in Maryland, Zack Space in Ohio and Stephanie Herseth Sandlin in South Dakota, all of whom voted “no” on the health care law and are receiving TV ad dollars from the Democrats’ campaign committee in the critical final days.

They’re all in tight contests that Democrats believe they must win to hold Republicans back from the 40-seat gain that would hand the GOP House control.

Party leaders deny they’re abandoning any Democrats at this critical stage in the campaign and argue they’re maintaining the flexibility to help all of their candidates.

Recipients include some who enthusiastically supported the party line, such as Rep. Raul Grijalva in Arizona — who’s facing an unexpectedly tough race — and some who did not, like Rep. Chet Edwards of Texas, locked in a close battle for an 11th term.

“What we’re doing is focusing on races across the country to make sure that there’s that majority so that we can move forward on an agenda that serves working families and taxpayers,” said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., the DCCC chairman. “We’re strongly supporting all our members in a variety of ways.”

Democratic strategists acknowledge the tough decisions are based on harsh reality: If the party loses the House, all of its plans and Obama’s would face major GOP roadblocks, so right now it’s about scoring as many wins around the country as possible — whether that benefits friends or foes of core party principles.

“They have to make very cold-blooded decisions. They have to …. be involved in the races that they still think are close and, in a few cases, pull out of races where the candidate is too far gone,” said former Rep. Martin Frost of Texas, who held Van Hollen’s job in the 1990s.

“The important thing is to hold onto as many seats as you can. It doesn’t have anything to do with how they voted — this is pure politics, and both parties play it exactly the same way,” Frost said.

At the heart of Democrats’ strategy is hard arithmetic. There are only about 170 congressional districts across the nation that will routinely elect liberals, and in the rest, Democrats must field more centrist — and in some cases downright conservative — candidates to win.

The party excelled at recruiting such contenders in 2006 and 2008, when it added 55 House members. Pelosi nicknamed them her “majority makers.” But the blessing was mixed. Democrats knew from the moment these new moderates arrived in Washington that they would have to maneuver carefully to avoid alienating their constituents. In general, they’ve been given a wide berth to buck the party position when necessary to safeguard their political chances, immensely complicating Democrats’ task in pushing through major legislation.

Some, like Rep. Tom Perriello of Virginia, have unapologetically sided with Democrats on virtually all major issues, and are campaigning on their records, arguing they’ve done what’s right even when it wasn’t popular. The DCCC is still spending money in Perriello’s highly competitive race against Republican state Sen. Robert Hurt.

Other newcomers, such as Nye, have broken with Democrats on virtually all the significant agenda items and have worked to distance themselves from the party. Nye, too, is getting substantial help from the party in his close race against Republican businessman Scott Riggell.

Party leaders may not be the only ones focusing on candidates who can demonstrate a reasonable path to victory.

Driehaus took to the liberal fundraising website ActBlue this week with his video message asking for donations to reward the difficult stances he took on key issues.

“I’ve taken those votes because it was the right thing to do for the American people. Now the DCCC is walking away. Let’s send a message to the DCCC. Let them know that you support candidates who stand up for your principles.”

As of early Saturday afternoon, the appeal had raised a grand total of $4,571.

Pence says tax policies being promoted by President Barack Obama would penalize small businesses. The Republican said, “We simply believe that raising taxes on job creators won’t create jobs.”

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are putting their leading midterm congressional campaign arguments into a new manifesto designed to show they’re listening to an angry public and are focused on creating jobs.

GOP lawmakers on Thursday were to roll out their “Pledge to America” — a 21-page document filled with familiar proposals to slash taxes and spending and cut down on government regulation, as well as repeal President Barack Obama’s health care law and end his stimulus program.

With polls showing voters disenchanted with Obama, worried about the economy and mad at elected officials, the agenda also vows to change the way Congress works — requiring every bill to cite its constitutional authority, for example, and to be made public for three days before a vote.

The plan steers clear of specifics on important issues, such as how it will “put government on a path to a balanced budget.” It omits altogether the question of how to address looming shortfalls in Social Security and Medicare, which account for a huge portion of the nation’s soaring deficit, instead including a vague promise: “We will make the decisions that are necessary to protect our entitlement programs.”

Republicans are favored to add substantially to their ranks on Nov. 2, perhaps enough to seize control of the House.

Their new agenda is rife with the kind of grass-roots rhetoric that could appeal both to tea party activists and to independent voters the GOP is courting in its quest for control.

“Regarding the policies of the current government, the governed do not consent,” the pledge says. “An arrogant and out-of-touch government of self-appointed elites makes decisions, issues mandates and enacts laws without accepting or requesting the input of the many.”

Polls show large majorities are fed up with Congress and both parties and show Republicans have a chance to earn the public’s trust on key issues.

The latest Associated Press-GfK poll found nearly three-quarters disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job, with 68 percent disapproving of Republicans compared with 60 percent disapproving of Democrats.

Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas, the head of Republicans’ House campaign committee, said the agenda was drafted to answer the public’s skepticism about government and give them a “deliverable.”

“A number of people are very cynical about the reliability and the sincerity of either party,” Sessions said. “We’ve put things on a sheet of paper.”

Democrats dismissed the GOP plan as recycled ideas that would further exacerbate the nation’s problems.

“Republicans want to return to the same failed economic policies that hurt millions of Americans and threatened our economy,” said Nadeam Elshami, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

GOP lawmakers planned to go public with their plan at a hardware store in a Virginia suburb of Washington, choosing a location outside the nation’s capital that’s in keeping with the plan’s grass-roots emphasis.

——

AP Deputy Polling Director Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.

Despite the partisan divide, Kagan was on track for easy confirmation with the support of nearly all Democrats and a handful of GOP senators. In line to become the court’s fourth woman, she’s not expected to alter the ideological balance of the court in succeeding retired Justice John Paul Stevens, a leader of its liberal wing.

“She made clear she’ll base her approach to deciding cases on the law and the Constitution — not on politics, not on an ideological agenda,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

He called her views “mainstream,” and said she has “demonstrated her respect for the rule of law, her appreciation for the separation of powers, and her understanding of the meaning of our Constitution.”

Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the panel’s ranking Republican, presented a harsh indictment of Kagan, calling her an unqualified, intellectually dishonest nominee who would pretend to be an objective judge but instead seek to push her own agenda.

“I don’t think it’s a secret. I think this is pretty well known that this is not a judge committed to restraint, (or) objectivity,” Sessions said. Her past actions and testimony indicate she’d be “an activist, liberal, progressive, politically minded judge who will not be happy simply to decide cases but will seek to advance her causes under the guise of judging.”

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the majority leader, pleaded for a “passionate but civil” debate over Kagan, the 50-year-old solicitor general and former Harvard Law School dean.

Still, the discussion was already infused with politics, coming just months before midterm congressional elections.

A conservative group heaped criticism on the five Republican senators who have announced plans to join Democrats in supporting Kagan, singling out Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the first defector, for special contempt.

“The people who sent Senator Graham to Washington to represent their wishes will surely remember this act,” Andrea Lafferty, who heads the church lobby group Traditional Values Coalition, said in a statement.

The organization also blasted Kagan’s other GOP supporters, Maine Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, retiring Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, and Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar.

For his part, Sessions implored Democrats to take a second look at President Obama’s nominee — clearly hoping to persuade those from conservative-leaning states to vote “no.”

“We’re not lemmings here. We have a constitutional duty to make an independent decision,” Sessions said.

Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska is the only Democrat so far to say he plans to oppose Kagan.