Presumptive answer: Because she’s down by 20 points and resources aren’t infinite?

O’Donnell’s comments in her exclusive interview with Fox News followed an offhanded remark she had made in her ninety-minute exchange with Coons: “I’ve had to fight my party to be here on this stage to win the nomination, and to some extent I am still fighting my party.”…

But when this reporter asked O’Donnell herself how she is fighting her own party, the Republican nominee was ready to cite chapter and verse. Tthe Democratic senatorial committee is running ads against me. The Democratic Party is running ads against me,” she said. “The Republican Party on the state level, or on the national level, neither have come in to help me close the gap in the polls. And my opponent, there’s so much to attack him on, yet the NRSC refuses to play, and that, that baffles me. Because he’s a – he’s a sitting duck. There’s a lot to go after him [on].”

If Coons, who’s sitting on a giant lead and set to host Obama and Biden tomorrow, is a “sitting duck,” what does that make every other Democrat in the country? The NRSC (and, by extension, conservative outside groups) are looking at tight but winnable races in Nevada, Alaska, Washington, Illinois, and West Virginia; they’ve got healthy but not prohibitive leads in Pennsylvania, Florida, and Missouri; and they’ve got longshots with a prayer in California and Connecticut, neither of whom needs outside money to pay for ads but who’d certainly benefit from any kind of boost. Given all that, would you guys seriously advise Cornyn et al. to pour money into Delaware — at least before you see some movement for O’Donnell in the polls? At AmSpec, Jeffrey Lord cites sources who complain that the NRSC is sitting on $6 million reserved for Marco Rubio. Given that that race could change overnight if Meek dropped out and endorsed Crist, keeping money onhand for an emergency ad buy in an expensive market seems like … a prudent move, quite frankly. And don’t forget that not only does O’Donnell have $4 million in her own coffers, but bashing the NRSC and the Republican “establishment” the way she’s doing right here is bound to squeeze a few more bucks out of voters in the base. In fact, is that what this is about? Just playing good cop/bad cop with the NRSC to rile up conservatives into donating to her again? Or is it a case of setting up the establishment as a scapegoat if she loses? If only the NRSC and Karl Rove had bought her a few extra ads…

I can understand a new ad buy if next week’s polls suddenly show her within nine or 10 points, but until there are signs of life, how is more money at this point a smart expenditure for Cornyn?